Ill bet you didnt know that numbers could be illegal. Take 92214563780560366130661709445338835634 for instance. Looks pretty innocent, doesnt it?

Donald Rumsfeld, the former United States defence secretary, tried to maintain an atmosphere of fear in America as part of the Iraq war propaganda campaign, a series of leaked memos has shown.

One memo, written in April 2006, contained a list of instructions to Pentagon staff including "Keep elevating the threat" and "Talk about Somalia, the Philippines etc. Make the American people realise they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists".

Another said "link Iraq to Iran. Iran is the concern of the American people, and if we fail in Iraq, it will advantage Iran". He also urged staff to produce "bumper sticker statements" to rally the public around the war.

#10 Brown University

Winner in Category "Repeated Use of Bad Navigation" ? Brown University

#9 NEIU Foreign Exchange Lab

Winner in Category "Were Back in 1995" ? NEIU Foreign Exchange Lab

#8 Red Blood Club

Winner in Category "Site Most Likely to Give You a Seizure" ? Red Blood Club

#7 Tampax

Winner in Category "Bad Navigation in a Sanitary Product" ? Tampax

#6 LongsCycle

Winner in Category "Page is Too Long" ? LongsCycle

#5 HRODC

Winner in Category "I Have More Links Than God" ? HRODC

#4 Accept Jesus, Forever Forgiven!

Winner in Category "Jesus Hates Our Web Site" ? Accept Jesus, Forever Forgiven!

#3 TIE ? VTR Australia, Ms. Dewey, and CyberAtlas

VTR Australia and Ms. Dewey and CyberAtlas. Heres a video of the VTR site ? in case they change it.

#2 Association of International Glaucoma Societies

Winner in category "Site Most Like A Monty Python Skit" ? Association of International Glaucoma Societies

#1 Optimal World

Overall Winner ? Optimal World (theyve changed it, but it still sucks)

"Over time, we will have to shift the burden of the military fight from our forces directly to regional forces, and we will have to play an indirect role.

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Finally, coming to New York, a fashion show devoid of skinny models and serious faces -- in fact the models dont even exist.

U.S. discount retailer Target Corp, known for its innovative marketing, is staging a "model-less" fashion show in Manhattan next week that will feature holograms strutting down a runway in its merchandise instead of size-zero models.

The images, which will appear to be three-dimensional, will show clothes by designers like Isaac Mizrahi and Liz Lange sashaying across a virtual runway.

"This is the first time a fashion show will be completely produced with hologram technology, without models, without a runway and easily accessible to all fashion fans," Target senior vice president Trish Adams said in a statement.

The show will take place November 6 and November 7, in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal.

It will show clothes and accessories from Targets mens, womens, bridal and maternity collections.

this is why your server is cranky

The fact that she said she?s basically sympathetic with Rangel?s trillion dollar tax increase ? that?s going to arouse some deep opposition. The huge Democratic tax increase allowed us to win in 1994? Then, I saw in a ticker on Fox News, when Sen. Edwards said nominating her would be ?a victory for a corruption machine?? it brings back a lot of memories of the Chinese funding scandals of 1996? It takes her winning the nomination from an 80 percent likelihood to a 50 percent. It?s even money. If she doesn?t turn this around quick, I may have to call back in and take it even lower.?

?Her performance in that debate was so bad, on issues that matter so much, she may not be able to recover from it? This issue of Spitzer trying to give out d l to people at a time when your driver?s licenseallows you to vote ? for her to trap herself into saying that creates a big wound?

What People Eat Around The World

From the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D?Aluisio www.menzelphoto.com

7. Mexico - $189.09 a week for food

11. Egypt - $68.53 a week for food

China?s early 1990s assistance to Iran?s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs likely mean that Tehran never took seriously Israel?s plan to separate her from her Chinese ally. China?s demand for Iran?s oil plus its desire to force Iran?s Islamic radical leadership to ignore the plight of China?s Muslims sealed its decision to support Iran?s Mullah government. Israel and the United States now face an Iranian-Chinese alliance having a clear military character. China now appears prepared to use Israeli technology to help Iran defend its nuclear weapons program aimed at Israel and the United States.

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27 Aquatic lifeforms you never caught while fishing

Robot Fish

A hospital-surveillance camera and a sharp-eyed staffer appear to be two critical elements that helped police find a newborn girl who was snatched Thursday from a Sudbury, Ont. hospital.

Police found the infant - who was returned to her parents early Friday morning - more than 300 kilometres away in Kirkland Lake, Ont. and have arrested Brenda Batisse and Trevor Schramm, both 29, in connection with the incident.

The newborn - only hours old, according to Sudbury Police Const. Albert Lapalme - was taken from Sudbury Regional Hospital, St. Josephs Site, at 12:46 p.m. by a woman posing as a hospital employee. Police said Friday theres no indication the suspect or the parents knew one another.

The suspect wore white nurse-like attire and was seen leaving the hospital, holding the child wrapped in a white blanket - contravening a hospital policy that requires all newborns be moved in bassinets.

The high resolution will allow experts to examine details of the 15th century wall painting that they otherwise could not--including traces of drawings Leonardo put down before painting.

