NEWS AND VIEWS

Open link in new window: Guardian unlimited: 'War raised Iraqi death rate by 100,000' :

As many as 100,000 more Iraqi civilians have died in the 18 months since the US-led invasion last year than would have been expected in the period before the war, a study claimed today.

Researchers said the chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before it.

The study, whose results were published today by the respected Lancet medical journal, was based on interviews with Iraqis, most of them doctors. The findings were compared with the pre-war death rate.

The researchers came from Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University in the US and the Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. The report conceded that the data the projections were based on was of "limited precision".

These kind of great offers on ebay are going to dominate the market soon, and I wish this will make computer companies reconsider their prices.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Hobbit' joins human family tree:

"Scientists have discovered a new and tiny species of human that lived in Indonesia at the same time our own ancestors were colonising the world.

The three-foot (one-metre) tall species - dubbed 'the Hobbit' - lived on Flores island until at least 12,000 years ago.

The fact that little people feature in the legends of modern Flores islanders suggests we might have to take tales of Leprechauns and Yeti more seriously."

The emphasis is mine...
It's interesting how more and more "legends" are found to be based on some truth.. No smoke without fire??

لا دُخّان بلا نار؟

CNN.com - Royal Navy to allow devil worship - Oct 24, 2004:
"LONDON, England (CNN) -- A devil-worshipping sailor in the Royal Navy has become the first registered Satanist in the British Armed Forces.

Chris Cranmer, 24, a technician serving on the Type 22 frigate Cumberland, has been officially recognized as a Satanist by the ship's captain.

That allows him to perform satanic rituals aboard and permits him to have a non-Christian Church of Satan funeral should he be killed in action."

Comments??

Open in a new window: Politics1 - 2004 U.S. Presidential Election (P2004):

"REPUBLICAN PARTY:

President George W. Bush (Texas)
Presidential Nominee

Vice President Dick Cheney (Wyoming)
Vice Presidential Nominee

DEMOCRATIC PARTY:
US Senator John F. Kerry (Massachusetts)
Presidential Nominee

US Senator John Edwards (North Carolina)
Vice Presidential Nominee

THIRD PARTY CANDIDATES:

CONCERNS OF PEOPLE (PROHIBITION) PARTY:
Gene Amondson (Alaska)
Presidential Nominee

Leroy Pletten (Michigan)
Vice Presidential Nominee

CONSTITUTION PARTY:
Michael Peroutka (Maryland)
Presidential Nominee

Chuck Baldwin (Florida)
Vice Presidential Nominee

GREEN PARTY:
David Cobb (California)
Presidential Nominee

Pat LaMarche (Maine)
Vice Presidential Nominee

LIBERTARIAN PARTY:
Michael Badnarik (Texas)
Presidential Nominee

Richard Campagna (Iowa)
Vice Presidential Nominee

PEACE & FREEDOM PARTY OF CALIFORNIA:
Leonard Peltier (Kansas)
Presidential Nominee

Janice Jordan (California)
Vice Presidential Nominee

PERSONAL CHOICE PARTY:
Charles Jay (Indiana)
Presidential Nominee

Marilyn Chambers Taylor (California)
Vice Presidential Nominee

PROHIBITION PARTY OF COLORADO:
Earl F. Dodge (Colorado)
Presidential Nominee

Howard Lydick (Texas)
Vice Presidential Nominee

REFORM PARTY / INDEPENDENT:
Ralph Nader (I-Connecticut)
Presidential Nominee

Peter M. Camejo (Green-California)
Vice Presidential Nominee"

Imagine Kerry saying THIS in 2004! - Nader for President 2004 - www.votenader.org

"John Kerry's Original 1971 Testimony Against the War Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

KERRY: I would like to talk to you a little bit about what the result is of the feelings these men carry with them after coming back from Vietnam. The country doesn't know it yet, but it�s created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence, and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history; men who have returned with a sense of anger and a sense of betrayal which no one has yet grasped. As a veteran and one who feels this anger, I would like to talk about it.

...In our opinion, and from our experience, there is nothing in South Vietnam], nothing which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America. And to attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos, by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom, is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it�s that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart. We are probably much more angry than that, and I don't want to go into the foreign policy aspects because I am outclassed here. I know that all of you talk about every possible, every possible alternative of getting out of Vietnam. We understand that. We know you have considered the seriousness of the aspects to the utmost level and I am not going to try to deal on that, but I want to relate to you the feeling that many of the men who have returned to this country express, because we are probably angriest about all that we were told about Vietnam."

....
"And so when, in 30 years from now, our brothers go down the street without a leg, without an arm or a face, and small boys ask why, we will be able to say "Vietnam" and not mean a desert, not a filthy obscene memory but mean instead the place where America finally turned and where soldiers like us helped it in the turning.

