Rollin'

Pierced Eyeglasses

2007-06-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.arborsci.com/CoolStuff/JulianBeever.htm

“People should think things out fresh and not just accept conventional terms and the conventional way of doing things.”
- R. Buckminster Fuller

The idea of hanging eyeglasses from a piercing or a combination of piercings or even transdermal implants is something that a lot of us have toyed with — as I was writing this, my old boss Tom Brazda reminded me that almost ten years ago we made a set of them built around a 10ga bridge piercing (with both left and right-handed threading to make it adjustable). That said, I don’t think we ever took pictures, so maybe I’m making it up because I want to steal James Sooy’s thunder. He’s who sent me this gorgeous example of a piercing-mounted set of eyeglasses:

James is an artist currently designing and painting for Texas-based Magnificent Egos, a minatures (as in gaming) company. Art consumes all of his time, professionally and personally, and much of it is centered around character design, which gives him both time — and money — to fantasize about mods on fictional characters. With the help of his friend Oliver (who many of you know as one of the founding members and guerrilla engineers of the suspension group TSD) this fantasy was made real.
BME:	How did you come up with the idea of attaching a pair of glasses to a piercing?
JAMES:	I’m not sure... some time during the drooling days of high school the idea came to me. I kept it in mind over the years and got the bridge piercing this July and then started looking to make it happen. Maybe it had something to do with not being able to wear contacts.
OLIVER:	I had originally considered making a pair of glasses that hung from a bridge piercing for myself about ten years ago. It was just one of those things that seemed so obvious that I was surprised I hadn’t seen it done. I never got around to doing it then, since I wasn’t too keen on getting a bridge piercing. When I got a call from James inquiring if I could help him with some jewelry he wanted to make, and then he mentioned he wanted to do the glasses as well, I jumped on the opportunity. He already had the piercing done over at Obscurities, here in Dallas, so I knew he was more serious about it than I ever was.
BME:	And how did you guys formalize the design?
JAMES:	Oliver and I sat down for about five minutes one night to think over what would need to be done and he got straight to work making the brackets out of aluminum with a small mill in his garage!
OLIVER:	Originally we were discussing and sketching ideas that would have been considerably more involved to produce. The ones that we ended up making aren’t necessarily the final product, but seemed the best and easiest way to test the viability of the idea. The brackets were machined from aluminum, roughly to shape and then drilled and tapped on my little tabletop Sherline mill — a machine that’s far more suited to this size project than what I normally use it for! After a fair bit of tweaking and polishing with files and abrasives we ended up with what you see. The part you don’t see is a barbell from Anatometal.
JAMES:	The threading on the barbell was 1.2 mm, which happens to be a relatively uncommon and expensive thread (as far as screws go). The screws ended up delaying the project about a month. We used some lenses out of an old pair of glasses I had at first, but I decided to get some new lenses once everything else was finished.
BME:	What’s it like actually wearing it? What does it feel like?
JAMES:	They feel exactly like a regular pair of glasses, actually. I put the nose pads on to keep them from swinging around, so all the pressure is placed there, just like any other pair of glasses. Since they have no frame on the side I can wear them while I sleep and still roll onto my side.
BME:	Good thinking; so the piercing is more of a balance point than something structural. Does that make it more than just a “show piece”, and into something that you wear for real?
JAMES:	I’ve only had them for about a week now, but I’ve been sleeping and showering in them. I hadn’t taken them off in four days when one of the brackets cut me while I was asleep; I’d forgotten to sand the edges and they were still razor sharp. They’re back on now and seem reliable enough to take on a two week trip over the holidays; I doubt I’ll need to take them off during that time. Taking them on and off is a bit of a hassle, as it involves taking a tiny screwdriver and unscrewing them while they’re on my face — about a 5 to 10 minute process — which I suppose is about what you’d spend with contacts.
BME:	I hope they don’t get caught on anything... I suppose that could tear them out rather unpleasantly. Any thoughts on how the engineering might change for the next model?
OLIVER:	This pair isn’t quite what I was looking for both in design terms and in terms of fit. I don’t think they sit at quite the right angle to his face and we both want them to sit a little closer to his eyes, so we’ll probably make another pair in the near future. Much as there are so many designs and styles of eyeglasses currently being manufactured, I think there are a number of ways this design could be improved upon. I certainly think they look neat and ended up being far more subtle than I thought they would be. I didn’t even realize he was wearing them when I saw him a few days later, and he mentioned that most people don’t notice that they are only attached to the piercing.
BME:	What’s next?
JAMES:	I suppose I could try to make marketable version if I had ambition to do so — something easier to take on and off. As for me I only have run of the mill tattoos and piercings planned right now, but seeing how some of my friends and family are in the community and looking to push the frontier, it means I have the manpower at hand to try out what comes to mind, so I’ll keep trying out any of my feasible ideas. Being young and unsure where my future will lead, I’m quite reserved about anything permanent and visible, which limits what I’m willing to do right now... As well as not having the time or resources to work on any major projects, so it’ll just be the ones that steadily work their way in, like the glasses.
BME:	Since people are going to ask me, I have to ask... are these for sale?
JAMES:	As far as money I only spent about $10 on screws and $75 for new lenses. And I bought Oliver a meal.
OLIVER:	I don’t have any intention at this point of pursuing the idea commercially but it’s not something I’m averse to doing. If others were interested I might work something out with them. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a more developed version of these glasses from the existing body jewelry companies. I know there are any number of people here on IAM that could probably do a much better job both in the design and execution.

Be sure to visit James over at jamessooy.com, and of course you can visit Oliver at iam:antagonist. Thanks to both of them for taking the time to talk to BME, and for thinking creatively about body modification... Too few people understand that it’s OK to try something different or new.

Finally, I apologize that an article on the creative application of piercings has such an uncreative title.

http://www.arborsci.com/CoolStuff/JulianBeever.htm

Why Americans Should Never Be Allowed To Travel

2007-05-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

The following are actual stories provided by travel agents:

I had someone ask for an aisle seats so that his or her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window.

A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, "Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?"

I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts. "Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, "Capecod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa." Her response ... click.

A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don't lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state."

I got a call from a man who asked, "Is it possible to see England from Canada?" I said, "No." He said "But they look so close on the map."

Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had a 1-hour lay over in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time."

A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am. I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of llinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that!

A woman called and asked, "Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who's luggage belongs to who?" I said, "No, why do you ask?" She replied, "Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?" After putting her on hold for a minute while I "looked into it" (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

I just got off the phone with a man who asked, "How do I know which plane to get on?" I asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, "I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them."

A woman called and said, "I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes." I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, "Yeah, whatever."

A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. "Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those." I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, "Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express."

A woman called to make reservations, "I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York" The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: "Are you sure that's the name of the town?" "Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere." The customer retorted, "Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!" The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?" "That's it! I knew it was a big animal!"

The Mind of a Hacker.

2007-05-26T04:11:00.000-07:00

Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...

Damn kids. They're all alike.

But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?

I am a hacker, enter my world...

Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...

Damn underachiever. They're all alike.

I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain forthe fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..."

Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.

I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me... Or thinks I'm a smart ass... Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...

Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.

And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is found.

"This is it... this is where I belong..." I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...

Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...

You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you callus criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.

I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.

Facts in the Human World.

2007-05-26T02:32:00.000-07:00

The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.

When Albert Einstein died, his final words died with him. The nurse at his side didn't understand German.

St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.

The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927.

St. John was the only one of the 12 Apostles to die a natural death.

Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer (more commonly known as Satan) are the only 3 angels to be named in the bible.
According to Genesis all demons are angels who were cast out of heaven after Lucifer tried to take God's throne and several of the other angels bowed down and worshiped him.

Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died.

Some very Orthodox Jew refuse to speak Hebrew, believing it to be a language reserved only for the Prophets.

A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.

Born 4 January 1838, General Tom Thumb's growth slowed at the age of 6 months, at 5 years he was signed to the circus by P.T. Barnum, and at adulthood reached a height of only 1 metre.

Because they had no proper rubbish disposal system, the streets of ancient Mesopotamia became literally knee-deep in rubbish.

The Toltecs, Seventh-century native Mexicans, went into battle with wooden swords so as not to kill their enemies.

China banned the pigtail in 1911 as it was seen as a symbol of feudalism.

The Amayra guides of Bolivia are said to be able to keep pace with a trotting horse for a distance of 100 kilometres.

Sliced bread was patented by a jeweller, Otto Rohwedder, in 1928. He had been working on it for 16 years, having started in 1912.

Before it was stopped by the British, it was the not uncommon for women in some areas of India to choose to be burnt alive on their husband's funeral pyre.

Ivan the terrible claimed to have 'deflowered thousands of virgins and butchered a similar number of resulting offspring'.

Before the Second World War, it was considered a sacrilege to even touch an Emperor of Japan.

An American aircraft in Vietnam shot itself down with one of its own missiles.

The Anglo-Saxons believed Friday to be such an unlucky day that they ritually slaughtered any child unfortunate enough to be born on that day.

During the eighteenth century, laws had to be brought in to curb the seemingly insatiable appetite for gin amongst the poor. Their annual intake was as much as five million gallons.

Ancient drinkers warded off the devil by clinking their cups

The Nobel Prize resulted form a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence - he invented dynamite.

The cost of the first pay-toilets installed in England was tuppence.

Pogonophobia is the fear of beards.

In 1647 the English Parliament abolished Christmas.

Mao Rse-Tang, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, was born 26 December 1893. Before his rise to power, he occupied the humble position of Assistant Librarian at the University of Peking.

Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol.

King George III was declared violently insane in 1811, 9 years before he died.

In Ancient Peru, when a woman found an 'ugly' potato, it was the custom for her to push it into the face of the nearest man.

For Roman Catholics, 5 January is St Simeon Stylites' Day. He was a fifth-century hermit who showed his devotion to God by spending literally years sitting on top of a huge flagpole.

When George I became King of England in 1714, his wife did not become Queen. He placed her under house arrest for 32 years.

The richest 10 per cent of the French people are approximately fifty times better off than the poorest 10 per cent.

Henry VII was the only British King to be crowned on the field of battle

During World War One, the future Pope John XXIII was a sergeant in the Italian Army.

Richard II died aged 33 in 1400. A hole was left in the side of his tomb so people could touch his royal head, but 376 years later some took advantage of this and stole his jawbone.

The magic word "Abracadabra" was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.

The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas Carols, judging them to be out of keeping with the true spirit of Christmas.

Albert Einstein was once offered the Presidency of Israel. He declined saying he had no head for problems.

Uri Geller, the professional psychic was born on December 20 1946. As to the origin of his alleged powers, Mr Geller maintains that they come from the distant planet of Hoova.

Ralph and Carolyn Cummins had 5 children between 1952 and 1966, all were born on the 20 February.

John D. Rockefeller gave away over US$ 500,000,000 during his lifetime.

Only 1 child in 20 are born on the day predicted by the doctor.

In the 1970's, the Rhode Island Legislature in the US entertained a proposal that there be a $2 tax on every act of sexual intercourse in the State.

Widows in equatorial Africa actually wear sackcloth and ashes when attending a funeral.

The 'Hundred Years War' lasted 116 years.

The British did not release the body of Napoleon Bonaparte to the French until twenty days after his death.

Admiral Lord Nelson was less than 1.6 metres tall.

John Glenn, the American who first orbited the Earth, was showered with 3,529 tonnes of ticker tape when he got back.

Native American Indians used to name their children after the first thing they saw as they left their tepees subsequent to the birth. Hence such strange names as Sitting Bull and Running Water.

Catherine the First of Russia, made a rule that no man was allowed to get drunk at one of her parties before nine o'clock.

Queen Elizabeth I passed a law which forced everyone except for the rich to wear a flat cap on Sundays.

In 1969 the shares of the Australian company 'Poseidon' were worth $1, one year later they were worth $280 each.

Julius Caesar wore a laurel wreath to cover the onset of baldness.

Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour during World War II, left school at the age of eleven.

At the age of 12, Martin Luther King became so depressed he tried committing suicide twice, by jumping out of his bedroom window.

It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.

The Turk's consider it considered unlucky to step on a piece of bread.

The authorities do not allow tourists to take pictures of Pygmies in Zambia.

The Dutch in general prefer their french fries with mayonnaise.

Upon the death of F.D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman became the President of America on 12 April 1945. The initial S in the middle of his name doesn't in fact mean anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with 'S', and so Truman's mother didn't want to disappoint either of them.

Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with the occult and the supernatural.

One of Queen Victoria's wedding gifts was a 3 metre diameter, half tonne cheese.

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never phoned his wife or his mother, they were both deaf.

It was considered unfashionable for Venetian women, during the Renaissance to have anything but silvery-blonde hair.

Queen Victoria was one of the first women ever to use chloroform to combat pain during childbirth.

Peter the Great had the head of his wife's lover cut off and put into a jar of preserving alcohol, which he then ordered to be placed by her bed.