The high-resolution allows viewers to look at details as though they were inches from the art work, in contrast to regular photographs, which become grainy as you zoom in, said curator Alberto Artioli.

Although there appeared to be problems with the web site late Saturday, it was accessible earlier in day.

The torture called waterboarding is a pretty violent business.

The torturer straps down the victim, feet elevated above the head, then covers the subjects face ? often with cloth or cellophane ? and pours water onto it. This triggers the gag reflex, persuading the mind that the body is drowning, provoking an atavistic terror. The straining and flailing against the restraint straps can sometimes break bones. If the torture is protracted, lung and brain damage can occur.

Now.

This would be the Bush administrations description of the same procedure: The detainee, an illegal combatant who may have intelligence valuable to the Worldwide Struggle Against Extremism, is restrained, and subjected to a robust interrogation. An enhanced interrogation technique is used, which for national security reasons must remain classified. But the detainee is not tortured, because the United States does not torture people.

MY FRIENDS, I MUST ASK YOU AN IMPORTANT QUESTION TODAY: Where do you stand on God?

Its a question you may prefer not to be asked. But Im afraid I have no choice. We find ourselves, this very autumn, three and a half centuries after the intellectual martyrdom of Galileo, caught up in a struggle of ultimate importance, when each one of us must make a commitment. It is time to declare our position.

Dawkins looks forward to the day when the first US politician is honest about being an atheist. "Highly intelligent people are mostly atheists," he says. "Not a single member of either house of Congress admits to being an atheist. It just doesnt add up. Either theyre stupid, or theyre lying. And have they got a motive for lying? Of course theyve got a motive! Everybody knows that an atheist cant get elected."

The digit in question belonged to Jimmy Page, guitar magus of Led Zeppelin. And according to a statement issued Thursday afternoon, it had been fractured last weekend, forcing the group to delay its megaticket reunion concert in London by two weeks, to Dec. 10.

?Led Zeppelin have always set very high standards for ourselves,? Mr. Page said in the statement, ?and we feel that this postponement will enable my injury to properly heal, and permit us to perform at the level that both the band and our fans have always been accustomed to.?

One blogger noted an irony from Led Zeppelin?s glory days. In early 1975, just as the band was about to begin a big tour, Mr. Page broke the ring finger of his left hand ? ?the most important finger for a guitarist,? he said at the time, the blogger wrote.

(WASHINGTON) ? First, Americans endured exasperating delays and ruined vacations from passport processing backlogs. Now, a congressional investigation indicates they may have been overcharged, too ? perhaps by more than $100 million a year.

Since 2005, a new passport has cost $97 for adults, $82 for children under 16. At the senators request, congressional investigators studied whether a $30 portion of that charge was justified.

The investigators findings? The governments $30 fee was roughly double the actual cost when imposed in 2002. The Postal Service, which operates 5,382 locations where people can apply for passports, estimated its costs at $13.31 in 2002. The State Department, which operates 14 passport offices, said its costs were $16.20 at that time.

"This is not supposed to be a profit-making venture," Dorgan said. "They charge 30 bucks just for passing something across the counter."

Soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division kissed the ground at Fort Drum, N.Y., after a 15-month tour in Iraq. They and their families face a new period of readjustment.

Homeless people won a small court victory yesterday when the City of Victoria lost its application for a permanent injunction to stop camping in public parks.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston said it was not fair, necessary or a good time to grant a permanent injunction aimed at mass campouts.

"It is not just, not convenient and not appropriate that a permanent injunction be granted at this time," said Johnston.

The judges decision does not strike down Victorias bylaws against overnight camping in public parks. Those bylaws will, however, go on trial next month in a lawsuit launched on behalf of a number of homeless people.

That suit contends the citys prohibition against camping in parks violates the charter rights of the homeless.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for new soldiers at Fort Jackson, Bush said that parts of Iraq continue to be violent and that terrorists remain determined.

"But what they have learned about the United States of America is that we are more determined," Bush said. "We are more determined to protect ourselves and to help people realize the blessings of freedom."

"With our help, the Iraqi people are going on the offense against the enemy. Theyre confronting the terrorists and theyre are taking their country back."

Bush said corruption remains a problem and unemployment remains high, but that Iraqi forces have now assumed responsibility in security in eight of Iraqs 18 provinces.

Researcher: Humans will love, marry robots by 2050

Sixty-seven percent support giving contraceptives to students, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. About as many ? 62 percent ? said they believe providing birth control reduces the number of teenage pregnancies.

Yet most who support schools distributing contraceptives prefer that they go to children whose parents have consented. People are also closely divided over whether sex education and birth control are more effective than stressing morality and abstinence, and whether giving contraceptives to teenagers encourages them to have sexual intercourse.

Minorities, older and lower-earning people were likeliest to prefer requiring parental consent, while those favoring no restriction tended to be younger and from cities or suburbs. People who wanted schools to provide no birth control at all were likelier to be white and higher-income earners.

During the meeting, another member of the Iraqi Islamic Party said that al Qaeda has changed its strategy now that fomenting civil war between Sunni and Shia has backfired. Al Qaeda has shifted targets, now trying to generate friction between tribes. This time, however, the tribes are onto the game early, and they are not playing.

