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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:
Your plans for the day may change early this morning, but it won't bother you much. Of course, you're nothing if not versatile. What's really going to surprise you is how little it will also bother those you're canceling with. But since the heavenly lineup on duty at the moment is perfect for inspiring one and all to be flexible -- if not downright spontaneous -- it really makes sense. Go with the flow. It's the only thing to do.


Some of our readers today have been in:
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India
Port-Au-Prince, Ouest, Haiti
Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Queluz, Lisboa, Portugal
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Sandnes, Rogaland, Norway
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina
Tampere, Southern Finland, Finland
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

as well as Belgium, Egypt, Sweden, and the United States in such cities as Seminole, Garland, Greenacres, Toledo, Little Falls and many more ... also for some reason we were extremely popular in Salem, Oregon today.
We would like to welcome our newest readers in Haiti.
We are now read in 181 countries.

Today is Tuesday, March 23, the 82nd day of 2010.
There are 283 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays and celebrations are:
National Puppy Day,
Near Miss Day
and
World Meteorological Day

It is also American Diabetes Association Alert Day

As The World Turns

As The World Turns
Abbas al-Sahan, one of Baghdad's premier plastic surgeons, said he averages about 20 cosmetic surgeries a week - 70 percent on women.
If history is any guide, a second, more destructive volcano could blow after this weekend's eruption, even threatening transatlantic flights

China State Media Step Up Rhetoric Against Google
Chinese state media launched a fresh volley of articles attacking the "politicization" of Google after media reports suggest the Internet giant may soon officially pull out of China.
And pull out they did. Yesterday Google had this to say:
"Today we stopped censoring our search services on Google.cn."
Earlier today, Google.cn (that's the China domain) began redirecting to Google.com.hk (that's the Hong Kong domain).
Google_logo_cn.png [E]arlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk. Due to the increased load on our Hong Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as we switch everything over.

Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services. We will therefore be carefully monitoring access issues, and have created this new web page, which we will update regularly each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in China.
And here's the official Google meter that shows when and if China begins filtering the presently unfiltered Hong Kong edition of Googles' services.

Speaking of China:  Sandstorms across China prompt health warnings 

Massive sandstorms choke Chinese cities

Cars were covered in soot in minutes, even on islands 100 miles offshore. 
Also:
Sarkozy's party routed at polls
(even in France they don't like wingnuts)

The center-left won every region except for Alsace with even the previous center-right Corsica changing to the left. What is interesting is that people are saying this has a lot to do with Sarkozy's failures during the economic crisis. Compared to the US, UK and many other countries the impact of the recession in France has been limited. Unemployment has moved up but it's hardly as noticeable as other countries

From: The Guardian:
The leader of France's reinvigorated Socialist party hailed an "unprecedented victory" for the left at the ballot box last night after voters dealt a crushing defeat to Nicolas Sarkozy's rightwing party in regional elections.

With almost all votes counted, official figures indicated that a leftwing alliance led by socialists and ecologists had won 54% of the nationwide ballot, leaving the president's beleaguered UMP party with just 35%.

Across mainland France, the left claimed victory in 21 of the 22 regions. The only chink of light for the UMP came in Alsace. Corsica, which in 2004 was retained by the UMP, fell to the left for the first time since 1984. A relative comeback by the far right Front National, which scored over 20% in two regions, added to the ruling party's woes.

Bangladeshi man beheaded to redden bricks

A Bangladeshi man was beheaded by labourers who burnt his head in a kiln in the belief this would redden their bricks, police said on Sunday.

Four suspects were arrested for murdering the 26-year-old bricklayer in a remote town in northern Bangladesh on the instructions of the brick-field's owners, said Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan, a local police chief.


"They said the owners were unhappy as the brick-field was not producing reddish bricks despite enough heating. A fortune teller then suggested that the brick-field needed a human sacrifice," he said.