Thank you.
(Applause)"

Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Christian leader faults Bush on Iraq deaths:
"Suzanne Goldenberg
Thursday October 21, 2004
The Guardian

Suzanne Goldenberg

George Bush suffered an embarrassing rebellion in the ranks yesterday when the founder of the conservative Christian Coalition said the White House had dismissed the very idea of US casualties in Iraq during the run-up to the war.

In an interview with CNN, the movement's founder, Pat Robertson, described a conversation with Mr Bush shortly before the war in which Mr Robertson voiced his fears for American troops, and suggested it was time to prepare the country for loss.

'I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, 'Mr President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties,'' Mr Robertson said. He said Mr Bush had replied: 'Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties.'"

As Oprah Slaps Bush / With 30 states poised to smack down women's rights again, the one true savior emerges:
"There was Oprah, doing what she does so freakishly well, cheerleading and extolling and impressing upon, getting women up and getting them angry and demanding that they exercise their hard-won right to vote and demanding that they quit dissing their feminist ancestors, the ones who worked so damn hard for suffrage and for freedom of choice and for the right to tell powerful sexist Republican men where they can shove their repressive sexist antichoice bigotry."

Bush Relatives for Kerry

"Bush Relatives for Kerry" grew out of a series of conversations that took place between a group of people that have two things in common: they are all related to George Walker Bush, and they are all voting for John Kerry. As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!

BBC NEWS | Business | Weaker sales affects Coca-Cola

"The world's largest soft drink maker earned $935m (£511m) in the third quarter, down from $1.2bn in the same period in 2003.

Sales in the three months to 30 September was flat at $5.67bn.

Coca-Cola issued a profits warning in September blaming "challenging operating conditions in key markets".

The company had said earnings were affected by cold and wet weather in northern Europe during the summer months."

This category includes news that don't make it to the headlines, but may make readers smile, think and/or wonder...

- Oprah's big surprise - a free car for every audience member
follow up: -Oprah Winfrey's car giveaway entices viewers to Pontiac cars - Sify.com
- Driver humiliated by Texas judge
- Thieves Rob Bus Full of Policemen !
- Men Do Cry- All Over the World
- Frustrated female chimp starts smoking in a Chinese zoo
- A mobile phone to tell your breath odor!!!
- Smeller Robots? "Slicon sensors could save lives"
- Topless protesters ouside Blair's conference. Guess why?
- The bald and the hairful!! 'Funny science' gets its reward
- Oklahoma man stages crime to save his marriage~!
- Blogging may cost you your job!~ 1 year ago: Microsoft fires worker over weblog!
- Laughing Bank Clerk Humiliates Robber
- Chinese-Australian woman uses street billboard to advertise for a husband.
- Brothers Reunited by Fate After 53 Years
- A Norman invents a "fart deodorant!!" (In French)

Open in a new window:Un Normand invente la pilule qui parfume les pets

"ALENCON (AP) - Partant du constat qu'un pet est généralement malodorant, Christian Poincheval, un Normand d'Alençon (Orne), vient de créer une pilule pour parfumer les vents intestinaux d'une douce senteur de menthe ou d'estragon.

'C'était il y a six ans, nous étions en Suisse avec des copains et après un copieux repas, nous nous sommes presque asphyxiés tant nos pets étaient malodorants', explique avec le sourire Christian Poincheval."

Open link in a new window:Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com:

"LISBON (Reuters) - Two brothers from Australia and Argentina who lost contact for 53 years were reunited by chance after recognizing each other on a trip to their native Portugal.

They last saw each other in 1951 when Francisco Gregorio Silva, now 81, moved to Argentina, the daily newspaper Correio da Manha reported Tuesday. His younger brother, Mario Silva, 70, moved to Australia about 20 years later."

In French: Opens link in a new window
Story in English from Reuters.com: Schwarzenegger Says Pro-Bush Speech Cost Him Sex

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Le gouverneur républicain de Californie Arnold Schwarzenegger a révélé avoir été en froid pendant deux semaines avec sa femme démocrate Maria Shriver, membre du clan Kennedy, après le soutien inconditionnel qu'il a apporté au président républicain George W. Bush.
"Nous n'avons pas eu de relations sexuelles pendant 14 jours", a déclaré l'ancien acteur, interrogé lundi soir à Monterey (Californie) en réponse à une question sur la réaction de sa femme après le discours dans lequel il avait déclaré que M. Bush était le meilleur choix pour la Maison Blanche, prononcé lors de la convention républicaine fin août à New York.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Giant billboard used in love hunt(opens in a new page)
Story in French: Pour trouver un mari, une Australienne loue un panneau publicitaire(opens in a new page)

"Under the headline, the billboard reads: 'Beautiful, intelligent Australian-Chinese lady seeks to have dream family with a fabulous partner to enjoy a lifetime with.'