Sheik Omar, who has gained the respect of American combat leaders for his intelligence and organizational skills, said the tough line against al Qaeda is also enforced at the tribal level. According to Sheik Omar, the Jabouri tribe, too, is actively committed to destroying al Qaeda. So much so, that Jabouri tribal leaders have decided they would ?kill their own sons? if any aided al Qaeda. To underscore the point, he went on to say that about 70 Jabouri ?sons? had been killed by the Jabouri tribe so far.

Judge booted for flipping coin to decide

RICHMOND, Va. - A judge who ordered a woman to drop her pants and decided a custody dispute by flipping a coin was removed from the bench by the Virginia Supreme Court on Friday. The decision against Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge James Michael Shull of Gate City was unanimous.

Use the STING method to stop procrastinating

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is real!

(Not that you ever doubted.)

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is listed under Non-Fiction in this Toronto library

Magnetic anomalies are caused by differences in the magnetisation of the rocks in the Earths crust.

Many years of negotiation were required to obtain confidential data from governments and institutes.

Scientists hope to use the map to learn more about the geological composition of our planet.

As well as revealing ore deposits, magnetic anomalies can also show areas of ground water and sea weakness zones. It is a useful tool for geologists and geophysics, as well as a teaching resource.

The information can be viewed as a flat, two-dimensional map or rendered in 3D on a virtual globe.

Abstract

This article proposes a general model to analyze and compare different uses of the blog format. Based on ideas from sociological structuration theory, as well as on existing blog research, it argues that individual usage episodes are framed by three structural dimensions of rules, relations, and code, which in turn are constantly (re)produced in social action. As a result, "communities of blogging practices" emerge?that is, groups of people who share certain routines and expectations about the use of blogs as a tool for information, identity, and relationship management. This analytical framework can be the basis for systematic comparative and longitudinal studies that will further understanding of similarities and differences in blogging practices.

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I believe in God, only I spell it Nature

Frank Lloyd Wright

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Art may make a suit of cloths, but Nature must produce a man

David Hume

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I am at two with Nature.

Woody Allen

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The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed HR 1955 titled the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. This bill is one of the most blatant attacks against the Constitution yet and actually defines thought crimes as homegrown terrorism. If passed into law, it will also establish a commission and a Center of Excellence to study and defeat so called thought criminals. Unlike previous anti-terror legislation, this bill specifically targets the civilian population of the United States and uses vague language to define homegrown terrorism. Amazingly, 404 of our elected representatives from both the Democrat and Republican parties voted in favor of this bill. There is little doubt that this bill is specifically targeting the growing patriot community that is demanding the restoration of the Constitution.

First let?s take a look at the definitions of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism as defined in Section 899A of the bill.

First your phone went wireless, then your laptop, now finally, your camera!

Never scrounge around for a USB cable again! Eye-fi is a magical orange SD memory card that will not only store 2GB worth of pictures, itll upload them to your computer, and to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa (or 14 others) wirelessly, invisibly, automatically!

This little guy looks like a normal 2GB memory card and works with nearly any camera that takes SD memory. There are no antennas, no protrusions, no subscription fees, and no cables.

From then on, you never have to touch anything. Just take photos. Whenever your cameras near the wireless network you selected and idle, Eye-fi will upload all your photos (JPEGs only) to your online photo sharing service. Next time your computers online, theyll download there, too!

Yes, it is practically magic.

Swiss police are investigating after a flock of 90 sheep vanished from a remote Alpine pasture - for the second time.

It is the second time in a year that the flock has vanished, leaving no traces of their whereabouts.

After the first time, farmer Silvano Bacciarini, from the Magadino plain in Tessin, had to buy entirely new animals.

A baffled police spokesman admitted: "The only way to the pasture is by a remote track - the sheep were not driven away as there was no foot prints, nor was a lorry driven to the meadow.

"Yet we searched by helicopter and there is no sign of the animals anywhere."

Kate was found in freezing weather by search-and-rescue workers inside the tangled and flipped wreckage of a Cessna 172 nearly five hours after the crash in a remote and rugged area near Golden, B.C. She was all alone, hanging upside down in a car safety seat.

Kate Williamss grandfather, Allen Williams, 65, was piloting the plane, which crashed Sunday afternoon in bad weather. Mr. Williams and another man, Steven Sutton, 49, did not survive.

Police have said Mr. Williamss decision before the flight to strap the little blond girl in so securely to the small aircraft likely explains why she was carried away from the crash with only minor injuries.

Northern wildfires in Prairie provinces blamed for rising carbon in atmosphere

A huge swath of Canadas boreal forest, one of the largest storehouses of carbon on the planet, is now spewing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than it soaks up, scientists say.

"The sink has become a source," says forest ecologist Tom Gower, at the University of Wisconsin, whose team has documented an ominous shift in the "carbon balance" of the forest blanketing northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

"These boreal forests not too long ago were helping offset rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by taking up carbon dioxide and storing it," Gower said in an interview.

But with an increase in the frequency and size of fires in recent years, "that is no longer the case," he says.