Police were searching for the owners and the fortune teller, he added. Red bricks are in huge demand in Bangladesh's countryside as the colour is seen as proof the bricks have been baked properly.

India embarrassed by ad that puts its capital in Pakistan

An advert for a new luxury train service has embarrassed India's rail ministry by placing the country's capital, New Delhi, inside Pakistan.

Other gaffes made in announcing the inaugural run of the Maharajas' Express placed Kolkata, the Buddhist pilgrimage center of Gaya and the Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve in the Bay of Bengal.

The agency that designed the ad - promising to show passengers "an India like never before!" - amended a version approved by Eastern Railways on March 19, the rail company's spokesman, Samir Goswami, said.


"The agency decided to mark the train route more prominently in the final copy of the advertisement, given to newspapers, without informing us," Mr Goswami said.

The Maharajas' Express, aimed at wealthy tourists, is a joint venture between the rail ministry's Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and the Indian arm of the international tour operator Cox and Kings.

From its starting point in Kolkata, the train calls on key pilgrimage sites and the Taj Mahal town of Agra before pulling into New Delhi at the end of a seven-night trip. The cost ranges from $1,400 a night for an ordinary suite to $2,500 a night for the presidential suite.

The State Of The Nation

The State Of The Nation
Sailor Faces Discharge For Using Pot To Treat PTSD
For nine years, Bill Osborn served as a Navy corpsman, but everything in his life changed in Afghanistan last May.
Full story

Police officer buys car seat for motorist

A Knoxville woman now can travel safely with her son, thanks to the efforts of a University Heights police officer.

University Heights officer Don Strong said he was doing traffic enforcement at about 3 p.m. on Thursday when he noticed what appeared to be a small child bouncing in the back of a passenger vehicle. Concerned for the child's wellbeing, Strong pulled the car over and found the boy, who he estimated to be about 3 years old, to be completely unrestrained.

Strong, a car seat technician, said the boy's mother, Roanna Weldon, reported that she, the boy and the boy's grandmother had an 80-mile drive back to Knoxville but had no car seat to secure the boy. Strong said he wasn't willing to let the family go without finding them a car seat.

Wanting to get the family back on the road, but not willing to let them go with the child unsecured, Strong drove the boy and grandmother to the Iowa City Walmart and the mother followed. Inside, the family found a car seat but said they had no way to pay for it.

"So, I paid for it," Strong said. He said the car seat set him back $60, "a small price to pay for the child's safety."

He said this was his first time buying a car seat for a stranger, but he doesn't expect to get paid back. "I try to help out whenever possible," he said.

Here's something worth remembering on those days when you're wondering if there's any difference between Democrats and Republicans. The US Chamber of Commerce has budgeted $50-million for defeating Democrats in this fall's Congressional election.

N.J. Senate panel to reconsider Janet Rosenzweig nomination
The state Senate today refused to consider the nomination of acting Department of Children and Families Commissioner Janet Rosenzweig as questions lingered about her credentials and her role at an organization that specializes in sex research.

Burglar enters NJ restaurant, cooks chicken, ignores cash
Police in a New Jersey town say someone broke into a restaurant and cooked a chicken and rice dish before fleeing - leaving behind a pile of dirty dishes.

Air travelers face tougher security

Get ready to be scanned, swabbed, and thoroughly patted down at airports.  
Also:

Local Hospitality

Local Hospitality

Danville Police say he is extremely violent and considered dangerous.
 

Police Search For Escaped Mental Health Patient

A Slice of Philosophy

What if this weren't a hypothetical question?

In Matters Of Health

In Matters Of Health

What the health care bill means to you

Some parts of the new plan, including a change on pre-existing conditions, will take effect immediately.  
Also:

Timeline for health care changes

Consumers will see effects of the new law soon, but key benefits are far off.  
Also:
Super mosquito could fight malaria
They are normally transmitters of the disease, but mosquitoes could one day be used to tackle malaria after scientists developed a genetically engineered version of the species that can deliver a vaccine.