The car manufacturer Henry Ford was awarded Hitler's Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. Henry Ford was the inventor of the assembly line, and Hitler used this knowledge of the assembly line to speed up production, and to create better and interchangeable products.

Atilla the Hun is thought to have been a dwarf.

The warriors tribes of Ethiopia used to hang the testicles of those they killed in battle on the ends of their spears.

On 15 April 1912 the SS Titanic sunk on her maiden voyage and over 1,500 people died. Fourteen years earlier a novel was published by Morgan Robertson which seemed to foretell the disaster. The book described a ship the same size as the Titanic which crashes into an iceberg on its maiden voyage on a misty April night. The name of Robertson's fictional ship was the Titan.

There are over 200 religious denominations in the United States.

Eau de Cologne was originally marketed as a way of protecting yourself against the plague.

Charles the Simple was the grandson of Charles the Bald, both were rulers of France.

Theodor Herzi, the Zionist leader who was born on May 2 1860, once had the astonishing idea of converting Jews to Christianity as a way of combating anti-Semitism.

The women of an African tribe make themselves more attractive by permanently scaring their faces.

Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland seemed to have a prodigious sexual appetite, and fathered hundreds of illegitimate children during his lifetime.

Some moral purists in the Middle Ages believed that women's ears ought to be covered up because the Virgin May had conceived a child through them.

Hindus don't like dying in bed, they prefer to die beside a river.

While at Havard University, Edward Kennedy was suspended for cheating on a Spanish exam.

It is a criminal offence to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.

The Emperor Caligula once decided to go to war with the Roman God of the sea, Poseidon, and ordered his soldiers to throw their spears into the water at random.

The Ecuadorian poet, José Olmedo, has a statue in his honour in his home country. But, unable to commission a sculptor, due to limited funds, the government brought a second-hand statue .. Of the English poet Lord Byron.

In 1726, at only 7 years old, Charles Sauson inherited the post of official executioner.

Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15 cigars a day.

On 7 January 1904 the distress call 'CQD' was introduced. 'CQ' stood for 'Seek You' and 'D' for 'Danger'. This lasted only until 1906 when it was replaced with 'SOS'.

Though it is forbidden by the Government, many Indians still adhere to the caste system which says that it is a defilement for even the shadow of a person from a lowly caste to fall on a Brahman ( a member of the highest priestly caste).

In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of men.

The childrens' nursery rhyme 'Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses' actually refers to the Black Death which killed about 30 million people in the fourteenth-century.

The word 'denim' comes from 'de Nimes', Nimes being the town the fabric was originally produced.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men's beards.

Idi Amin, one of the most ruthless tyrants in the world, before coming to power, served in the British Army.

Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.

It is illegal to play tennis in the streets of Cambridge.

Custer was the youngest General in US history, he was promoted at the age of 23.

It costs more to send someone to reform school than it does to send them to Eton.

The American pilot Charles Lindbergh received the Service Cross of the German Eagle form Hermann Goering in 1938.

The active ingredient in Chinese Bird's nest soup is saliva.

Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize, and discovered radium, was not allowed to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a woman.

It was quite common for the men of Ancient Greece to exercise in public .. naked.

John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, had a payphone in his mansion.

Iceland is the world's oldest functioning democracy.

Adolf Eichmann (responsible for countless Jewish deaths during World war II), was originally a travelling salesman for the Vacuum Oil Co. of Austria.

The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.

John Winthrop introduced the fork to the American dinner table for the first time on 25 June 1630.

Elizabeth Blackwell, born in Bristol, England on 3 February 1821, was the first woman in America to gain an M.D. degree.

Abraham Lincoln was shot with a Derringer.

The great Russian leader, Lenin died 21 January 1924, suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. At the time of his death his brain was a quarter of its normal size.

When shipped to the US, the London bridge ( thought by the new owner to be the more famous Tower Bridge ) was classified by US customs to be a 'large antique'.

Sir Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' cloakroom after his mother went into labour during a dance at Blenheim Palace.

In 1849, David Atchison became President of the United States for just one day, and he spent most of the day sleeping.

Between the two World War's, France was controlled by forty different governments.

The 'Crystal Palace' at the Great Exhibition of 1851, contained 92 900 square metres of glass.

It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on their testicles when taking an oath. The modern term 'testimony' is derived from this tradition.

Sir Winston Churchill's mother was descended from a Red Indian.

The study of stupidity is called 'monology'.

Hindu men believe(d) it to be unluckily to marry a third time. They could avoid misfortune by marring a tree first. The tree ( his third wife ) was then burnt, freeing him to marry again.

More money is spent each year on alcohol and cigarettes than on Life insurance.

In 1911 3 men were hung for the murder of Sir Edmund Berry at Greenbury Hill, their last names were Green, Berry , and Hill.

A firm in Britain sold fall-out shelters for pets.

During the seventeen century , the Sultan of Turkey ordered his entire harem of women drowned, and replace with a new one.

Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill 'if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee'. His reply …' if you were my wife, I would drink it ! '.

There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.

The Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 blocks each weighing 2.5 tons.

On 9 February 1942, soap rationing began in Britain.

Paul Revere was a dentist.

The Budget speech on April 17 1956 saw the introduction of Premium Savings Bonds into Britain. The machine which picks the winning numbers is called "Ernie", an abbreviation, which stands for' electronic random number indicator equipment'.

Chop-suey is not a native Chinese dish, it was created in California by Chinese immigrants.

The Russian mystic, Rasputin, was the victim of a series of murder attempts on this day in 1916. The assassins poisoned, shot and stabbed him in quick succession, but they found they were unable to finish him off. Rasputin finally succumbed to the ice-cold waters of a river.

Bonnie Prince Charlie, the leader of the Jacobite rebellion to depose of George II of England, was born 31 December 1720. Considered a great Scottish hero, he spent his final years as a drunkard in Rome.

The Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, was born of the 29th December 1809. Apparently, as a result of his strong Puritan impulses, Gladstone kept a selection of whips in his cellar with which he regularly chastised himself.

A parthenophobic has a fear of virgins.

South American gauchos were known to put raw steak under their saddles before starting a day's riding, in order to tenderise the meat.

There are 240 white dots in a Pacman arcade game.

In 1939 the US political party 'The American Nazi Party' had 200,000 members.

King Solomon of Israel had about 700 wives as well as hundreds of mistresses.

Urine was once used to wash clothes.

North American Indian, Sitting Bull, died on 15 December 1890. His bones were laid to rest in North Dakota, but a business group wanted him moved to a 'more natural' site in South Dakota. Their campaign was rejected so they stole the bones, and they now reside in Sitting Bull Park, South Dakota.

St Nicholas, the original Father Christmas, is the patron saint of thieves, virgins and communist Russia.

Dublin is home of the Fairy Investigation Society.

Fourteen million people were killed in World War I, twenty million died in a flu epidemic in the years that followed.

People in Siberia often buy milk frozen on a stick.

Princess Ann was the only competitor at the 1976 Montreal Olympics that did not have to undergo a sex test.

Ethelred the Unready, King of England in the Tenth-century, spent his wedding night in bed with his wife and his mother-in-law.

Coffins which are due for cremation are usually made with plastic handles.

Blackbird, who was the chief of Omaha Indians, was buried sitting on his favourite horse.

The two highest IQ's ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women.

The Tory Prime Minister, Benjamin Disreali, was born 21 December 1804. He was noted for his oratory and had a number of memorable exchanges in the House with his great rival William Gladstone. Asked what the difference between a calamity and a misfortune was Disreali replied: 'If Gladstone fell into the Thames it would be a misfortune, but if someone pulled him out again, it would be a calamity'.

The Imperial Throne of Japan has been occupied by the same family for the last thirteen hundred years.

In the seventeenth-century a Boston man was sentenced to two hours in the stocks for obscene behaviour, his crime, kissing his wife in a public place on a Sunday.

President Kaunda of Zambia once threatened to resign if his fellow countrymen didn't stop drinking so much alcohol.

Due to staggering inflation in the 1920's, 4,000,000,000,000,000,000 German marks were worth 1 US dollar.

Gorgias of Epirus was born during preparation of his mothers funeral.

The city of New York contains a district called 'Hell's Kitchen'.

The city of Hiroshima left the Industrial Promotion Centre standing as a monument the atomic bombing.

During the Medieval Crusades, transporting bodies off the battlefield for burial was a major problem, this was solved by carrying a huge cauldron into the Holy wars, boiling down the bodies, and taking only the bones with them.

A ten-gallon hat holds three-quarters of a gallon.

George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.

Son beheads mother in Japan

2007-05-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

A teenage Japanese boy has been arrested after walking into a police station carrying a severed human head, claiming to have killed his mother. The 17-year-old went to a police station in the town of Aizuwakamatsu, north of Tokyo, carrying the head in a sports bag, Japanese media said.
The beheaded body of a woman was later found at the boy's home, police said. This is the latest in a series of grisly killings in Japan, a country renowned for its low crime rate. On Monday, a severed human leg was discovered in a small river in central Tokyo. In January, a 32-year-old woman was arrested after she confessed to killing her husband, dismembering him with a saw and dumping body parts around Tokyo.

In the latest case, the boy, said to be a local high school student, reportedly told police he killed his mother with a knife during the night as she slept, and had acted alone. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki expressed his alarm at the reports.
"If it's true, it's horrifying," he said. Aizuwakamatsu is located in Fukushima prefecture, 200 kilometres north of Tokyo.

Upcoming sex expert Tristan Taormino

2007-04-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Pittsburgh - BlueDoor.com, an online adult DVD rentals/sales and adult entertainment website, is proud to announce its partnership with award-winning author, columnist, editor and sex educator Tristan Taormino and the launch of a new exclusive section: Tristan's Room.

Tristan's Room will feature a weekly column by Tristan Taormino which focuses on erotic exploration and sex advice, as well as Tristan's personal recommendations for DVDs and toys. As part of the column, BlueDoor.com customers can email specific questions for the sex expert to answer.

"Tristan's Room will cover lots of erotic territory from sex toys to orgies and beyond. I am especially excited to interact with readers on a regular basis as I answer all their burning questions," says Tristan.

Tristan helms Vivid-Ed, the sex education imprint of Vivid Entertainment. Vivid-Ed's first release, Tristan Taormino's Expert Guide To Anal Sex has become an instant hit on BlueDoor.com.

BlueDoor caters to the growing couples market and believes this partnership is a step in the right direction in accomplishing that goal. Tristan agrees saying, "I am thrilled to be working with such a high quality, couples-friendly adult site. Blue Door offers me the perfect platform to share my expertise on sex and relationships with its readers. It's a match made in porno heaven!"

To kick off Tristan's new column, Vivid-Ed and BlueDoor are co-sponsoring an introductory contest. One reader will win an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles to be a guest on the set of a Vivid-Ed movie. The winner will get the opportunity to hang out with Tristan and the stars of the next Expert Guide video, sit in on a real sex workshop, plus have the option to appear in the video as a workshop audience member. For more information on this contest and details, visit BlueDoor.com. The person who sends in the most interesting question (as judged by Tristan) wins.

"I rarely have visitors on my sets, so this is a unique opportunity for one lucky person," said Tristan. "Not only will the winner get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the Expert Guide video series, the person also gets to schmooze with me, my cast and crew. Hopefully, whoever it is won't be shy because we're also allowing them to be in the audience for the teaching segment. The experience will be fun, educational, and give someone bragging rights for being in a Vivid movie!"

The rape of Ms Shilpa Shetty

2007-04-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Though India seems preoccupied with sex, they seem equally as preoccupied with morally oppressing it.

Indian actress Shilpa Shetty
Apparently to some it almost resembled a Bollywood rape scene on screen. Only the victim was not screaming or resisting. She was giggling with her eyes closed and seemed to be quite appreciative of what was going on.

To an outraged public it was not an affectionate hug, but it was a passionate, sexual embrace.

Hearing them describe the controversial cuddle sounds something like this: "Gere held her with his arms and legs in a breath-taking grip, bent her down, pressed his torso and hips against her soft body. It looked as if he was overcome with passion and could not control himself. He was evidently unaware of the large audience that had come to participate in an AIDS awareness programme. He was totally oblivious to the world and got into a tight, blissful embrace..."

Gere is regarded as a serious and charitable man, often dedicating his time to caring for people around the world through his work with various HIV/AIDS awareness, support and prevention programs.

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Indian actress Shilpa Shetty did not think there was anything wrong in what Gere had done, she said later.

But some critics seem to feel that the 'passionate embrace' would have attracted a fatwa if it happened in some Middle Eastern countries.

Gere perhaps would have been more careful if he was aware of the kind of moral policing that exists in India. The moral police are not just in the police force, but they are all over the place, angrily condemning all 'immoral activities' and swearing by India's ancient and glorious heritage.

Women in various organizations are mounting attacks on Gere. They have not only condemned the 'obscene' display at the AIDS meet but also declared such amorous happenings will not help the AIDS awareness programme.