"In fact, these wildfires are actually contributing to the rising CO2 concentration in the atmosphere," Gower says.

A 2001 forest fire about 200 km north of Edmonton near the town of Chisholm.

Every single move you make online can, and often is, tracked by online marketers and advertising networks that gather and use the information for serving up targeted advertisements.

But the average American consumer is largely unaware that such tracking goes on, the extent to which it is happening or how exactly information is being used.

Thats according to a new poll released this week by the Samuelson Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The survey of nearly 1,200 California adults studied consumer perceptions about online privacy and common advertising practices.

Brand New to Europe!

This is the new sensation in Gaming Experiences - the Renegade Gaming Chair.

Whether you are in the midst of a battle field, flying through outerspace or driving the F1 circuit trying to emulate Lewis Hamilton, the Renegade will make it more worthwhile and realistic... a must for serious gamers.

Key Features:

12 Game-Syncd Vibration Motors
Headrest Mounted 3D Stereo Speakers
Game-Triggered Lighting Effects
Xbox 360?, PS3?, Wii?, PS2?, PC, iPod? Compatibility
Use any USB Controller, Steering Wheel or Game Accessory
Maximum Gaming Comfort
Stylish Racing Seat Design
Variable Massage Mode
MP3, Headphone Jacks
Stores Easily

Click here to download the specifications sheet

Click here for the Advertisement video

After the devastating California fires destroyed so many homes, you might wonder why people choose to live in the dry, fire-prone hills of Southern California. Likewise, Californians might wonder why the heck anyone would want a Florida beach house thats bound to be hit by a hurricane some day.

The answer seems simple: We humans are an emotional bunch and were quick to ignore risk when our hearts are set on something.

"Its likely that people who live near heavily wooded areas in California focus on things they love about their location, like environmental beauty or proximity to the ocean, and simultaneously discount the risk of wildfire," said Jacqueline Meszaros, program director for decision, risk and management sciences at the National Science Foundation.

One study last year found that serious risk-takers seem to follow in their parents footsteps.

Just like so many reports before it, a joint survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvards Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy ? hardly a bastion of conservative orthodoxy ? found that in covering the current presidential race, the media are sympathetic to Democrats and hostile to Republicans.

Democrats are not only favored in the tone of the coverage. They get more coverage period. This is particularly evident on morning news shows, which "produced almost twice as many stories (51% to 27%) focused on Democratic candidates than on Republicans."

The most flagrant bias, however, was found in newspapers. In reviewing front-page coverage in 11 newspapers, the study found the tone positive in nearly six times as many stories about Democrats as it was negative.

The media, of course, insist they are careful to keep personal opinions out of their coverage. But the facts tell another story ? one that cant be edited or spiked.

Which is why Hillarys problem goes beyond discomfort with dynastic succession. Its deep unease about a shared presidency. Forget about Bill, the bad boy. The problem is William Jefferson Clinton, former president of the United States, commander in chief of the Armed Forces, George Washingtons representative on earth.

We have never had an ex-president move back into the White House. When in 1992 Bill Clinton promised "two for the price of one," it was taken as a slightly hyperbolic promotion of the role of first lady. This time we would literally be getting two presidents.

Calderon met with state officials and flew over the affected areas. The extent of the flooding was clear from the sky - Tabasco state seemed like an inland sea with only rooftops and treetops protruding from the water.

State officials sent 50 buses to a museum in the capital where hundreds of people gathered.

A newspaper poll to be published tomorrow shows Prime Minister John Howard on track to lose his seat of Bennelong to Labors candidate, Maxine McKew.

A Galaxy Poll to be published in The Sunday Telegraph shows Labor leading in Bennelong with a primary vote of 47 per cent, compared to the Liberals with 46.

After preferences it gives Labor a four-point lead of 52 to 48.

At the last election, Mr Howard won Bennelong with a two-party-preferred vote of 54 per cent.

USAF struck Syrian nuclear site

The September 6 raid over Syria was carried out by the US Air Force, the Al-Jazeera Web site reported Friday. The Web site quoted Israeli and Arab sources as saying that two US jets armed with tactical nuclear weapons carried out an attack on a suspected nuclear site under construction.

This is a printable online calorie counter food nutrition table about the Main foods of the Mediterranean diet. The measurement unit is 100 gr. (0,22 pounds). For more info on weight conversion visit: http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_common.htm

Whats a parent to do? The Christmas season is upon us and Santa may not make very many children happy this year. If there is a particular toy that your child wants and it is on the recall list, he or she is going to be very disappointed Christmas morning. Some toys are on hold and haven?t been shipped to the U. S. yet and some are sitting in ports waiting to see what is going to happen with them.

Not only are these children not going to get the toy they want, they may be getting rid of some of their favorites too. Recalls on Fisher Price, who is a subsidiary of Mattel are rapidly climbing as more problems are found with either lead based paint being used or small magnets that can be swallowed.

In Postsingular, a mad scientist creates a race of nants -- nanites -- that digest the planet and turn it into a computational simulation of Earth, called Vearth. However, an autistic child memorizes a long string of numbers that poisons the nants and causes them to reverse themselves (luckily, theyre engaged in reversible computation) and put the planet back. Thats the setup.