Company policy at insurance giant Assurant Health targeted HIV+ customers for fraud investigation and policy cancellation.
 
Huge insurance conglomerate Wellpoint Health Networks (which operates as Blue Cross of California, Blue Cross of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Missouri and Wisconsin, HealthLink, and UNICARE) promised to give $30-million in health care for uninsured, but came up $24-million short on that pledge.

The Food and Drug Administration has announced its long-awaited regulation of tobacco, with a list of actions that make good sense to me. Under the new rules, the FDA will:
      Ban tobacco companies from sponsoring sporting and entertainment events.
      Outlaw free cigarette samples and giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of tobacco.
      Prohibit the sale of cigarettes in packs of fewer than 20, eliminating so-called "kiddie packs" that public health experts say make cigarettes more affordable.
      Restrict tobacco products in vending machines and self-service displays to adult-only facilities, and require stores to place them behind the counter.Forbid sales to children younger than 18 and require photo identification for over-the-counter sales.
      Provide for federal enforcement against violators, ranging from warning letters to criminal penalties.
      In addition, the agency is weighing whether to issue an additional rule for outdoor advertising, such as billboards. 

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe 
With the copious amount of material these idiots provide it makes it difficult to cull ... that and the gales of laughter interrupt the process continuously.
So, when is Lush Dimbulb heading for Costa Rica?
Oh, wait ... has anyone checked to see if they have underage male prostitutes like they do in his favorite spot the Dominican Republic? If not the blow-hard tub of lard won't leave us to go to Costa Rica.
Wingnut Blogger Calls For Obama's Assassination On Twitter

Sunday, wingnut blogger Solomon "Solly" Forell posted a tweet that included a call for assassination, as well as this line: "We'll surely get over a bullet 2 Barack Obama's head!"
Conservative Blogger Calls For Obama's 
Assassination On Twitter (Updated)
Sunday, self-described wingnut blogger Solomon "Solly" Forell posted a tweet that included a call for assassination, as well as this line: "We'll surely get over a bullet 2 Barack Obama's head!"
It gets worse:
Forell then followed that tweet up with this one:


Conservative Blogger Calls For Obama's 
Assassination On Twitter (Updated)
Forell may think he's protected by the first amendment when it comes to his tweets, but the law begs to differ, specifically 18 USC sec. 871:

Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the united states, the president-elect, the vice president or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of president of the united states, or the vice president-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the president, president-elect, vice president or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of president, or vice president-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

In the past two days, two idiots tweeted that President Barack Obama should be assassinated, apparently incensed over the health care reform vote. @THHEE_JAY, identified as Jay Martin, tweeted just that, and followed up with "If I lived in DC. I'd shoot him myself. Dead f***ing serious." A day earlier, one Solly Forell tweeted, "ASSASSINATION! America, we survived the Assassinations and Lincoln & Kennedy. We'll surely get over a bullet to Barrack Obama's head." Incidentally, both people happened to be black, and both self-identify as conservatives. 

They've both been paid visits by their new pals at the Secret Service.
The repugican's strategy of fear lost Sunday

The health care vote was a political victory for President Obama and Speaker Pelosi.

And, then there are the repugicans. Paul Krugman dissected the politics surrounding the health care debate -- and the repugican strategy of fear:
Instead, the emotional core of opposition to reform was blatant fear-mongering, unconstrained either by the facts or by any sense of decency.

It wasn’t just the death panel smear. It was racial hate-mongering, like a piece in Investor’s Business Daily declaring that health reform is “affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color.” It was wild claims about abortion funding. It was the insistence that there is something tyrannical about giving young working Americans the assurance that health care will be available when they need it, an assurance that older Americans have enjoyed ever since Lyndon Johnson — whom Mr. Gingrich considers a failed president — pushed Medicare through over the howls of conservatives.