Maybe they wanted Gere to wear a condom?

Meanwhile the 'victim' has given a clean chit to Gere. Shetty has stated it was just 'entertainment' and nothing else.

Yet those mounting the attack on Gere say that Shilpa Shetty should have, instead of giggling, fought against his 'sexual attack', screamed and strongly put up resistance.

Instead of doing this 'she seems to have enjoyed it all'. They want her to say nasty things about Gere - that he looks like a sex maniac, that she was taken by suprise, that her giggling should not be regarded as a sign of ecstasy she was experiencing, but was a result of pain and embarrassment. They are prepared to let the 'victim' go scot free if she were to agree with them and state that she was an unwilling partner in the 'obscene' act.

The moral police

Shilpa Shetty
India's moral police are again beating their drums. Recently a female minister who hugged a paratrooper in France found herself in trouble. The minister was participating in an air-drop exercise and when they came down to earth, she got a hug. A fatwa has been issued against her and she has since said her life is in danger.

There was a time in India when a scantily-clad girl could not be shown on the screen. When for the first time the bare leg of an actress was shown four decades ago there were strong objections, but people still flocked to the theatre and the film became a big box office hit.

Slowly, bit by bit, nudity has been revealed in Indian films and accepted. Yet kissing has never been allowed and is still not done. As the faces of the male and female actors come together, the scene gives way to two doves shown pecking or some other such fade-out transition.

Morality seems to be geographical in that it differs from nation to nation.

What is moral in Britain may be immoral in India.

Perceptions about morality also keep changing. In the Victorian period in England, there were stiff regulations about woman's dress. Sex was taboo. Great writers like DH Lawrence, Oscar Wilde and many others were harassed because they presented sex in their books.

Some of these morals arrived in India along with colonial rule. Indians began to accept the stiff moral codes of the British. Today when Indians talk of 'their heritage', they refer to the morals which existed during the colonial rule rather than early Indian history.

For example, Indian women in ancient times were far freer than even in today's soceity. A woman could choose any man she wanted as her husband. And every warrior was a Casanova and he was admired for his amorous activities. Take the Pandava hero Arjuna for instance; whenever he conquered a new kingdom, he had affairs with attrative women of the kingdom.

In the elite circles, the women exposed themselves stark naked and bathed in moonlight. Compare their dress to the clothes women wear today. Looking at early texts and paintings you can see how Draupadi - the daughter of King Drupada, who becomes the wife of the five Pandavas and then known as Princess Krishna - used to dress. If she walked down Dadabhai Nowroji Road today, people would be scandalized. A woman's breasts were squeezed into a tiny bit of a bra which at the back had only thin strings. Almost the entire back was bare. The neck region, arms and the armpits were also not covered.

But today people who seem to know nothing about early Indian civilization and the values India's ancestors cherished, shout themselves hoarse from roof tops and decide what is moral and what is not.

Even Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty on a stage where an AIDS awareness program is being discussed and dedicating their time for a charitable cause can find themselves the target of India's moral police.

Still some are just largely amused. A female Bandra resident is reported to have responded to Gere's embrace of Shetty saying, ¡§When I looked at them, I thought I was looking at a blue film.¡¨

The woman evidently has not seen a blue film, but maybe it is time she did.

Yume Miru Kusuri

2007-04-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Peach Princess, the leading publisher of Japanese PC dating-sim games in English, announces the completion of production and immediate release of 'Yume Miru Kusuri :: A Drug That Makes You Dream'.

This is an interactive dating simulation game for Windows, intended for adults aged 18 and older, is the latest in Peach Princess's popular lineup of bishoujo games - games featuring beautiful women with whom the player can form meaningful relationships via choices taken throughout the story.

The game is set in a pastel-hued version of postmodern Japan, where players take the role of student Kagami Kouhei and guide his quest to find meaning and color in an otherwise lackluster existence.

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Along the way players interact with several girls, each exceptional in their own way, who hold out the promise of the answer you've been seeking - Aeka, the target of merciless bullying, Mizuki, the reckless student council president, and Nekoko, a strangely vital girl who insists she is a "fairy of the night".

Yume Miru Kusuri :: A Drug That Makes You Dream features a highly involved story, epic on a personal scale that deals more intimately than any earlier Peach Princess title with very real issues present in modern society. Themes of classroom avarice, suicide, and youthful temptations of escapism are all present, coming with them a depiction of the fragile beauty of life that it is the player's duty as Kagami to choose to protect - or abandon.

Acclaimed by Japanese critics for its brilliant characterization and scenes of haunting eroticism, Yume Miru Kusuri is the first in a series of artistically oriented titles planned for release from JAST USA and its affiliate brands over the coming months. As with other Peach Princess titles the player will enjoy completely uncensored graphics and a high-quality, faithful English translation of the original Japanese game text for dozens of hours of absorbing gameplay. The game's initial production run is limited to 1,000 pieces and contains extras on disc including the full game soundtrack in lossless audio format, character system voice files, exclusive artwork and trailers for other JAST USA-distributed titles.

METHODS TO ERADICATE FEAR

2007-04-09T01:43:00.000-07:00

1. VICTORY OVER FEAR
(Pratipaksha-Bhavana-Method)

As you think, so you become. As you think, so you develop. As is your ideal, so gradually your life will become. This is so, because there is a great transforming power in thought.

Take, then, the life of perfect men like Bhishma and think of their deeds and their life and ideals. Your life will be filled by purity, courage, etc. You will become a noble, perfect man. The thought will transform you into its own likeness. Man becomes like what he worships. Man becomes like what he thinks. This is indeed true.

Sit with closed eyes in the early morning. Meditate on courage, the opposite of fear, for half an hour. Think of the advantages of courage and the disadvantages of fear. Practice the virtue during the day. Feel that you actually possess courage to an enormous degree. Manifest it
in your daily life. In some weeks or months fear will be replaced by courage. Repeat the formula
“Om courage” mentally, daily several times. Meditate and assert:
“I am all courage OM OM OM
I am an embodiment of courage OM OM OM
I am like Bhishma OM OM OM
I am a great hero OM OM OM My will is very powerful OM OM OM
I am not afraid of anything OM OM OM
I am bold and chivalrous OM OM OM Courage is my birthright OM OM OM

CONQUEST OF FEAR

It is very difficult to attack fear directly. It is very strong. You are a victim to this
negative trait in hundreds of lives. It has taken deep root. Put the seeds of courage in your heart. Allow it to grow. Fear will die by itself. The positive always overcomes the negative. This is an immutable psychological law. This is the Pratipaksha-Bhavana-method of RajaYogins. Try this method again and again. You are bound to succeed.

May you attain triumph over fear by cultivating courage through the Pratipaksha- Bhavana-method or the method of thinking on the opposite!

2. FEELING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

God is all-pervading. He is always with you. He is in you, around you. He is not far to seek. He cannot be, perceived through the physical eye. Your sense of touch cannot help you.
He has to be realized through the inner eye of wisdom.

Modern civilization has enslaved people to such an extent that they are incapable of any original expression, thought or deed. They do not care to think of their routine actions—how their activities progress, what they are running after or what goal they are marching towards. Inventions, innovations and contrivances have eased men from their labour and human skill. The conservation of energy in this direction has only created laziness in them. More sensual desires and perceptions have begun to sway them. Lost in the ever-pouring luxuries of life, the true mission is once for all forgotten. People do not think wherefrom their daily requirements come, who the unfailing and non-stopping supplier is, where His abode rests, how to have His Darshan, what to request of Him and how to revere Him. No amount of study and research in physical geography, vegetable kingdom, various industrial technologies, physiology and other sciences will solve these problems nor even give a clue to the solution. This scientific knowledge is subject to various hypotheses, axioms and data which are by themselves under controversies. This knowledge will in no way aid one to arrive at the source. The source is really beyond all these conceptions. Its abode cannot be located by running the finger over a coloured map. The Dweller and His abode can be seen only through the inner eye and right understanding. Concentration, Meditation and Sublime Thoughts are the pathways to this abode.

Most people feel themselves unable to stay their mind upon God and meditate upon divine thoughts. This is all due to want of training. Realization is always through practice. Practice comes out of proper training. Proper training requires consultation of learned men. This
is “Initiation in the right path.”

In all ages you meet with such great personalities who are always ready to help you but who may not advertise themselves as such. It is left to you to find out such men, to choose your own GURU to obey him implicitly, to serve him with all sincerity and earnestness and express your thirst for knowledge. Vain discussions and intentional test-questions must be strictly avoided. You must be regular in your lessons and practice.

There are again persons who say that they are unable to meet even a single man of such qualities, for their Guru. Though it is firmly held that no perfection can be attained in any line

without a Guru, it may well be asserted that God is near and dear to you as He is to everybody.
Sincere and earnest attempt will have its own fruits. It is not on this plea the concentration and meditation have to be cast off.

Because a man does not understand the film language, does he refrain from visiting films? He avails himself of every opportunity to accompany his friend who is able to interpret and who is already in the groove. If not he makes fresh acquaintance while in the queue to procure tickets. Even this if he is unable to get he pushes himself anyway and tries his best to decipher the whole film racking his brain. He makes earnest efforts to improve his knowledge in this line by purchasing synopsis, bulletins and magazines. He is restless until he acquires some knowledge. At no stage does he stop and put an end to this quest of knowledge. In due course every actor or actress lives at the tip of his tongue. He becomes profusely enlightened in this art.
He speaks hours and hours about the talents of various film-stars. What are all these due to? Is
he not training himself earnestly. honestly, sincerely and virtuously in the particular line? Did he wait for a Guru? What a pity it is that a man indulges so much in trivial things discarding the vital mission of life?

It is quite common for people to complain that when they begin to think upon God, their mind wanders here and there and their thoughts become engaged with mundane affairs. This is again due to lack of training and want of definite will-power. True. It is very difficult, extremely difficult to fix the mind at first instance upon God. An entirely different, superior and higher stratum of mind is needed for this practice. This has to be well developed.

The mind is full of lust. It is always restless. It traverses through all spheres—good or bad. It has to be wound up by the triple cord of devotion, concentration and meditation. It must always be kept under control.

Try to get alone for a few minutes every day. If you cannot afford this, utilize every scrap
of leisure you presume to enjoy. Select a lonely place, a river bank, the top of a mount, the open terrace of your house, a sea shore, a simple pleasant meadow, a corner in a temple, church or mosque or a private room. Purge all your wavering thoughts. This will be quite easy in any of
the above localities as all the senses will be drawn by the exquisite, beauty of the spot or landscape or by the deep silence pervading all-round. If necessary, burn incense or scented sticks, which will always keep you alert.

There are two distinctive ways for worship of God. One, the “All-pervading Nature” and
the other “Here and here alone”. If one is to sit down and contemplate on the omnipresence of God, i.e., presence in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, in anything and everything he comes across, perhaps he might become lost in immensity. On the other hand one may localize the presence of God at the initial stage which he may develop later into the former method.

Having steadied the mind either by gazing at a particular spot, or the picture of any form
of God or Guru or tuning the ears to the murmur of the river or receding waves of the sea, utter slowly in a low tone the statement “GOD IS NOW HERE” or “GOD IS IN THIS ROOM”. First repeat “G-O-D I-S N-O-W H-E-R-E” in a deep meditative way. Then relax for a while and

again repeat. Do this untiringly till you are immersed in your statement. Now you realize the
presence of God.

Do not stop with this. This is not the ultimate aim. Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute and Bliss Absolute are the supreme things to be aimed at. After experiencing “GOD IS NOW HERE” repeat “HIS PRESENCE FILLS ME FROM HEAD TO FOOT”. By repeated utterances realize His existence in you. In the same way practice “HIS PRESENCE IS JOY”,
“HIS PRESENCE IS LOVE” and “HIS PRESENCE IS PEACE”. Whenever your mind attempts
to wander, repeat these statements loudly until it comes round. Morning hours are most suitable. This practice will free you from fear and fill you with courage, joy and peace.

If this is practiced untiringly a sense of supreme joy, Cosmic love and Eternal Peace will reign over you. What to speak of the radiance of such a realized Yogi? How glorious will he shine in the world.

May all know this easy way for the realization of God! May all practice this with definiteness and self-will. May all share His blessings. May all be free from worldly ties and sensual agonies. May the All-merciful Lord encumber them with help and relieve them from the struggle of Samsara!

3. DEVOTION TO GOD ERADICATES ALL FEARS

God bestows perfect security on His devotees and removes all sorts of fears. He transforms the sense of insecurity and fear into one of confidence and faith. He saves him from panic and despair.

Mira was tormented by her husband in a variety of ways but Lord Krishna protected her and removed all her fears. The cup of poison was changed into nectar. Cobra was changed into Saligrama and a garland of flowers. She was shut in a cage where there was a hungry tiger. The tiger did not eat her but kissed the feet of Mira. This was all due to grace of Lord Krishna.