Some time later, another race of benign nanos are released on the earth, the Orphids. Orphids are mezzoscale computers that organize themselves into an intelligent global network, tapping into every human brain and giving people access to outboard cognition facilities, so that anyone can drop out, tune in, and become hyperintelligent. The orphidnetters are haunted by spooks from a parallel dimension, who seek to prevent them from using the smarts of the orphidnet to develop interdimensional travel.

Media reports particularly noted Bushs suggestion that if Mukasey is rejected by the Senate, he will not nominate a replacement. The Washington Times titles its front-page story "Its Mukasey Or No One, Bush Warns." NBC Nightly News reported Mukaseys nomination "does look increasingly shaky ahead of next weeks vote, and if it does fail, the President suggested today that he may not nominate anybody else, leaving him without an attorney general, potentially, for the rest of his term." ABC World News also reported the President "spent much of his day trying to save the nomination."

McClatchy reports, "If the Senate rejects Mukasey because of his stand on waterboarding, Bush said, they would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for attorney general and that would guarantee that America would have no attorney general during this time of war."

Hes Saudi author and cleric, "Dr." Muhammad Al-Arifi, who in a remarkable segment broadcast on Saudi and Kuwaiti television in September, counseled young Muslim men on how to treat their wives.

"Admonish them ? once, twice, three times, four times, ten times," he advised. "If this doesnt help, refuse to share their beds."

And if that doesnt work?

"Beat them," one of his three young advisees responded.

"Thats right," Al-Arifi said.

He goes on to calmly explain to the young men that hitting their future wives in the face is a no-no.

"Beating in the face is forbidden, even when it comes to animals," he explained. "Even if you want your camel or donkey to start walking, you are not allowed to beat it in the face. If this is true for animals, it is all the more true when it comes to humans. So beatings should be light and not in the face."

Rice to be subpoenaed in espionage case

Judge OKs calls for intel officials to discuss talks with pro-Israel lobbyists

Optical illusions that make you fatter and your wallet lighter

Which white circle is larger? The left or the right?

This, when applied to food and plate sizes, is perhaps the most important change you can make to you home life. Serve your food on beautiful large plates and you will naturally serve yourself more of everything. Our animal brain wants to fill the plate, and we were always told to finish what was on our plates as children. But on a smaller plate, less food will fill it. Heres a quick example.

Both food portions are identical in size. In studies Dr. Wansink performed, people ate what was in front of them and if it looked like more, they felt more full. In fact, one study involved a burger that was simply flattened out and placed inside a larger bun. Because it looked like a larger burger, the people in the study felt more satisfied.

Sixty-seven percent support giving contraceptives to students, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

Here is polling question upon which this grandiose claim rests:

Which would you prefer for the public schools in your community?

Provide birth conrol only to those students who have the consent of their parents: 37%

Provide birth control to all students who want it: 30%

Not provide birth control to any student: 30%

DK/NS: 3%

Is that how you read the results? That 67% support giving contraceptives to students?

Doesn?t this mean that only 30% approve of doing so, unless the school has the consent of the parents?

And speaking of parents, most of the respondents aren?t:

Are you the parent of a school-aged child, or not?

Yes 37%

No 63%

That is enough for me to toss this poll out the window, but if you need more convincing?Sweetness and Light keeps rippin.

Arab-American Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan: There is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

If you?ve been waiting for Google to launch its own computer and operating system, that day is here.

Wal-Mart is selling a desktop computer for $199 running Linux GOS? a variant of the popular Ubuntu but with lots of optimization for Google products.

Google the words "worlds oldest blogger," and youll get no shortage of results. The bulk of the stories focus on folks in their mid-to-late 90s--mostly 95 and 96. Impressive, to be sure, but theyve got nothing on Australian great-grandmother, Olive Riley. One would be hard-pressed to find someone who might be able to snatch the title away from Riley, who, in three days, will be turning 108.

Over at Rileys blog, The Life of Riley, theyve already started the celebration--the home that Riley lives at insists that they hold birthday celebrations on Weekdays. But heck, shes already live 3,9417 days, so whats another three, right?

Leaders at a town hall apparently turned their backs on the Lord after their meeting was opened with a prayer in cockney rhyming slang.

They walked out after their guest, Pearly Queen Doreen Golding, recited the Lords prayer with phrases such as forgive us when we cock things up and a reference to God as our china plate in heaven.

A French priest has gone on trial for destroying a fresco in his village chapel on the grounds it depicted Saint Luke as an ox with testicles.

The village of Saint Etienne du Gres, near the southern city of Avignon, commissioned a fresco of the Four Evangelists for the choir of its 11th-century Roman chapel.

The fresco depicted Mark as a lion, John as an eagle, Luke as an ox and Matthew as an angel.

But parish priest Michel Cicculo took deep offence at painter Jacques Descordes depiction of the bulls testicles, and of the angel as a woman with small, nude breasts, and in February 2006 he destroyed the entire work with a rock hammer.

Cicculo, who faces two years in jail and a 30,000 Euro ($47,100) fine for destruction of property, defended his act in court.

"No-one has the right to paint such horrors in a fresco," he said.