And let’s be clear: the campaign of fear hasn’t been carried out by a radical fringe, unconnected to the Republican establishment. On the contrary, that establishment has been involved and approving all the way. Politicians like Sarah Palin — who was, let us remember, the G.O.P.’s vice-presidential candidate — eagerly spread the death panel lie, and supposedly reasonable, moderate politicians like Senator Chuck Grassley refused to say that it was untrue. On the eve of the big vote, Republican members of Congress warned that “freedom dies a little bit today” and accused Democrats of “totalitarian tactics,” which I believe means the process known as “voting.”
Fear, it's all the repugicans had. It's all they still have. The repugican motto should be, to paraphrase FDR, the only thing we have is fear itself.

It's good to know that one of the media insiders, Newsweek's Howard Fineman, thinks repugican party was on of the losers in this debate:
The Republican Party: They'll gain seats in the midterms for sure, but not necessarily as many as they are assuming. For one, the world is not going to end if and when the bill becomes law. In fact, nothing much at all will happen. That will be a relief to many, and no grist for the GOP. The Dems will have something to run on. and the Democrats president will look like a winner.
Texas repugican member yells 'baby killer!' at Stupak
Good thing he took such a hard line on abortion, otherwise the repugican might be mean to him.

The 20,000 court fine against birther nutball Orly Taitz has been upheld on appeal, which means that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is in on the conspiracy. Undaunted or perhaps in celebration, Ms Taitz has filed to run for Secretary of State in California.
Liars and Fools
As Congress passes its disappointingly mild regulation of the insurance cartel, to the wingnuts it's "a day that will go down in infamy as did the attack on Pearl Harbor", etc, etc, ad nauseum. 
Where's the bucket I think I'm gonna hurl ...
Still has no clue as to want socialism is I see.
Fear-mongering at it's worst I see.
Repugicans put 'wanted!' posters on Dem congressmen's seats Sunday in US House
So much for acting like adults. 
We can expect much more behavior like this if the repugicans ever come back to power in Washington.

Repugican unveils bill to reinstate pre-existing conditions, remove kids from parents' plans, kill puppies, etc.
Typical.
Should go over real well, don't you think!
At least one wingnut has opened his eyes ...
... it’s Waterloo all right: ours.
David Frum is a wingnut. This piece by him about the passage of health care reform in the House is a must-read that's flying around town:
No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?

We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat.

There were leaders who knew better, who would have liked to deal. But they were trapped. Conservative talkers on Fox and talk radio had whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible. How do you negotiate with somebody who wants to murder your grandmother? Or – more exactly – with somebody whom your voters have been persuaded to believe wants to murder their grandmother?

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.

So today’s defeat for free-market economics and Republican values is a huge win for the conservative entertainment industry. Their listeners and viewers will now be even more enraged, even more frustrated, even more disappointed in everybody except the responsibility-free talkers on television and radio. For them, it’s mission accomplished. For the cause they purport to represent, it’s Waterloo all right: ours.
And lest we forget ... the 'repugican Health Care Plan'

This is probably a good time to review the repugican health care plan, which Rep. Alan Grayson exposed last September:

Grayson nailed it. Just nailed it. This video seems even more relevant today than it did back in September.

Heckler's outburst reveals dilemma

Rep. Randy Neugebauer's stinging words during the health vote debate says everything about the repugicans. Misheard? 
Also:

Scientific Minds Want To Know

Scientific Minds Want To Know
Lucy

The brutal deed could explain mysterious heat radiating from the icy planet and the tilted, backwards orbit of its moon Triton.
The Achilles heel of ceramics is their tendency to crack when suddenly cooled – a material that cloaks itself in a blanket of air can fix that.
What the world needs now is technological pragmatism, not green fundamentalism, says the man who taught a generation how to drop out.