Lord Hari removed all the fears of Prahlada. Prahlada also was tormented by his cruel father. Prahlada was thrown into the sea. He was trampled under the feet of the elephant. He was rolled down from the top of a hill. He was thrown into the fire. But he was saved by Lord Hari. Lord Vishnu removed all his fears.

A devotee sees only the Lord in all names and forms. He beholds Lord Hari everywhere. How can there be fear, then, for him?

Take refuge in Lord, in His name and grace. All fears will vanish completely. He will bestow strength, fortitude, courage, presence of mind, etc., in you.

Abandon desires, Raga-Dvesha, and all sorts of worldly attachment. Pray and meditate:

Lord Hari! I am Thine Ram Ram Ram

O Lord Hari! All is Thine Ram Ram Ram
Thy will be done Ram Ram Ram Fill my heart with courage Ram Ram Ram Shower Thy grace on me Ram Ram Ram Let my mind be attached to Thy lotus feet Ram Ram Ram Let me feel Thy presence, everywhere Ram Ram Ram Let me behold Thee in all forms Ram Ram Ram Reveal Thy form to me Ram Ram Ram Guide me, protect me Ram Ram Ram Pahi Mam. Raksha Mam Ram Ram Ram

4. MEDITATION ON ATMAN
(The Method of Jnanis)

Meditation on the fearless Atman removes all sorts of fears in toto. A sage beholds the immortal fearless Self only everywhere. How can there be fear for him then? There is fear only where there is duality. If one feels that there is a second object besides himself, at once fear is generated. He is afraid of the other man. Separation, duality, perception of objects are all due to Avidya or ignorance.

Start the anti-current from today. Deny the body, and identify yourself with the all- pervading, immortal, fearless Atman. Entire denial of the body cannot come in a day or a week. Constantly think of the Atman. Gradually you will become fearless. You will have to fight against the Samskaras of Anadikala (beginningless time). The more you think of Atman, the more courageous you will become. By constant hammering only can you entirely drive the nail into the wall or a plank. Even so, by constant and protracted thinking on Atman alone you can become absolutely fearless.

Meditate. Assert. Recognize. Realize:

I am fearless, all-pervading Atman OM OM OM
I am not afraid of anything OM OM OM Courage is my birthright OM OM OM
I behold the one Atman everywhere Everything is my own Self OM OM OM Who is to be afraid of whom? OM OM OM There is no duality for me OM OM OM
I see the non-dual essence only OM OM OM My will is very powerful now OM OM OM My power is irresistible OM OM OM
I have no enemy OM OM OM Enemy, tiger, cobra, are my own Self They cannot do harm to me OM OM OM
I love them as my own Self OM OM OM

A Jivanmukta or a sage hates none, fears none. May you all be established in that
Supreme Non-dual Fearless Brahman.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FEAR.

2007-04-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

Fear is a great enemy of man. It is the enemy of his progress. It disturbs his peace and harmony. It sucks or saps his vitality and energy. It drains the nervous system of its reserve of energy. It produces weakness.

Fear is of two kinds, viz., natural or rational fear, when there is a threatening situation to endanger life; and unnatural or unusual fear which has no objective reality.

The origin of most neurotic fears can be traced to childhood. The seeds of fear may lie dormant in childhood in the subconscious mind. They sprout forth after some time during some period of crisis or stress.

Panicky fear is more contagious than typhoid or cholera. The atom bombs cause terrible panicky fear. People leave their houses and move to villages.

Anxiety and worry are the effects of fear. Some sort of fear gets buried in the subconscious mind. So man worries himself. There is continued strain and tension in the mind.
If the fear is released or dispelled, he will have peace of mind.

Normal fear is healthy. It paves the way for one’s progress. It preserves life. A Headmaster is afraid of the Inspector of Schools. He takes a very keen interest in training the boys. All the boys get success in the examination. An engine-driver of the Railways is afraid of
his superior officer. He is very careful in the discharge of his duties. No collision occurs. A physician is afraid of getting a bad reputation. He takes great care of his patient. He makes researches. He saves many lives. He becomes a famous physician also.

Psychologists are of opinion that there cannot be absolute fearlessness and that only determined effort can be made to conquer fear. This is incorrect. Psychologists have no transcendental experience. A perfect sage who has knowledge of Brahman is absolutely fearless. Upanishads declare in a thundering voice, “The knower of the fearless Brahman becomes himself absolutely fearless.” (Brihadaranyakopanishad)

There can be fear only where there is duality. How can there be fear for one who experiences non-duality? Such a person is the most courageous of men. The courage of a soldier
in the battlefield or of a dacoit is only Tamasic courage. It is not courage at all. It is only brutal ferocity born of hatred or jealousy. That Sattvic courage born of Wisdom of the Self alone is real courage.

As a matter of fact, fear exists to glorify courage. A timid man exists to glorify a courageous man. There will be no value for goodness if badness does not exist. One side of a thing cannot have significance without the existence of the other side. Hence everything in this world has two sides. Dvandvas exist to keep up the flow of the world.

This book throws much light on the causes and characteristics of fear. It suggests efficient remedies for the eradication of fear and cultivating courage and fortitude, and attaining
the fearless Brahman or the Absolute.

3 ON TERROR CHARGE

2007-04-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

eThe first three people to be charged over the 7/7 London terror attacks have appeared in court.

Mohammed Shakil, 30, Sadeer Saleem, 26, and Waheed Ali, 23, appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court charged with conspiring with the July 7 suicide bombers to target London's tourist attractions and its transport network.

They are accused of conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The three accused are all from Leeds. However, Ali, has been living in east London.

They are the first people to be charged over the 7/7 terror attacks - 21 months after the four blasts which killed 52 people. Their alleged co-conspirators are the four men who detonated rucksack bombs on three London Tube trains and a bus on the morning of July 7, 2005 - Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussein.

The alleged targets of the conspiracy were the Transport for London system "and/or tourist attractions in London". The attractions were not specified in the details of the charge.

The three defendants on Saturday spoke only to confirm their names and dates of birth.

Senior District Judge Timothy Workman remanded all three men in custody to appear for a preliminary hearing at The Old Bailey on April 20.

The charge against them alleges that between November 1, 2004, and June 29, 2005, they "unlawfully and maliciously" conspired with the four 7/7 bombers - Khan, Tanweer, Lindsay and Hussein - to cause "by explosive substance, explosions on the Transport for London system and/or tourist attractions in London of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property".

The alleged offence is contrary to Section 3 (1) (a) of the Explosives Substances Act 1883.

PREGNANT YOUNG WOMAN GUNED DEATH OVER PARKING SPACE DISPUTE

2007-04-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

A community is in shock after a gunman shot dead a young pregnant woman over what is believed to have been a row between neighbours over parking.

Krystal Hart, 22, was blasted with a handgun at "very close range" in her home in Clapham, south-west London, on Friday morning.

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton, leading the investigation, said it was understood Ms Hart had been involved in a dispute dating back "many months".

He said: "Police were called to the house and found a young girl had been shot in her home. We think that this took place as a result of some kind of dispute, possibly with neighbours, possibly about parking."

Ms Hart's family, including her boyfriend David and mother Debbie, were said to be in deep shock over the killing.

Her stepfather Clive Lawrence said: "She was full of life and looking forward to being a mother. She was about three months pregnant."

Mr Lawrence, 50, who works in a vacuum cleaner store opposite the scene, said he was told Ms Hart was walking down the stairs of the house when a man burst through her front door and shot her.

He confirmed she was involved in a dispute with neighbours but he said it was over "petty things".

"The police seem to have some idea of what happened. They said they have got a good idea about who may have done it," he said.

Mr Lawrence said he had installed cameras in Ms Hart's flat because of the dispute and that they may now help in the investigation.

SECOND ARREST ON THE DOUBLE STAB CASE IN LONDON.

2007-04-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

A boy stabbed to death in a gang attack which also left a friend fighting for his life has been named as 14-year-old Paul Erhahon.

Scotland Yard also revealed that they had made a second arrest over the attack, which happened in Leytonstone, east London, on Friday night.

Officers arrested a 19-year-old-man at an address in Wanstead at 5am on Saturday. A 13-year-old boy was arrested before 1am in Leytonstone.

Detectives believe a large group of youths were involved in the attack in the foyer of Gean Court, a block of flats in Langthorne Road, Leytonstone.

The two victims are then thought to have staggered a short distance to nearby Crownfield Road where they were found.

Police were called to Crownfield Road just before 8pm on Friday where the two friends were found.

They were taken to hospital where Paul later died.

His 15-year-old friend, who has not been named, remains in a critical condition, police said.

Witnesses saw several youths running from the scene of the double stabbing.

But detectives say they are keeping an open mind about the motive for the killing as well as on the wider circumstances.

FEDERAL AGENTS CHECKS GAMBLING IN VIRTUAL WORLD

2007-04-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

FBI investigators have visited Second Life's Internet casinos at the invitation of the virtual world's creator Linden Lab, but the US government has not decided on the legality of virtual gambling.

"We have invited the FBI several times to take a look around in Second Life and raise any concerns they would like, and we know of at least one instance that federal agents did look around in a virtual casino," said Ginsu Yoon, until recently Linden Lab's general counsel and currently vice president for business affairs.

Second Life is a popular online virtual world with millions of registered users and its own economy and currency, known as the Linden dollar, which can be exchanged for US dollars.

Yoon said the company was seeking guidance on virtual gaming activity in Second Life but had not yet received clear rules from US authorities.

The FBI and the US Attorney's Office for Northern California declined comment.

Hundreds of casinos offering poker, slot machines and blackjack can easily be found in Second Life. While it is difficult to estimate the total size of the gambling economy in Second Life, the three largest poker casinos are earning profits of a modest $1,500 each per month, according to casino owners and people familiar with the industry.

The surge in Second Life gambling coincides with a crackdown in the real world by the US government, which has arrested executives from offshore gambling Websites.

Most lawyers agree that placing bets with Linden dollars likely violates U.S. anti-gambling statutes, which cover circumstances in which "something of value" is wagered. But the degree of Linden Lab's responsibility, and the likelihood of a any crackdown, is uncertain.

HOT DATE WITH PORN STAR SUZI SUZUKI.

2007-04-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

In August 2001 I fulfilled a fantasy and had one date with a porn star, an unforgettable experience that was subsequently chronicled for Salon.com as "My Date with Suzi Suzuki."

And yes, as the opening paragraph said, "I had sex with Asian porn star Suzi Suzuki. Several times in fact. In Room 404 of the Boulder, Colo., Ramada Inn." (Salon link here)

But there was more than sex. We also shopped for Navajo rugs, browsed for sex toys, took a leisurely ride through the Rocky Mountains above Boulder, Colorado and talked about jazz, and jazz singing (she's had serious voice training), modern Japanese literature, Bijon friese dogs (Suzi owns one), rug and bead weaving, and porn industry friends of hers, including since-failed Nevada gubernatorial candidate Mimi Miyagi.

When Suzi left Denver International Airport the next day for her San Francisco home I realized that in a little more than 24 hours she'd morphed for me from fantasy fuel to someone I'd enjoy staying in touch with and knowing a little bit better, and not just necessarily in the Biblical sense -- though that, of course, had even more appeal now that I'd actually done the deed with the real deal and not solo via Internet or VCR.

This is the rest of the story or Part II; In Which Our Hero Takes a Porn star to the Rolling Stones and Learns He Has Made Her Shortlist for Surrogate Fatherhood.

Suzi kept in touch, especially after the Salon story hit the Internet two months after our date. She told me her website's traffic, which had not been overwhelming, realized a gratifying spike. Business for her photos, memberships (a modest $10/month), videos and even her personalized underwear -- men's and women's -- blipped and briefly boomed. It also eventually landed her a spot on an upscale New York panel discussing sex and the Internet, part of which was featured on National Public Radio.

As chance had it, I was driving when I heard the report on NPR nearly a year after our assignation. There it was, Suzi's familiar singsong voice, albeit more of a sing-song-sound byte.

I pulled my aging slagheap of a piece of shit excuse for transportation over to the roadside and listened. Damn, I thought, the woman who made "Suzi Bungholeeo" and "Bangkok Boobarello" is sharing rarified air space with the likes of upscale NPR icons such as The Car Guys, Terri Gross and Scott Simon. Yes, Suzi had arrived, albeit briefly.

We exchanged e-mails she'd sent me hand drawn Asian New Year cards and birthday greetings. She even waived my Suzi Suzuki membership fee and at one point honored my photo request for her to pose provocatively with a Navajo rug purchased on our date. I was thrilled to see it on her weekly picture updates, which following her brief Salon-driven business boom were slowly becoming increasingly less weekly and more monthly.

The pictures were also (I had to face it) beginning to look a little shop worn. It was clear Suzi's porn career was on the wane so I asked her if she'd considered writing an autobiography. I offered to edit and/or ghostwrite it. The response was a polite "maybe."