She asks for a man 'ideally in good health (non-smoker or drinker), aged up to 45, unencumbered and of Caucasian appearance'.

Other requirements include a 'good sense of humour, a solid financial background with warm and caring nature', preferably a businessman or professional."

Why not? How is it different from newspaper ads or internet personals?

Open this link in a new page and read the full story at: BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Dark humour for dark times:

"One of the unexpected consequences of the 9/11 attacks in the United States is an upsurge in humour by and about Muslims, which has begun to be enjoyed by a wider American audience.

Is there such a thing as Muslim humour?

I wondered this in the lobby of the Keenan Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina, as I waited to see a show called Allah Made Me Funny.

It was an unlikely venue for one of the stops on a tour by three Muslim stand-up comics"

I think humor is humor everywhere (whethere it is spelled in British 'humour' or American 'humor'). What I don't understand is why it has to be labeled Muslim?

Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com:

"ZAGREB (Reuters) - A Croatian armed robber abandoned a bank hold up after the cashier laughed at his order to stick 'em up, state news agency Hina reported on Thursday.

The masked robber entered a bank at Zagreb's main square in plain daylight and threatened the clerk with his gun.

'Knowing she was behind a bulletproof glass, the clerk laughed heartily, rang her boss to say she was being robbed and asked him to call the police,' Zagreb police spokeswoman Gordana Vulama told the agency."

Click the following to open the link in a new page:Microsoft fires worker over weblog:

"Thursday, October 30, 2003
...
Michael Hanscom began keeping an online journal, commonly known as a weblog, several years ago. He started his job as a contract worker in Microsoft's print shop last year. Last week, he mixed the two.

This week, he's looking for a new job, after becoming an unwilling case study in the fine line walked by corporate employees who write about work in their personal weblogs."
...
"According to Hanscom, he offered to take the post down, but he was told that wouldn't prevent the company from letting him go. 'I would have much rather have done that than have lost my paycheck,' he said yesterday."

BBC NEWS | Health | Learning languages 'boosts brain':

"They found learning other languages altered grey matter - the area of the brain which processes information - in the same way exercise builds muscles.

People who learned a second language at a younger age were also more likely to have more advanced grey matter than those who learned later, the team said.

Scientists already know the brain has the ability to change its structure as a result of stimulation - an effect known as plasticity - but this research demonstrates how learning languages develops it."

Haaretz - Israel News - Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them:

"A few weeks ago, a senior Greek Orthodox clergyman in Israel attended a meeting at a government office in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul quarter. When he returned to his car, an elderly man wearing a skullcap came and knocked on the window. When the clergyman let the window down, the passerby spat in his face."

What reason could make anybody spit in someone else's face?

News

"Christians in Iraq faced little religious persecution under the secular regime of Saddam Hussein. Senior members of the Baath party, including Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, were Christians. Now, they say, they receive scant protection from the US and British military in the face of the onslaught. Some of the early killings, mainly of shopkeepers, happened in the supposedly safer, British-run south of the country."

Aljazeera.Net - US church piles pressure on Israel

from: Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com:

"According to police, Spencer, a high school teacher, paid two students $100 each to break into his house and try to make off with a stereo.

The masked students tied his wife with duct tape and her husband was in the house just in time to foil the supposed crime, police said.

Police said Spencer attacked the two in a choreographed fight, even hitting one with a board that he had cut to break in half. The plan was going well until his wife freed herself and called police, something Spencer did not anticipate, police said."

Staging a crime to impress someone? Does it sound familiar?

from: BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush's bulge stirs media rumours (Link will open in a new page)

"A bulge in the back of President George W Bush's suit jacket during the first TV debate with John Kerry has triggered rumours that he was wired to get help."

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australians hold anti-war rallies:
"The future of around 850 Australian troops in the Gulf has become an important issue in the campaign.

The nationwide call for Australia to pull its forces out of the Gulf has been noisy and passionate."

BBC NEWS | Americas | Tutu in anti-Guantanamo theatre:

"Archbishop Desmond Tutu is to appear in a New York off-Broadway play highly critical of the US handling of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

He will take part in two productions of 'Guantanamo - honour-bound to defend freedom', over the weekend.

He will play Lord Justice Stein, a judge who questions the legal justification of the detention regime.

Once a leading campaigner against apartheid, Archbishop Tutu is a vocal critic of the Guantanamo system."

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Funny science' gets its reward:

"Researchers who patented a comb-over hairstyle in 1975 were top prize winners in the engineering section of this years Ig Nobel awards.

Father and son team Frank and Donald Smith developed a method to cover partial baldness using only the individual's own hair."