Get enough of the right brain cells to talk about the same thing, and out pops a conscious thought.
False convictions could be slashed by statistical tools that calculate the probability of "matches" being spurious. 
A young galaxy is making stars 100 times as fast as our own, perhaps fuelled by merging galaxies
*****
OMEGA Systems - algae
The NASA-developed technology, called OMEGA (Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae) is a low-cost and low-tech method for growing algae. Unlike other approaches to growing algae, which require construction of massive energy-intensive facilities, OMEGAs are relatively inexpensive. OMEGAs are inflatable plastic membranes filled with processed wastewater, CO2 gas, and freshwater algae. OMEGAs float in water, and can be anchored off the coast of any ocean or salt lake. As the algae grow, using the energy of the sun, they convert wastewater and CO2 into biomass, and oxygen. OMEGA’s uniquely utilize forward-osmosis membranes to permeate purified water out of the OMEGA and into the surrounding water.

Moon water comes in three 'flavors'

Not only is there variety in lunar water, but some of it may come from elsewhere.   
Also:
*****

It's The Economy Stupid

It's The Economy Stupid                                                         

How to track down your tax refund

The IRS' "Where's My Refund?" site lets you know if your check is on its way or missing.
Also:

America's most 'underwater' cities

In the worst-hit area, more than 81% of single-family mortgages have negative equity.
Also:

High-end repo man targets jets, yachts

Ken Cage's specialty is repossessing luxury items — even racehorses — from the formerly rich.  
Also:

Average tax refund jumps by 10%

Many Americans will see a bigger check from the IRS this year, thanks to a boost in tax benefits. 
Also:

Highest-paying degrees share same skills

One major dominates a new list of the top 10 highest-earning bachelor's degrees.  
Also:

Interesting In General

Interesting In General
water infographic image
The world is covered in oceans, rivers and lakes, but when we look at how much actually makes it to our faucets, it only amounts to around 0.08%. When we account for what water is fresh, and in the ground table, and not being used for agriculture or industry, and not too polluted to drink, there just isn't much left.
Knowing our water footprint - especially when it comes to the food and products we buy - has never been more important. It's no wonder water footprint labeling and water accounting has been a topic of interest among businesses lately.
Check out the incredible statistics that whittle our available water supply down to next to nothing, and the surprising reasons why so little works its way to our taps. Click on the graphic to enlarge.
And click through for more interesting - and appalling - water statistics.
Article continues: Infographic: Of All The Water in the World, We Only Get Just 0.08%








Potential car-jacker messes with the wrong vehicle

A car-jacking suspect messed with the wrong vehicle on Friday night in a Kirkland parking lot. A pit bull rescued earlier from an illegal dog-fighting ring was sitting inside in the car - and that dog wasn't taking any more passengers.

On Friday night, Victor had a chance to return the favour in a grocery parking lot. The dog's foster mother, Amber Melena says she stopped by the store on a routine shopping trip and brought 3-year-old Victor along for the ride.


"I opened the door like this and put the groceries in," she says. "I was just reaching for my seatbelt, and right as I was turning to click it in, this door flew open. And he was just standing right there."

Amber found herself face-to-face with a possible car-jacker. The man spooked Victor, too - but the dog was quick to act. "He turns around and lets out just this gigantic woof," says Amber. "And this man throws himself backwards, trips on himself and falls down." Police later arrested the man. And thanks to Victor, Amber wasn't hurt.

From Treehugger:
cruise-ship-pollution.jpg
Photo via Alex Hofford
Newly proposed restrictions would limit the amount of pollution cruise liner ships can emit in waters 200 miles around the coast of the US and Canada. The proposal is about to be adopted by the UN's International Maritime Organization, and is supported by many governmental groups, including the EPA. In fact, according to Reuters, the EPA argues that adopting the pollution controls would clear the air of particulates in port cities--and would save 8,300 lives a year. Which would mean that unregulated pollution from cruise lines is currently killing 8,300 people a year in the US and Canada . . .
Article continues: Cruise Liner Pollution Kills Up to 8,300 People a Year in US and Canada, Says EPA

Seven quick dinners

Make planning meals a pleasure with these simple menus for every day of the week.  
Also:

Odds and Sods

Odds and Sods                                                                       
Salmonella contamination at a Nevada food-flavoring plant may trigger the recall of as many as 10,000 products.