And it came to pass that the Rolling Stones were scheduled in Denver on February 1, 2003. More than a Suzi fan, I am a chronic Stones fan, having seen them nine times since June 16, 1972 when I watched stoned and slack-jawed as Mick whipped the stage with a silver studded belt under a blood red spotlight for "Midnight Rambler" in Denver Coliseum, a venue normally used for livestock exhibitions. It was an unlikely combination: Their Satanic Majesties reigning amidst the commingled odors of dope smoke and dried cow shit.

Times have changed, of course. What cost me about $12.75 in 1972 after standing in line for 9 hours sustained on Bugles and Boone's Farm apple wine could be mine again for ... oh, a couple hundred bucks via credit card on the Internet from the comfort of home. And I had an idea. Why not.take a porn star to a Stones concert. How perfectly appropriate. So I shot an e-mail to Suzi and held my breath. The reply was sweet and prompt.

Dear Peter,
Thank you for the wonderful offer. I have several ideas about trying to do the concert for the Rolling Stones.

On the 3rd of February I am going to Tucson for a bead and gem show so I have one idea to drive to Denver and then to drive to Tucson. I am worried about the weather because it may snow. The other way is to fly to Denver and then fly to Tucson and my friend is driving me back from there to San Francisco.

Thank you very much for asking me to the Rolling Stones. It is such a wonderful and nice opportunity and it will be nice to see you again.

Love,
Suzi

It was a lock. But, like my previous assignation with Suzi I still had to worry about transportation. You might call it performance anxiety, as in four-wheel performance. So as before, I rented a vehicle that didn't look and perform as if it had served as the 18-year rumpus room for a blood orgy of Visigoths and benzene snorting badgers.

February 1 debuted under gray clouds, snow flurries, cold winds and the grim news that the space shuttle Columbia had disintegrated on reentry, killing all seven astronauts. Not exactly an auspicious day. But my reservations for one night for two at Denver's venerable Oxford Hotel were in order and despite the weather, Suzi's flight was on time.

The last time I'd seen her she'd been dressed in sort of casual porn star attire, braless under beige loose weave cotton sweater, a long wrap skirt that parted for saucy flashes o' thigh and red lips that looked as if she could suck a banana out of its peel without splitting the skin. This time I did the proverbial double take when we met at the United luggage carousel. Sans makeup and in a stylish down parka she looked like a Japanese college student on winter break.

Hauling her two bags -- she'd packed for winter in Colorado and Arizona, two different beasts -- I found "my" car.

"It is different than before?" she asked. "Uh, yeah," I replied. "Oh," she laughed. "I remember in your story. Your real car is not so good and you wanted to impress me."

"Yeah, my normal one is not exactly first class date bait. Which might explain why you're my virtually my first since our date."

We checked into the Oxford, had an early dinner and repaired back to our room to dress for Keef and Mick. I threw on a vintage looking shirt festooned with oversized photos of the Brian Jones-era Stones and some other largely dead luminaries such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Jim Morrison.

Suzi emerged from the bathroom, not as a fresh scrubbed college student but a tastefully slutty Stones fan -- white blouse tied at the midriff with generous cleavage, sprayed-on low rise blue jeans and spiked heel boots.

"Perfect," I said. "Promise that if Keith invites you backstage I can come, too?"

"I like Charlie better," she said. "He's the quiet one. And I like his big band." I was impressed. Only die-hard Stones fans knew of drummer Charlie Watts' "other" band, a classic 40s-era big band. Suzi also knew that original bassist Bill Wyman exited the band in 1993 and -- damn it -- I wasn't her virginal Stones experience. She'd seen them in Tokyo in 1990 on the Steel Wheels tour.

The show itself passed nearly in a blur. Aside from seeing them up close on the "B-stage" walkway for stripped down versions of "Mannish Boy," "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and "Brown Sugar," and guest act Jonny Lange's guitar sound going dead as he stepped forward to solo with Keef on "Rock Me Baby," I recalled only an admiring male sitting next to Suzi on my right who nudged me when she took a quick restroom break before the show began.

"Nice," he said in one of those confidential guys-only tones. "Your wife? Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, well, my date," I said. "Good friends. We're staying at The Oxford tonight."

"She looks kinda familiar..." he mused.

I thought quickly. "Yeah, she's done a little, uh, acting, commercial work. Some small film, video stuff. Playing Asian hookers and geishas, mostly. But she's more into jazz singing. That and weaving rugs and beads."

"Weaving?" He looked a little startled. Just then Suzi returned, flashed him a smile and settled in comfortably with me as the house lights dimmed, the welcoming din began and the Stones kicked into "Street Fighting Man."

Back at the hotel we flopped on the bed and rehashed the show. She admired Mick's physique at nearly 60. Looking at my developing paunch approaching 50, I quickly changed the subject to her musical aspirations. Suzi had brought a small desktop CD player and she put in a demo disc she'd been working on with an eye towards an eventual musical she said she was writing.

Her future seemed a bit vague and after we'd gotten down to carnal knowledge - a satisfying albeit tame performance compared to our last encounter that involved a sex toy and her inserting a Latex-gloved finger up my ass as I came - we cuddled afterward and I pushed her a little bit for her future plans.

"I'm thinking of getting out of the business soon," she said. "And I want to have a child." Then she turned and looked at me directly. "You're not the kind of guy who only likes Asian women, are you? Not one of those guys?" The fact that she made a living based largely on "those guys" was an irony I politely ignored.

Well, I hedged some, maybe I just prefer Asian women. I'd confessed as much in the Salon story. I did some quick calculating. Two ex-wives, one Asian, one Jewish. A total of four serious ex-girlfriends: two Asian, two white. "Uh, my track record is strictly 50/50 at this point," I said reciting the stats. "I could go either direction. Versatile. You'd tip the scale, though. But, no, it's not like I'm clinically stuck on Asians."

"I'm thinking of having a child," she said again, looking even more serious. "Would you think of being the donor? Do you have any strange, bad medical history?"

I thought of my own Amerasian son. He turned out fine. A bright, funny guy -- worldly, even then at age 17, but also someone who'd be a just a bit shaken by news that he suddenly had a half-sibling by his dad and a porn star.

Still I was floored. And, yeah, somewhat flattered. "No. No weird medical stuff. But uh...how did you plan to do this? Like have me jack-off in a cup or on a slide and donate it to you? Have you asked any other guys?"

She had. Suzi was sounding out potential donors after evaluating their qualifications. It wasn't clear how many or what the qualifications were, other than to perhaps be Yellow Fever-free.

I was almost afraid to ask more, fearing I'd jeopardize my chances with an admission that I had been a chronic bed wetter as a child. Her plan was to raise the child herself with no strings attached, no financial or emotional involvement required by the lucky X-Y donor.

"Um, well, okay. I'll think about it, too. Let me know, you know, if ... " I trailed off.

Suzi laughed and said she would, though it was the last I heard from her on the subject.

I took her to the airport again the next morning so she could rent a car and go skiing before driving to Arizona. I had a job interview in the late afternoon and, even with a porn star thrown in, would no more go skiing than I would let a chimpanzee perform dental surgery on me with a rusty spoon.

We kissed good-bye and, except for a slightly panicked call I got from her about three hours later asking for directions to the ski area, it was the last time I heard her voice.

At year later Suzi made it official, quit porn and closed her website. I'd gotten wind of it early in an e-mail from her, but for fans taken by surprise she left a parting message on her website:

"After a lot of thinking about it I have decided that I want to close my web site for the time being. There are a lot of reasons but the one that is most important is that I made a promise to myself about seven years ago that I would only do the adult business, the video and the pictures, for five years and at the end of the five years I would stop. Well it is now about seven years and I think it is a good time to stop."

No mention of any children, though. In 2005 I shot an e-mail off to her from my new location, Hong Kong where I'd found new employment and more Asian women in one subway ride to work than I'd seen in my previous 50 years. I asked her if she was still thinking about writing a book and asked about her musical. Her reply came quickly, from another city and with another identity -- her real name.

Dear Peter,

Congratulations on your job! You must be so excited to be in Hong Kong. Do not worry about the autobiography. As matter of fact, I was thinking that I'd better write it by myself and hire an editor later. But now believe it or not, I am a real estate agent in (a major western US city). It's my 6th month here and my 7th deal has just gone into escrow.

See ya!
K---- "Suzi" P-------

I sat back and sank briefly into a reverie, a porn cliché about a nymphomaniac real estate agent seducing the unwitting client. Or vice versa. I wondered how many of her customers knew that the diminutive Asian woman talking excitedly about kitchen and closet space and quality neighborhood schools had also made a movie called "Butthole Whores." I mused briefly about moving from Hong Kong back to the USA to house hunt Suzi's new city. But, nah, I thought, never happen.

I'm happy for you Suzi, I thought. But, damn. We could've made a good baby together. I swear.

DEAD FUNNY PICS

2007-04-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

APRIL FOOL IN ARIAS.

2007-04-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

DRUNK PILOT ARRESTED BEFORE TAKE - OFF

2007-04-02T03:37:00.000-07:00

The pilot of a plane bound for the US has been arrested on suspicion of being over the alcohol limit.

Passengers on the Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow were delayed for around an hour, after the pilot was breathalysed and arrested by the Metropolitan Police.

Virgin Atlantic had to find another pilot to fly the plane to New York's JFK airport following the incident, which happened while the aircraft was at the terminal gate.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "Officers at Heathrow Airport arrested a 47-year-old male pilot on board a Virgin Atlantic flight en route to JFK."

The pilot was arrested under the section of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 which relates to being over the limit on drink or drugs while "performing an aviation function".

The legal limit for pilots, navigators, flight engineers and cabin crew on flights is 9 microgrammes of alcohol in breath, compared to 35 microgrammes for motorists. The pilot was bailed to a date in May, the police spokeswoman added.

In a statement, Virgin Atlantic confirmed one of its pilots had been released on police bail following the allegation.

"The pilot was due to operate a flight from Heathrow. Virgin Atlantic provided a replacement for the flight which departed just over an hour later than scheduled from Heathrow," the statement said.

"Virgin Atlantic would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and would like to reassure passengers that the airline will be investigating this matter thoroughly in accordance with its strict company policies in relation to operational staff.

"The safety and security of its passengers and crew is Virgin Atlantic's top priority."

TV STATION SHOWS KILLED BRITISH TEACHER

2007-04-02T03:34:00.000-07:00

CCTV footage of murdered British teacher Lindsay Hawker with the main suspect just hours before her death has been broadcast.

Police in Japan have issued an arrest warrant for 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi, who fled a Tokyo apartment as officers arrived and discovered Miss Hawker's body in a bath of sand on the balcony on March 26.

Miss Hawker, 22, from Brandon near Coventry, had been badly beaten before being strangled.

The grainy CCTV footage shows the pair together in a coffee shop near Tokyo just hours before the young teacher was murdered, according to the Kyodo News agency.

Miss Hawker, wearing a knee-length white coat, and suspect Ichihashi, dressed in dark clothes with a grey hat, are seen chatting at the counter.

Miss Hawker seems relaxed before making her way from the store as Ichihashi pays and then follows her.

Police released the images to the Nippon Television Network in the hope it would move their investigation forward.

The body of Miss Hawker was found last Monday. It is still unclear if the English language teacher was sexually assaulted. Japanese police launched a manhunt as soon as Miss Hawker's body was found but so far have been unable to track down their prime suspect.

Ichihashi first approached Miss Hawker about possible English lessons on March 21. Japanese police said she had allowed Ichihashi into her flat after he followed her home from a railway station.

She later agreed to give him an English lesson at his home. She was reported missing seven days ago by her employer, the Nova language school.

SMOKING BANNED IN WALES.

2007-04-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

Ban stubs out smoking in Wales

Smoking in pubs and bars in Wales became illegal on Monday when the ban on smoking in enclosed public places started at 6am.

Anyone caught lighting up will face a £50 fine and the Assembly Government has embarked on an advertising and publicity campaign to warn people the ban descends on Wales before England.

English smokers will not have to stub out their cigarettes until July 1 and a backbench bid to delay the Welsh ban and bring both sides of the border into line was defeated in the Assembly earlier this year.

Ministers say Wales's three smoke-free months could save 100 lives as passive smoking kills 400 people a year in Wales.

Wales was the first part of the UK to call for a ban, but because of the Assembly's limited law-making powers it had to wait until Parliament passed legislation last year.

It follows the scrapping of prescription charges on Sunday - two flagship health policies introduced in the run-up to Welsh Assembly elections on May 3.

Landlords and managers who do not display adequate no-smoking signs will be fined £200. They will face a fine of up to £2,500 if they allow people to smoke on their premises.

Anyone issued with a penalty notice can challenge it in court in the same way as a speeding ticket.

The Scottish Executive heralded its year-old ban as a success last week when it said there had been more than 46,000 attempts to quit smoking since it began.