A comet that has unexpectedly brightened in the past couple of weeks and now is visible to the naked eye is attracting professional and amateur interest.

Paul Lewis, director of astronomy outreach at the University of Tennessee, is drawing students to the roof of Nielsen Physics Building for special viewings of Comet 17P/Holmes.

"This is truly a celestial surprise," Lewis said. "Absolutely amazing."

Until Oct. 23, the comet had been visible to modern astronomers only with a telescope, but that night it suddenly erupted and expanded.

A similar burst in 1892 led to the comets discovery by Edwin Holmes.

Nearly 2 million low-income Medicare participants could be switched to different insurance plans for their prescription drug coverage next year.

Millions more will have to shop around if they want to avoid double-digit increases in their monthly premiums.

The reassignment of the poorest beneficiaries and the higher premiums for many others are just two reasons why seniors and the disabled may want to look into other plans as the Medicare drug benefit enters its third year.

Under the drug benefit, Medicare subsidizes insurance plans that cover an enrollees prescription drug buys. The government pays insurers extra for covering the very poor.

Brain stimulation sparks out-of-body experience

BOSTON (Reuters) - Electrodes implanted into the brain to treat a man with a stubborn case of ringing in the ear instead sparked an out-of-body sensation, doctors in Belgium reported on Wednesday.

Stimulating the electrodes made the 63-year-old patient feel like he was outside his body twice, for 15 and 21 seconds, and allowed the doctors to use a PET scanner to track which parts of the brain became active during the experience.

Only a certain pattern of stimulation, involving a portion of the superior temporal gyrus, located on the right side of the brain, produced the sensation.

Positron emission tomography, or PET scans, showed that other parts of the brain became active as a result, including the supramarginal gyrus, which processes information from the inner ear designed to detect head movement and position.

4. Make more humane food choices

5. Use the power of the purse

6. Live light on the land

7. Be a compassionate traveler

10. Support international recognition of the importance of animal welfare

Every day millions of animals are born to lives of unspeakable suffering. Every day millions more suffer terrible deaths.

Please add your vote to the half million already collected. Governments are already beginning to listen. Soon they will act. Every vote counts. Read more: Petition reaches half a million names

Taken from the wild as cubs, chained up, abused, and forced to dance for entertainment, Indias dancing bears endure some of the worst cruelty imaginable.  With their teeth filed down and ropes threaded through their sensitive noses, these animals are completely defenseless and at the mercy of their captors.  The bears are conditioned to ?dance? on hot plates when the music is played.  Eventually, to avoid excruciating pain and unspeakable abuse, the bears begin their sad, dance-like shuffle whenever they hear the music. 

Make a difference in the lives of dancing bears in India today >>

 

A Carbon-Free, Stackable Rental Car

The Smart Cities group at the MIT Media Lab is working on two low-cost electric vehicles that it hopes will revolutionize mass transit and help alleviate pollution. Next week, the group will unveil a prototype of its foldable electric scooter at the EICMA Motorcycle Show, in Milan. A prototype for the teams foldable electric car, called the City Car, is slated to follow next year.

The results are in: The ugly, big-eared animal found this summer in Cuero is not the mythical bloodsucking chupacabra. Its just a plain old coyote.

Biologists at Texas State University announced Thursday night that they had identified the hairless doglike creature.

"This is fun, not scary, but if people are worried about the chupacabra, it is probably even more important that we explain the mystery," he said. "Folks can fear what they dont understand, and a big part of the goal in science is to explain the natural world."

He said additional skin samples have been taken to try to determine the cause of the animals hair loss.

Two protesters interrupted Vice President Dick Cheney during a speech at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas on Friday. At the same time, demonstrators gathered outside of the hotel to protest the war in Iraq.

Cheney was giving a speech on policy issues during an event presented by the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth.

One woman wearing a shirt that read "Bring our Troops Home Now" yelled: "Out of Iraq now! Dont attack Iran."

Security escorted her out.

Minutes later, another protester stood up, waving an extended index finger at Cheney, objecting to any potential attack on Iran. He also was led out.

Outside the hotel, about 50 protesters, some donning costumes, shouted criticisms of the war and the Bush administration.

They also held signs listing troop death levels and calling for impeachment. One protester was dressed as Darth Vader, a reference to Cheney?s supposed resemblance to the movie character.

The vagus nerve is among 12 sets of cranial nerves that travel from the brain stem down into the body. They are among the longest nerves, and physiologists had assumed they imparted brain signals one way to internal organs.

When doctors found that Gabriel was weaker than his brother, with an enlarged heart,and believed he was going to die in the womb, his mother Rebecca Jones had to make a heartbreaking decision.

Doctors told her his death could cause his twin brother to die too before they were born, and that it would be better to end Gabriels suffering sooner rather than later.

Mrs Jones decided to let doctors operate to terminate Gabriels life.

Firstly they tried to sever his umbilical cord to cut off his blood supply, but the cord was too strong.

They then cut Mrs Joness placenta in half so that when Gabriel died, it would not affect his twin brother.

But after the operation which was meant to end his life, tiny Gabriel had other ideas.

Although he weighed less than a pound, he put up such a fight for survival that doctors called him Rocky.