In Cop News








Burglar caught on CCTV frantically looking for way out of warehouse

A would-be thief who fell 30ft through a warehouse roof was caught on CCTV searching for a way out for half an hour, before having to phone a friend.

He then tried to steal a mountain bike from White Water Active in Llangollen, Denbighshire, but had to return it when it would not fit in his getaway car.


He even cleared up at the firm to try to cover his tracks - although the hole in the roof left quite a large clue.

"We're looking for a really tidy guy," said company owner Jim Jayes.

Video.
*****

Drug suspect avoids toilet for a month

A suspected drugs mule has not gone to the toilet for more than a month - to hang on to cocaine parcels thought to be hidden in his stomach.

Police think the 49-year-old British man swallowed the packages before getting on a flight home from Columbia. But he refuses to have an X- ray - and police say he is eating as little as possible to prevent nature from taking its course.

Last week the man's lawyers argued he should be freed because officials have been unable to provide evidence that he is a smuggler. But Uxbridge Magistrates' Court in north-west London ruled he must remain in the custody of the UK Border Agency until he goes to the toilet.

Usually, suspects are monitored having two bowel movements to make sure there is nothing stored in their bellies. But police in this case are being forced to play a bizarre waiting game while the man tries to cheat the system.

The longer it goes on, the more danger there is of the packaging around any parcels disintegrating. And if they contain cocaine, it could kill him. A legal source said: "There is only so long this can go on for. It is a real case of shit or bust."

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was held on suspicion of importing class-A drugs on February 16 at London's Heathrow airport, and charged three days later. GP Dr Carol Cooper told us: "Not having a motion for a month is on the border of what the human body can stand. His bowel could rupture - he is putting his life at great risk."

And you think religion is sane?
Islam to sue for defamation
Article Preview

95,000 descendants of the prophet Muhammad are planning to bring a libel action in Britain over “blasphemous” cartoons of the founder of Islam, even though they were published in the Danish press.

The defamation case is being prepared by Faisal Yamani, a Saudi lawyer acting for the descendants, who live in the Middle East, north Africa and as far afield as Australia.

Mark Stephens, a British lawyer who has seen a “pre-action” letter sent by Yamani to 10 Danish newspapers, said it “specifically says” he will launch proceedings in London.

And again the catholic church proving how fucked up they really are.

The appointment of a new exorcist by Sydney's Catholic Church precedes a warning by a senior clergyman that generation Y risks a dangerous fascination with the occult fuelled by the Twilight and Harry Potter series. 

Julian Porteous, the auxiliary bishop of Sydney, warns that pursuing such ''alternative'' relaxation techniques as yoga, reiki massages and tai chi may encourage experimentation with ''deep and dark spiritual ideas and traditions''. 

Bishop Porteous, who is second to Cardinal George Pell in the Australian Catholic hierarchy, told The Sun-Herald the Twilight and Harry Potter books and films ''are attractive to adolescents and can be innocent enough. 

''However, they can open up a fascination with this mysterious world and invite exploration of various phenomena through the use of occult practices like seances.''

Father-and-son pot farmers in San Francisco have been acquitted by a jury that refused to send them to prison.
Microsoft's next version of its browser, Internet Explorer 9, won't work with Microsoft's Windows XP, which remains the world's most popular operating system.
Family writes notes for 11 years after 'bug' found in home 
Members of an Egyptian family have been writing notes to each other for 11 years instead of talking in their home after the head of the family, identified as Muhammad, discovered a listening device.
There's one born every minute ...
A Southern California couple who bragged on the "Dr. Phil" show about making $100,000 by selling shoplifted toys on eBay was sentenced Monday to federal prison.