A BBC survey this week found one in five working men's clubs in England and Wales thought they would have to close as a result of lost trade if customers could not smoke.

BRITISH CREW HAS ADMITTED TO IRAN CHARGE

2007-04-02T03:24:00.000-07:00

Iran's state-run Arabic-language TV channel has reported that all 15 British sailors and Marines have confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters.

The claim was carried by the news channel Al-Alam, a state-run channel that is broadcast across the Arab world, but not in Iran. There was no source given for Al-Alam's new claim.

The station has so far broadcast video footage of four of the 15 saying they were in Iranian waters at the time of their capture, including footage on Monday in which two of the sailors used maps to show the alleged location where they were seized.

The pair, named as Royal Marine Captain Chris Air and Lieutenant Felix Carman, looked in good condition, wearing clean smart military fatigues.

Captain Air, who appeared first, said they had been shown on a GPS that they were apparently seized inside Iranian waters.

He said: "So far we have been treated very well by all the people here. They have looked after us and made sure we are given enough food and treated very well by them, so I thank them for that."

Lieutenant Felix Carman said he would like to tell the Iranian people: "I can understand why you are so angry about our intrusion into your waters."

Both men gestured to points on the map behind them, close to the handwritten words "the point where intruding boats were captured".

The group was captured after conducting a routine early morning anti-smuggling check on a merchant vessel on Friday, March 23.

The British government has vehemently denied that the sailors entered Iranian waters, and has said the confessions appear coerced. Britain says the sailors were in Iraqi waters operating under a UN mandate, and has released its own maps and GPS co-ordinates showing their alleged locations.

AN UNCOVERED FEMALE IS AN UNCOVERED MEAT.

2007-03-31T02:20:00.000-07:00

Amid intense public criticism, Australia's top Islamic cleric on last week repudiated remarks he made likening women without head scarves to "uncovered meat," and he temporarily gave up mosque duties after a fainting spell left him hospitalized.

The 65-year old Egyptian-born cleric, Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, was admitted to a Sydney hospital after collapsing during a meeting with mosque administrators following days of criticism over comments that also blamed immodestly dressed women for rape

Al-Hilali, Australia's top Islamic cleric, who sparked outrage with recent comments during a sermon saying that immodestly dressed women invite rape, fainted Monday, October 30, 2006 and was taken to a hospital by ambulance, police said.

In a statement, Al-Hilali said he was temporarily giving up his duties at Australia's largest mosque and acknowledged that the "uncovered meat" analogy was a mistake.

"I confess that this analogy is inappropriate and unacceptable for the Australian society and the Western society in general," he said.

Al-Hilali has rejected calls for his resignation since a newspaper reported last week that he compared women who do not wear head scarves to "uncovered meat" in a sermon at Lakemba mosque in Sydney.

But he said he had a duty to advise Muslim women to adhere to the strict Islamic dress code and that his comments, apparently secretly tape recorded by a critic, was not intended for the general Australian public.

"I am deeply saddened and distressed by the acts of some devious groups which lurk in the dark watching me and who cannot tolerate the moderate, balanced way which I adopt to advocate for women's issues, national harmony and coexistence," he said, without identifying the groups.

Al-Hilali described women as "cherished pearls" and rape of a woman an "abominable crime" that had no justification.

The intense pressure on Al-Hilali to resign heightened Monday when a national newspaper reported that he had recently used an interview on Arabic radio to endorse militants in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.

Prime Minister John Howard said the man who holds the title of mufti of Australia, the most senior cleric in the nation, might have broken counterterrorism laws which prohibit incitement of violence against Australian soldiers deployed overseas.

Australia, a staunch ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Howard warned Australia's 300,000 Muslims that al-Hilali's continuing leadership would damage their reputation among their 20 million fellow Australians, who are predominantly Christian.

Female Muslims have been among the most vocal in calling for the cleric's resignation over references in his sermon to women being soldiers of Satan who were responsible for 90 percent of adultery.

"In due course, I will take the necessary decision that will lift the pressures that have been placed on our Australian Muslim community and that which will benefit all Australians," said al-Hilali, who has survived four strokes and recently underwent double heart bypass surgery. He didn't elaborate.

SEX MOVIE INDUSTRY IS BOOMING WORLDWIDE.

2007-03-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Study says US and China dominate markets

Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being produced in the United States. Every second, 28,258 Internet users view pornography worldwide and 372 Internet users are typing search keywords looking for adult-oriented material.

These are just a few of the statistics featured in a study conducted by Ogden-based TopTen Reviews. The company claims revenues for the world pornography industry hit an estimated $97 billion in 2006, overshadowing the revenues of the top technology companies - the likes of Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and Apple - combined.

"The pornography industry is a very large industry, and it's growing," said TopTen Reviews CEO Jerry Ropelato.

The study shows two of the world's largest economic powerhouses, the United States and China, dominate the markets in adult-oriented Internet sites and adult products, respectively.

The report shows China saw estimated revenues of $27.4 billion in 2006, mainly for being one of the largest producers of sex toys, Ropelato said. The other top-ranking countries for adult-related revenues were South Korea and Japan.

The study shows two of the world's largest economic powerhouses, the United States and China, dominate the markets in adult-oriented Internet sites and adult products, respectively.

The report shows China saw estimated revenues of $27.4 billion in 2006, mainly for being one of the largest producers of sex toys, Ropelato said. The other top-ranking countries for adult-related revenues were South Korea and Japan.

The United States hosted a whopping 244 million adult Web pages, compared to second place Germany, which hosted only 10 million pages. About 12 percent of all total Web sites on the Internet are considered pornographic in nature.

TopTen Reviews compiled statistics from more than 10,000 sources, including the pornography industry, media reports and anti-pornography organizations. The report paints a picture of an exploding industry.

Other findings show most viewers of Internet pornography tend to be those with higher incomes. The report states 35 percent of Net porn viewers earn $75,000 a year or more. The next highest, 26 percent, are those who earn $50,000 to $75,000 a year.

Ropelato said the main reason appears to be the ability of people with higher incomes to afford computers, and those with higher incomes can also afford broadband Internet service.

The exposure of minors to pornography on the Internet was also assessed. According to the report, 80 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds have had multiple exposures to hard-core pornography, mostly while doing research for homework. Ropelato said it appears most of these incidents came as the result of a mistyped Web address, pop-up ads or other incidental exposures.

"I feel that people are being exposed to hard-core porn," said Chris Ahearn, section chief for the Internet Crimes Against Children task force at the Utah Attorney General's Office. Ahearn said he has looked at the TopTen Reviews report, and while he cannot confirm any of its findings, he felt there is a likelihood that many of the statistics could be accurate, based on other studies he has seen.

Ahearn said parents should have some kind of Internet filter software installed on their computers as a first step. Parents should also supervise younger Web surfers and talk to older children about Internet safety.

TopTen Reviews has also reviewed and ranked a list of the best parental software in its opinion. The ranking and the report can be viewed at www.internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com.

"I think it's a huge danger for kids, and I think parents need to be aware of it, and if they don't have an Internet filter on their computer they should get one," Ropelato said, adding he agrees with law enforcement that parents need to sit down with their children and talk about Internet safety.

OVER 13,000,000 CHINESE WOMEN UNDERGO ABORTION YEARLY.

2007-03-28T10:42:00.001-07:00

In China, about 13 million women take induced abortion every year and repeated abortion has caused many women to suffer from physical health problems. On weekends and holidays, clinic rooms in hospitals are filled with women waiting to take an operation, most being female students or young women, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Information shows that in China, the annual average abortion rate is 2.93%, covering women aged 13-48, mostly 20-29. The abortion rate in urban areas is higher than that in rural areas and many women have taken such operation several times, making them become a high-risk group. One woman has reportedly taken induced abortion 15 times. According to a recent survey that covered 8,846 women who took abortion in ten hospitals in Beijing, 41.54% of them took the surgery that involved some great risks. Among this group of people, 35.97% had taken abortion twice in half a year and 17.7% of them had taken abortion more than three times in half a year.

It is said that repeated abortions will cause great damage to women’s physical and psychological health. Related research shows that 84% of the women who take abortion will suffer from some kind of psychological pressure. For unmarried women, their psychological problem will be even more serious than married women.

Women get pregnant either because they don’t take any preventive measures before sex, or the preventive measures end in failure, or because of some medical reasons, with the former two becoming the major causes for pregnancy. Among all the unmarried women who take abortion, 78.6% do not take any preventive measures. And if they take abortion, they are even more likely to get pregnant in future, experts say.

TALLEST MAN WANTS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL

2007-03-28T10:23:00.001-07:00

1.22-meter-tall man enrolled in university

Wei Zeyang, a 22-year-old young man who only has a stature of 1.22 meters, said that “I can be poor, but will not lose confidence; I can be short, but can also make achievements like other normal people.” Our reporter saw Wei on a practice spell in a factory in Yantai, Shandong Province. He looked like a little boy, every inch of him.

Wei was born in a poor farmer family in Lingbi, Anhui Province. When he was 8, his parents found Wei has stopped to grow in height. “At that time I knew the way to change my lot is to receive education,” he said. He went to do part-time jobs in summer and winter holidays in order to earn enough money to pay tuition fees. He once even collected scraps in Zhejiang and Shandong provinces.

After he took part in the college entrance examination in 2003, he started to collect scraps again in Yantai. Meanwhile, Chongqing Business College informed his family that he had passed the exam and the college had decided to admit him. His experience has raised people’s attention, and some common citizens decided to help him with his tuition payment.

He was a diligent student in the college, and preferred to work part-time to earn his own tuition fees when he suffered from osteonecrosis, all his classmates donated money to him. In 2006, he contributed all the 22 thousand yuan raised for him to the college. In recognition of his admirable performance, he was reviewed as a Most Respectable Person of 2007 in Chongqing.

MEET THE GAYS AND LESBIANS IN TAIYUAN.

2007-03-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

In Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province, there live a group of people who live a life quite different from ordinary people. They are homosexuals. The male homosexuals call each other “gay” while the female homosexuals call themselves “lesbians.”

Looked at from outside, Dayingpan, a small bar in Taiyuan, is no different from any other bars with its melodious music and dim light. Waiters are serving in the room. It has a small door. However, to gays and lesbians, a great world is reveal when one opens it.

Some homosexuals come to the bar on weekdays. However, the bar becomes a bustling place on weekends. This reporter arrived at the bar at 8 o'clock one morning, which was still early to many homosexual members there.

Later, people came in twos and threes. For gays, they would only change to female clothes at this time. Some ordered a cup of tea and some ordered some beer. People sat in pairs on the sofa, chatting or staring at each other affectionately. These people said they could recognize homosexuals at a glance.

At 10:40, the bar was filled with people. Some people walked around occasionally, hugging or kissing each other, or drinking together. Among the men appearing in the party in female clothes, some looked even more attractive than real women. A gay, called Meng Meng, had just taken a breast surgery. Today, he wore a dress that could expose his sizable breasts. Another man, called Xiao Yu, had a slim figure and a beautiful face. He even wore long hair. If he didn’t appear in this bar, no one would believe that he was actually a male.

At 11 o'clock, the party went into a peak time. Many people came to the stage to give performances.

“I would feel lonely, puzzled, depressed if I don't come here to see them. Because that would make me think that I am not the only one in the world to live in this way,” said Duo Duo. He often came to the bar to find his partners. It also made him realize that he was still part of the society.

Apart from Dayingpan Bar, there are two other bars in Taiyuan open to homosexuals. One is in Kaihuasi and the other near the Taoyuan 4th Lane. Besides, there is a public bathroom in the west side of Nanneihuanqiao, and a public gathering place in the west part of Yingzeqiao. Some gays and lesbians also hold small parties in their homes.

Although Taiyuan is an inland city, its residents hold a quite liberal attitude towards homosexuals. Not only bars open to gays are allowed to do business in the city, a public venue open to lesbians was recently opened in the west side of Nanneihuanqiao, too. Many lesbians go there. Some gays also go there from time to time.

INFLUENCIAL CHINESS LADIES DON'T LIKE THEIR MEN.

2007-03-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

More than ten wealthy yet single Shanghai ladies will seek their perfect match amongst the millionaires of Silicon Valley when they go on a match-making tour of the United States next month.

Shanghai Youth Daily reports a local online dating website is organizing the tour for lovelorn businesswomen, who need to cough up 28,512 yuan, around 3703 US dollars, for their shot at finding love in the States. They also need to prove they have at least 500,000 yuan in the bank, a good education, a well-paying job and their own real-estate.

More than 20 local women have signed up for the trip, despite the rigorous selection criteria. Unfortunately, trip organizer Bai Naimu said not all of the applicants made the grade. Bai said their company is looking for quality, not quantity, in the ladies it signs on for the tour. So it is conducting additional investigations into all the applicants' financial statements and abilities.