STAMFORD, Conn. - An alleged drunken driver will get a new trial after court officials say he was represented by a fake lawyer. Howard Seidler, 62, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested Thursday when he returned to Stamford Superior Court for his clients sentencing.

"This was a terrible fraud on the court," States Attorney David Cohen said.

Court officials charged Seidler with unauthorized practice of law and criminal impersonation. He may also face charges of first-degree larceny and forgery, Cohen said.

Authorities said Seidler claimed to be a real New York attorney named Harold Weber while representing Ismet Idrizaj of Norwalk on a drunken driving charge. A jury deliberated for just eight minutes before convicting Idrizaj, who spent $18,000 on legal fees.

Prosecutor David Applegate, who tried the Stamford drunken driving case, said Seidler asked strange questions during jury selection.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday ahead of a crucial Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn his recent election win and amid rising Islamic militant violence

Private Geo TV network reported the eight judges rejected the declaration of emergency and ordered top officials, including the prime minister, and military officers not to comply.

Shahzad Iqbal, an official at a cable TV news provider in Islamabad said authorities were blocking transmissions of private news channels in Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi. State TV was still on the air.

MODERATOR: Our attention is focused on Iraq, Iran and the wider Middle East. However, much of the world is watching closely Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. How concerned are you about his influence?

CHENEY: We have ? I?m trying to think how to state this diplomatically.

(LAUGHTER)

Diplomacy is hard sometimes.

(LAUGHTER)

We have refrained from making public pronouncements about Mr. Chavez ? I think, for good and legitimate reasons. He?s a ? obviously, an individual with his own agenda. And he spends a great deal of his time worrying about us and criticizing the United States.

My own personal view is that he does not represent the future of Latin America. And the people of Peru (sic), I think, deserve better in their leadership. But that?s obviously a matter they?ve got to resolve for themselves.

The Turning of an Atheist

A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars on Thursday formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop Comcast Corp. from interfering with its subscribers file sharing.

Two of the groups are also asking the FCC to fine Comcast $195,000 for every affected subscriber.

Comcast denies that it blocks file sharing, but acknowledged last week that it was "delaying" some of the traffic between computers that share files.

When David Milarch first visited Northern California in 1968, he thought he would see avenues of coast redwoods 100 miles long. What he found instead was a "moonscape," he said. Nearly 40 years later, the Michigan arborist has returned to the region to realize his dream of preserving and restoring the most ancient of these trees using the latest advances in genetic cloning.

"What does this trees immune system have in it that it has survived when other trees havent?" Milarch asked, leaning against a massive, shaggy trunk of a redwood hes dubbed "Grandma." He estimates the tree is at least 800 years old.

About 95 percent of the original forest has been cut down over the last few hundred years.

Church members said Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyders death was Gods punishment of America for tolerating homosexuality, and they attended his 2006 funeral in Maryland with signs saying "Youre going to hell" and "God hates you."

The jury awarded Snyders family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus $8 million in punitive damages in the first civil suit against the church, which has demonstrated at some 300 military funerals the past two years.

The lawsuit said church Web sites vilified U.S. soldiers, accusing them of being indoctrinated by "fag propaganda."

Outside court on Wednesday, Phelps and his children waved placards with slogans such as "Pray for more dead kids" and "God hates fag enablers," while passing drivers and pedestrians shouted abuse at them.

BROWSE STORIES BY GENRE

In "American Gangster," time doesnt fly, it explodes.

The thing is 2 1/2 hours long; it feels like 40 minutes.

Whether its the next great American crime movie or simply this years professional stunner will be determined over the next few months. For now, its enough to say that the story of the rise and fall of an African American drug kingpin is relentlessly told by the English director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Black Hawk Down"); it just keeps on coming.

Starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, a beneath-the-radar Harlem heroin impresario who puts together an astonishing organization before anyone notices, and Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, the Jersey detective who tracks him, the movie has the aspirations of a crime-and-punishment epic, a superb feel for time and milieu and an almost subliminal feel for myth.

A pair of storks in Brandenburg have found an unlikely home atop this early model Trabant, the infamous East German automobile. The first prototype Trabant, affectionately known throughout Germany as the Trabi, rolled off an assembly line 50 years ago this month.

Washington, Nov 2 - 

A Scottish woman has avoided a prison sentence after she admitted putting dog excrement in her husbands curry.

Jill Martin, 47, took drastic action after her marriage broke down and burst out laughing when her husband Donald started eating the dish at their home in Newton Mearns, Glasgow, Paisley Sheriff Court in central Scotland heard.

She admitted culpable and reckless conduct in May following the incident in March.

But Sheriff Susan Sinclair said that she would not send her to jail because her circumstances are "quite different" than at the time of the attack. She was discharged without punishment.

Defence lawyer Charlie McCusker said Martin had taken action to deal with an alcohol problem and "over a period of years felt undermined by her partner and had very low self-esteem."

The couple, who were married for 21 years, have now instructed lawyers to begin divorce proceedings.

• Police wake people in the middle of the night

No small feat

Racial Slur

The following scene took place on a BA flight between Johannesburg and London. (5/10/2006)

This is a true story.