Bai Naimu says the chosen few will attend a matchmaking party with overseas Chinese men in Silicon Valley and get to see all the sights along the way.

She promises their partners in Silicon Valley have assembled lots of eligible bachelors. All the men are from the Chinese mainland and have find it difficult to meet appropriate partners in the States.

Mr. Zhu belongs to an organization for overseas Chinese students in the Silicon Valley. He says Chinese students are usually consumed by their studies during their first few years in the U.S. After they graduate, they find a job, earn a stable income and start casting around for a good wife. But they find it difficult to meet women because they work in the male-dominated IT industry.

Q & A ABOUT JESUS CHRIST.

2007-03-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

Q.
DID JESUS REALLY EXIST?

A.
By examining the evidence. No reputable scholar really doubts Jesus’ existence. Even his enemies never attempted to dismiss him as a myth. Jesus was a real person whose life and historical impact is irrefutable. In fact, according to leading historians, no one has had a greater impact on our world than Jesus.
(See Was Jesus a real person?)

Q.
WAS JESUS ONLY A GOOD MORAL TEACHER OR RELIGIOUS LEADER?
A.
According to C. S. Lewis, that would be a logical impossibility. Jesus claimed equality with God. If he lied, he wouldn’t have been either good or moral. If he told the truth, his claim to be God would be valid. And if he is God, Jesus couldn’t have been merely a moral teacher or religious leader.
(See Is Jesus the Son of God?)

Q.
WAS JESUS’ DIVINITY AN “INVENTION” OF CONSTANTINE AND THE EARLY CHURCH?
A.
The evidence clearly shows otherwise. His Jewish enemies had him killed because “he made himself to be God.” The apostles, most of whom were eyewitnesses, regarded him as God. Even secular history acknowledges that Jesus’ followers believed he was God, and openly called him “Lord” at least 200 years before Constantine. (See Was there a Da Vinci conspiracy?)

Q.
WERE JESUS AND MARY MAGDALENE SECRETLY MARRIED?
A.
Nothing in recorded history suggests that Mary and Jesus were married or had a child. The Da Vinci Code points to an obscure verse in the Gnostic Gospel of Philip (written over 150 years after his death) that states Jesus kissed Mary Magdalene. This could not have been an eyewitness account. But even if was true, such expressions of friendship in first century Israel were customary. Scholars overwhelmingly dismiss a marital relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene as a way to sell books and increase movie box office attendance.
(See Was there a Da Vinci conspiracy?)

Q.
DO THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS PORTRAY THE REAL JESUS?
A.
The New Testament presents eyewitness reports of Jesus which were readily accepted as truth by the first Christians. The Gnostic writings, on the other hand, were written 110-300 Years after Christ by unknown authors who fraudulently named them after the apostles. All the evidence supports the validity of the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ life and words.
(See Is the New Testament reliable?)

Q.
IS THE NEW TESTAMENT ACCOUNT OF JESUS RELIABLE?
A.
The New Testament is the most critically scrutinized book in history, yet its reliability has been substantiated by its early dating, number of copies, internal credibility, and extra-biblical evidence. Even if all its ancient copies were lost, virtually its entire message could still be reproduced by other letters and historical documents.
(See Is the New Testament reliable?)

Q.
DID JESUS FULFILL ANCIENT PROPHECIES THAT PRE-DATED HIS APPEARANCE?
A.
Nearly 300 references to 61 specific prophecies from the Hebrew Old Testament were fulfilled by Jesus. These prophecies were written over 500 years before Jesus, and spell out such details as his divinity, lineage, birthplace, betrayal, crucifixion, and his mission. The odds against one person fulfilling all of these prophecies are prohibitive.
(See Is Jesus the Messiah?)

Q.
WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE FOR JESUS’ RESURRECTION?
A.
The empty tomb, the sudden rise of Christianity and the transformed behavior of Jesus’ followers are unexplainable without the resurrection having been a reality. Even skeptical scholars can’t explain why all of his disciples would be willing to undergo torture and martyrdom for a lie. Without the resurrection, Christianity would have been squelched by Jesus’ enemies and the massive power of Rome.
(See Did Jesus rise from the dead?)

Q.
IF JESUS IS GOD, WHY DID HE SUFFER AND DIE ON THE CROSS?
A.
Jesus told his followers that it is because of God’s great love for us. Jesus’ death was the only sacrifice acceptable to God as payment for our sins. His death paid for everyone’s sins, past, present, and future. Yet this free gift must be personally received by faith, or we remain unforgiven.
(See Is Jesus relevant today?)

Q.
HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD?
A.
1) Jesus said he was the only way.

(See Is Jesus the Son of God?)

2) His resurrection substantiates his divinity, and thus his claims.

(See Did Jesus rise from the dead?)

3) His fulfillment of prophecy proves that he speaks for God.

(See Is Jesus the Messiah?)

4) The eyewitness reports bear record that his claims are true.

(See Is the New Testament reliable?)

5) Jesus alone brings meaning, purpose, and hope to life.

(See Is Jesus relevant today?)

6) Jesus offers every person forgiveness for sin and eternal life.

(See Do you know Jesus personally?)

WASHINGTON INSURANCE FRAUD UNIT GETS ASSISTANCE FROM ADVISORY BOARD.

2007-03-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

OLYMPIA, Washington — Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has appointed a special advisory board to monitor the effectiveness of the agency’s newly launched campaign against organized insurance fraud in Washington.

Earlier this year, the agency’s eight-member Special Investigations Unit began operations following the 2006 Legislature’s establishment of a dedicated fraud unit to investigate and prosecute organized insurance fraud. Specifically, the newly appointed advisory board is charged with advising the Insurance Commissioner and the Legislature on the unit’s effectiveness, funding, use of resources, staffing and other issues in the battle against insurance fraud.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that fraud adds $200 to $300 to the typical Washington household’s annual insurance costs. A cost, Kreidler pointed out, that is ultimately paid by law-abiding insurance policyholders.

The new advisory board includes representatives from the insurance industry, consumers, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, county prosecutors and law enforcement.

Members include:

* David Lyons, State Farm Insurance, (industry) two-year term
* Glenn Kaleta, Safeco Insurance, (industry) four-year term
* John Tolton, Regence Group, (industry) one-year term
* Janet Paulson, Pemco, (industry) three-year term
* Bill Baldwin, Insurance Brokers & Agents of the West, (industry) three-year term
* Bill LaBorde, Washington State Public Interest Research Group, (consumer) three-year term
* Kent Davis, Law Firm Technology Specialists, (consumer) one-year term
* Dana McDonald, National Insurance Crime Bureau, two-year term
* Joe Wheeler, Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office (prosecutor) four-year-term
* Steve Boyer, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office (law enforcement) four-year term

The advisory board will meet at least twice a year, with the first meeting scheduled for June.

Visit the Special Investigation Unit’s Web site.
http://www.insurance.wa.gov/consumers/Fraud/fraud_dirdefault.asp

ONLINE SERVICE USERS BENEFIT DISCOUNT FROM INSURER

2007-03-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Insurer Provides Discount to Customers Using Online Service Vista, Calif. - As part of its ongoing commitment to providing high-quality auto insurance at affordable rates, Unitrin Direct insurance companies, subsidiaries of Chicago-based Unitrin Inc., are offering a $50 discount in 17 states for customers who use Esignature, an service that lets customers sign policy documents online.

"One of our main goals at Unitrin Direct is to continually seek new ways to provide a terrific value on outstanding car insurance coverage," says Unitrin Direct President Scott Carter. "With Esignature, consumers not only save money instantly, they do it with the knowledge that they have a trusted company behind them that prioritizes customer service."

Other insurers are also stepping up e-signature strategies. A survey from Dallas-based Robert E. Nolan Co. resulted in insurers naming e-signatures and online applications; document management, workflow and imaging; and Web self-service for distributors and/or customers (portals) as the technology strategies they are very likely or likely to implement.

The "Life & Annuity Industry Survey Findings" report says, "While e-signatures and online applications are likely to represent the largest investment, the electronic delivery of customer materials in support of the online purchase ranks somewhat lower. This is probably a direct result of the technology adoption curve, with the first priority of being online applications, transitioning to electronic delivery of materials as more consumers sign on as 'electronic customers,' bringing with them the expectations of electronic service."

Unitrin Direct's Esignature discount is automatically deducted from the car insurance rate when customers get a free, no obligation online quote by going to the "Get A Quote" box at the Web site and typing in their zip code. The auto insurance company offers another savings of $25 at the first policy renewal.

The Esignature discount was introduced in South Carolina and Virginia last year, and it proved so popular that Unitrin Direct has expanded it to customers seeking low cost auto insurance in 15 new states: Arizona, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

SECOND LIFE AUTO INSURANCE.

2007-03-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Unitrin Direct, the direct marketing arm of Unitrin, Inc., has become the first auto insurance company to ‘build’ in Second Life. Their virtual skyscraper is modelled on the Unitrin Direct’s Chicago-based headquarter building. Rather than locate their building on an island, Unitrin chose to build in an ‘busy’ part of Second Life (probably because who would choose to visit an insurance company). Once inside the lobby, you can get a real-world auto insurance quote. Eventually real Unitrin employees will staff the lobby to talk to you about your insurance and answer your questions.

VISTA, Calif., Feb. 21, 2007 — PR NewsWire — With today’s opening of its cyber skyscraper, Unitrin Direct has become the first auto insurance company to own a virtual office building in Second Life, the popular online 3D world.

“Unitrin Direct takes pride in using the latest technology to offer outstanding auto coverage at a great value, so having a home base in Second Life is a perfect fit,” says Brian Crumbaker, senior vice president, operations and claims. “This is a fun way for us to reach out to our customers.”

To visit the Unitrin Direct cyber-scraper, where customers can shop for auto insurance and visit with other Unitrin customers, go to http://www.secondlife.com/ and sign up for a free membership. From there you can create and name a personal avatar, and then you can walk, drive or even fly — yes, your avatar flies — to the Unitrin Direct building, located just 30 meters from the well-trafficked Freebie Warehouse. Once visitors enter the Unitrin Direct lobby, they can get an instant auto insurance quote by simply typing in their zip code and answering a few questions. Average annual savings for Unitrin Direct customers is $303, which is L$81,810 or Linden Dollars, the official currency of Second Life.

“This is a fast and easy way for Second Life residents to get a free quote and compare Unitrin Direct’s affordable rates on our dependable car insurance,” says Tom Mercer, vice president, marketing. “We’re excited to offer a new way to introduce customers to our direct business model, which allows us to reduce overhead and pass on the savings to consumers while still providing first-class service.”

Visitors to the Unitrin Direct online office will be offered a free cyber souvenir: a miniature of the skyscraper that can be taken and placed on any land they own in Second Life. Like the big building, which is a replica of Unitrin Direct’s Chicago-based headquarters, the miniature is equipped to provide instant car insurance quotes.

THE DATA RECOVERY DOCTOR.

2007-03-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

Data Recovery Doctor can recover data from all types of hard drives in any of the following conditions:

The hard drive has been formatted or fdisked;

The hard drive makes clicking noises;

The hard drive is inaccessible;

The primary or secondary hard disk has failed and the system BIOS displays the message "Primary hard disk failure" or "Secondary hard disk failure";

The system displays the error message "boot disk error, insert boot disk press any key to continue";

System displays the message "NTLDR is missing, Press any key to restart"The hard drive has a corrupt or damaged partition table;

The hard drive has become inaccessible due to virus attack or virus infection;

The hard drive is no longer recognized by the BIOS after rebooting, despite the platters spinning;

The system displays the message "Operating system not found" or "missing operating system"; The BIOS recognizes the hard drive but with garbage parameters;

The BIOS recognises the hard drive but the data is inaccessible;

Hard drive makes grinding or clicking noises, normally associated with electro-mechanical failure;

The hard drive reports bad sectors;

Laptop Data Recovery, Hard Drive Data Recovery, Hard Disk Data Recovery, London Data Recovery, Data Recovery Services + Data Erasure + Data Destruction + Data Secure Wipe, data, recovery, data recovery, London, hard disk recovery, hard drive recovery, hard disk, data loss, recover data, computer data recovery, data recovery specialists, data recovery experts, data recovery technicians, data recovery company, Data Recovery Doctor, Data Doctor. Hard Disk Doctor, Hard Drive Doctor, Disk Doctor, London, UK
If require our services, please call us on 0845 257 9165. You can also contact us via email: info@datarecoverydoctor.co.uk. If you are looking for other computer services, visit our partner website computerdoctor.co.uk or call 0870 8407989.

6 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN THERE IS DATA LOST

2007-03-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

1. Examples of Data Loss Situations

Recovery from physical and logical damage due to mechanical and electrical failure, software corruption or human error.