A White woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a Black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess.

Go Full Screen. To display any page you?re browsing in full screen mode, hit F11. Hitting F11 again will return it to normal size.

Increase and Decrease Text Size. You can instantly decrease the size of text on a Firefox page by hitting Ctrl+hyphen, which is useful for getting more of an aerial view than usual. Crtl+Plus will increase the size of the text again.

Save Pages as Files. To save any web page you?re looking at as a file, hit Ctrl+S.

Start New Tabs. Many people use Firefox?s tabbed browsing very haphazardly. To open a new Tab, hit Ctrl+T. Then enter in whatever URL you want for that tab. You can use Ctrl+Tab to switch between tabs.

Build Your Bookmarks. Hit Ctrl+D and click OK to add any page you?re viewing as a bookmark.

View Your History. Hit Ctrl+H to view your browsing history at the side of your screen.

Quickly Get to Downloaded Files. Hit Ctrl+J to pull up Firefox?s Download Manager. Within Download Manager, you can click on the folder for your downloads to see them.

Gen. Joseph W. Ralston in 1999, now retired. | View larger image

WASHINGTON ? The retired general who served as President Bushs special envoy to deal with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said the United States has failed to keep its promises to Turkey to confront the Kurdish terrorist group, and Turkey may feel that it has no choice but to attack the PKKs sanctuary in northern Iraq.

In his first extended comments since his departure, Ralston told McClatchy Newspapers that the United States is unwittingly "driving, strategically, the Turks and the Iranians together" because both nations share concerns about violent Kurdish separatist groups.

"The U.S. government should make good on the commitments they have made to the Turks," Ralston said.

Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States, while the United States and Iran are increasingly in confrontation across a range of issues.

Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested the next day, saying the statement was "unprecedented" and "very negative," and it complained that Myanmar officials had not been notified in advance.

Symptom Checker

Whats causing your foot pain? Why does your childs throat hurt? And what should you do about it? Use this guide to discover the most common causes of the most common symptoms.

To start, click on a symptom below. Just remember: This is only a guide. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis of your problem.

Welcome to OnlineConversion.com

 Of course not near as big as the part thats going WOOOOOOO_HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Eat that Rev. Bigot!

Even though I fight and oppose this guy with every chance I get, and as happy as I am, theres just a little something that Im not quite comfortable with. And I think its the concept of "drawing the line" with free speech. Once you draw it, it tends to keep moving, a moving line of what is, and is not, free speech. The line changes direction as the political zeitgeist holds sway.

The line, like free speech itself, is a two edged sword. What we like now, we may come to hate, should things change.

X-Factor star Emily Nakanda has pulled out of the show after being caught happy slapping a girl in a sickening attack.

The video apparently shows the 15-year-old in her school uniform launching an attack on another girl.

Seasoned entrepreneur Greg Narian?s latest startup, Lil?Grams, is sure to be the subject of much buzz. Tapping into the capabilities of Web communications tools and popular microblogging platform Twitter, Lil?Grams will allow busy new and expecting parents to easily send quick messages to friends and family, documenting the birth and growth of their children. A mother or father can log in to Lil?Grams, post news about the baby and have it immediately (and privately) sent to family and friends? direct message inbox on Twitter or email.

US Active Duty Military Deaths, 1980 Through 2006

Enlarge

Source: Defense Manpower Da

"Cremated son" turns up alive

LONDON (Reuters) - A mother cremated a body she thought was that of her dead son, only for him to turn up alive later, police said on Friday.

Gina Partingtons 37-year-old son Thomas Dennison was reported missing last month and a body was found in Rusholme, Manchester, three days later.

The 58-year-old mother, from Urmston, Greater Manchester, formally identified the body as that of her son and, following an inquest, the body was cremated on October 30.

But police had actually found Dennison, living rough in Nottingham, four days earlier.

Inquiries are continuing to formally establish the identity of the body, but Greater Manchester police said they believe they know who he is.

Space exploration is about to enter a third age where nations will cooperate to explore the solar system.

Nicolas Peter, a research fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), told the meeting in Vienna that the era of launching space missions to bolster national prestige was long past and that new opportunities for cooperation had emerged since the end of the Cold War. He predicted that an imminent third phase of space exploration could inspire nations to work together in a spirit of discovery.

The Vienna conference Humans in Outer Space ? Interdisciplinary Odysseys on October 11-12, was billed as ?the first comprehensive trans-disciplinary dialogue on humans in outer space.? It brought space scientists face to face with historians, lawyers, political analysts, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, writers and others. It was organised jointly by the European Science Foundation (ESF), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Vienna-based ESPI.

A hyper-advanced civilisation may command such unimaginable power that it can fashion worlds and consume whole suns. But it would still be bound by the laws of physics.

Ask the average scientist about the possibility of an encounter with an extra-terrestrial lifeform, and its likely youll find youve prompted the giggle factor. After rolling their eyes, they remind you that the distances between stars are so vast, its virtually impossible for any aliens to visit us.

But a potential flaw is assuming an extraterrestrial civilisation would be only a few hundred years ahead of us in technology. How about civilisations that may be a million years ahead of ours?