Dropped notebook - no longer turns on

Inaccessible drives and partitions

Applications that are unable to run or load data

Corrupted data

Virus

Hard disk component failure

Hard disk crashes

Fire, water, coffee and other liquid damage

Media surface contamination and damage

Accidental reformatting of partitions

Accidental deletion of data

2. The Recovery Process

Initial diagnosis determines whether the media is accessible to our lab equipment. If so, the first priority is to create a raw image of the data on ActionFront media so that logical analysis can determine the nature of the data loss situation. If the media is inaccessible our lab will test the components and closely examine its internal health to determine the extent of physical damage.
Recovery of crashed hard disks often involves replacing failed or damaged components in a clean environment and using specialized hardware and software tools to create the raw image. Failed components typically include electronics, read/write heads, head assemblies, magnets & drive motors.

Logical recovery uses the raw image by examining the low-level data sectors and determining what fixes to filesystem structures are needed to get access to the important data. Sometimes the existing filesystem structures are missing or damaged so much that data has to be extracted directly from one or more fragments of the raw image.
ActionFront Data Recovery Labs programmers have created a full set of software tools used by our technicians to analyze, fix & recover data from raw images of all operating systems. Once a recovery has been successfully performed, file lists are created and data validity is checked.

3. Recovery Pricing for Notebook / Laptop Hard Drives Top

Each data recovery case has its own unique characteristics. The price of any case is determined by two main factors:1. The cost of components. 2. The total lab time spent on the case and what proportion of the work is done by junior, intermediate or senior technicians.
Other factors affecting the price quote are:
The historical lab success rate on a certain type of data loss situation on a particular model. Note that there is no charge at all if the data cannot be recovered; hence the costs involved in attempting the recovery are borne at our risk. Where we enjoy a higher probability of success (and thus lower risk) the price quote may be lower than those cases with a lower probability of success and higher risk. Significant R&D is required to keep up with the technological developments in the drive industry. Pricing for newer data loss problems on newer models will be higher than the pricing for mainstream problems on more common models.

More Information about Pricing for Single Hard Drive Recoveries.

The actual price of any case is determined by two main factors:The cost of components. The total lab time spent on the case and what proportion of the work is done by junior, intermediate or senior technicians. In turn, the amount of lab time and seniority of staff needed are affected by:
1. The File-system type. (Various Windows systems such as FAT32 and NTFS, MAC or UNIX)2. The degree of file-system rebuilding required. This is the amount of logical repair work required for an external recovery or as the follow-up steps for an internal recovery.
Other factors affecting the price quote are:
The historical lab success rate on a certain type of data loss situation on a particular model. Note that there is no charge at all if the data cannot be recovered; hence the costs involved in attempting the recovery are borne at our risk. Where we enjoy a higher probability of success (and thus lower risk) the price quote may be lower than those cases with a lower probability of success and higher risk. Significant R&D is required to keep up with the technological developments in the drive industry. Pricing for newer data loss problems on newer models will be higher than the pricing for mainstream problems on more common models.

4. Turn-Around Time

ActionFront has geared its entire service to recover your data as fast as possible. When dealing with such a wide variety of problems, estimating time before the problem is diagnosed is difficult. That is why each recovery case starts with a diagnostic evaluation.
The evaluation is started immediately on receipt of the media and generally takes 2 to 24 hours to complete. The process involves several hours of work and testing. (Mirroring alone may take up to 24 hours of computer time with extensive re-tries for badly damaged devices.)
Complete recovery turn-around time including analysis and recovery is usually between 1 and 5 days. Some severe cases can take considerably more time.
Our hours of operation are 9am to 7pm EST Monday to Friday (All Labs), 9am to 5pm Saturday (Toronto Lab only). If you have an emergency situation, we have technical staff on call for weekends and after hours in all locations.

Time estimates are based on procedures and expertise required to recover the data you require. You are not charged by the hour. A firm quote is provided for your approval following the evaluation.

5. Hard Drive Brands, Models and Interfaces

ActionFront services all hard drive brands, models and interfaces. What follows is a comprehensive list. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
EIDE and IDE drives from all manufacturers including Western Digital, Seagate, Quantum, IBM, Maxtor, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Samsung, Conner, Micropolis, JTS, Digital, NEC, Compaq, Digital, Kalok, Fuji, Areal and JVC using 2.5" laptop & 3.5" Normal 40 pin ATA through to the UDMA6 interface.

SCSI drives from all manufacturers including Seagate, Quantum, IBM, Western Digital, Fujitsu, Digital, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Micropolis, Maxtor, CDC, Imprimis, Conner, Epson, Rodime, Toshiba, Samsung, Hitachi and NEC using Normal SE, UW, Differential (WD), LVD, Hot Swappable (SCA) and 2.5" laptop interfaces.
Fibre Channel drives from Seagate and IBM with FC (1Gigabit Copper) interfaces.
ESDI, RLL & ST/MFM drives from all manufacturers including Seagate, Western Digital, Conner, Fujitsu, Maxtor, Miniscribe, Quantum, Tandon, Fuji, Toshiba, IBM, Kalok, Micropolis, Priam, Microscience, Tandon, JTS, Kyocera, LaPine and Tulin.
MCA drives from IBM, Western Digital and Seagate with IBM ST-506 & ESDI and 2.5" laptop ESDI interfaces.
PCMCIA Type I, II, III hard drives from IBM, Western Digital, Integral Peripherals and Procomm.
1.8" ATA-5 drives from Toshiba and Hitachi
CF+ Type II IBM Microdrives

6. Preserving your Warranty

ActionFront has established agreements with most hard drive manufacturers regarding preserving warranty during data recovery service. See List of Manufacturers. If your manufacturer is not in the list, please call as ActionFront has agreements with additional manufacturers which have requested us not to post their company name.
If the seals on a hard drive must be broken in order to extract data from the drive, ActionFront will re-seal the media upon completion of service with a tamper resistant sticker which the manufacturer will accept for warranty purposes. You will also receive an invoice receipt to indicate you have pursued data recovery services with ActionFront.

DATA RECOVERY FROM LAPTOP AND NOTEBOOK HARD DISK DRIVES.

2007-03-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Faults, problems and failure symptoms of IBM / Hitachi Travelstar, Hitachi DK23, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Seagate & Western Digital laptop drivesLaptop and notebook computers make up an ever increasing percentage of the computer population. Regardless of the manufacturer of the laptop or notebook, its hard disk will nearly always be either an IBM Travelstar, Hitachi DK23, Fujitsu or Toshiba hard drive.

All laptop hard disks are prone to the same problems as their desktop counterparts, but because of their smaller size and greater density they are uniquely prone to a few others also. Typical data loss situations that arise with laptops are -

Impact damage eg. the laptop is dropped or sat on

Inaccessible drives and partitions

Virus attack

Hard disk component failure

Hard disk crashes

Fire, water, coffee and other liquid damage

Media surface contamination and damage

Accidental reformatting of partitions

Accidental deletion of data

Inaccessibility of data due to drive being protected by ATA password

The Data Clinic has extensive knowledge of all laptop drives and are able to recover data from them in almost all situations, regardless of whether the failures are logical, electrical or mechanical. By the very fact that laptop drives are used in mobile devices, they also suffer from bad sectors
IBM Travelstar and Hitachi Travelstar disks: Laptop computers that contain the IBM Travelstar or Hitachi Travelstar hard disk have some common failure symptoms
Hitachi DK23 series hard disks: Read our page about drive failures on the Hitachi DK23 family of hard drives, PLUS read about problems and symptoms on the Hitachi DK23BA family of drives. Also see the General IBM / Hitachi Travelstar drive failure link (above).
Fujitsu laptop hard disks: Read our page specific to failures on the Fujitsu MHM, MHN, MHR, MHS, MHT etc. series of hard disk drive
Toshiba laptop hard disks: Failure symptoms and data recovery from Toshiba laptop hard disks, Advanced Data Recovery on Toshiba laptop hard drives
Seagate laptop hard disks: Data recovery from Seagate Momentus hard disks
Samsung laptop hard disks: Data recovery and associated failure symptoms on Samsung hard disk drives
Western Digital hard disks: Failure symptoms and data recovery from Western Digital Scorpio laptop hard disks
>> Data Clinic's ADR (Advanced Data Recovery) service for laptop disks now allows us to recover data from laptop hard drives that was once unrecoverable
>> Take a look at what's actually going on inside a knocking hard disk drive with a head failure by viewing our online movie
Call the Data Clinic and talk your problem through with us on 0870 140 2525

DATACLINIC.CO.UK

LAPTOP NOTEBOOK DATA RECOVERY SERVICES.

2007-03-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Have you lost important data because of a notebook or laptop hard drive failure or outage? If so, we can definitely help. Having concluded thousands of successful laptop hard drive recoveries, our capable staff of technicians is experienced and ready to handle the most difficult of any data recovery situation.

For all sizses and makes of laptop/notebook computers, SalvageData's expertise in the area of data recovery is second to none. No matter what caused your data loss, whether it was accidental, mechanical, environment related, or the work of a hacker -even a natural disaster, our team of recovery professionals has the capability and skill to make things right.

Although there are similarities in design architecture among laptop and desktop drives, laptop drives are smaller. The micro environment of these devices makes laptop/notebook recovery a delicate task, requiring not only specialized knowledge but also specifically designed tools. No other company utilizes proper equipment in conjunction with skillful handling more effectively than SalvageData. The art of micro mechanics for notebook drives and other small portable storage devices is challenging for even the most experienced of engineers. For this reason, we make it our business to train all of our engineers on the latest notebook drives in the marketplace.

This is why it makes sense to contact SalvageData when your hard drive crashes!
We can recover your lost data in as little as 24 to 84 hours after receiving your hard drive at one of our conveniently located labs.

Supported Laptop Recovery Types

Fire damage
Water damage & Floods
Will not boot
Dropped, cracked casings
Strange clicking noises
Virus attacks
Failed components (read/write heads, head assemblies)
Drives that have been formatted or overwritten
Inaccessible drives or partitions
Corrupt or missing critical file system structures
File deletion
Surface contamination and damage
Partitioning or boot-up problems
Damage due to a power failure or surge .
OEM Warranty Safe Data Salvaging

If you choose to have us professionally recover you data can rest assured that existing manufacturer warranties from IBM, Maxtor, Fujitsu, Toshiba and Western Digital will not be voided

CALL FOR IMMEDIATE PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE800-970-7188

SALVAGEDATA.COM

HARD DRIVE RECOVERY FOR DESKTOP AND LAPTOP

2007-03-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hard Drive Recovery for Desktop and Laptop Computers Ontrack Data Recovery offers service and software solutions for desktop and laptop data recovery needs. Using advanced data recovery tools and techniques, Ontrack Data Recovery repairs and recovers inaccessible data from all types of desktop and laptop computer hard drives.

As the largest and most experienced data recovery company in the world, our ability to recover data from laptops and desktop computers is unmatched. We have multiple options available for desktop and laptop recoveries including service and do-it-yourself software solutions:
CALL 1-800-872-2599

DTI LAPTOP DATA RECOVERY

2007-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

DTI DATA RECOVERY specializes in laptop data recovery. Our specialists have the tools, in-depth knowledge, and experience necessary to get you quickly up and running. Whether your laptop has been damaged due to mechanical failures, deleted files and partitions, reformatting, overwriting, software malfunction, viruses, or fire and water damage, we can help. Clicking laptop data recovery can be easily fixed by our trained engineers!

In most cases, the laptop’s hard drive is all that is needed by DTI DATA RECOVERY . However, in situations where the laptop has been physically damaged, feel free to send the entire system.

DTI DATA RECOVERY has an exceptionally high recovery rate on laptop hard drives. We have performed data recovery from all manufacturers of notebooks and laptop hard drives, including IBM, Toshiba, HP, Sony, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Maxtor and many others.

The previous scenarios indicate your media has a serious mechanical problem! Do not attempt any further recover actions, discontinue power to your media or permanent data loss may occur. Your media requires the services of a data recovery professional. Call us now toll free (866)-438-6932 or direct (727)-345-9665. Or for an immediate quote: Get a Quick Quote on Data Recovery NOW!

We specialize in laptop drives. We have built custom equipment to handle the small parts and specialized electronics found in laptop drives. Our custom jigs allow us to recover laptop hard disks that our competitors have found "unrecoverable".
Dtidata.com does not charge for the evaluation of your media; furthermore, we do not participate in the "high/low" pricing quote model. (Typically between $500-$2,500.00) We have found that most companies tend to charge on the high end of the quote range. Some recovery companies also have a tendency to exaggerate turn around times . We understand that this can be a stressful time for you and believe that you should be fully informed in your recovery process.

50 CRAZY THINGS A PRESIDENT EVER SAID.

2007-03-22T00:58:00.000-07:00

50. "I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here." —at the President's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002

49. "We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." —Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

48. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.'' —Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

47. "We both use Colgate toothpaste." —after a reporter asked what he had in common with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Camp David, Md., Feb. 23, 2001

46. "Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a — you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

45. "I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

44. "I'm the commander — see, I don't need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." —as quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War

43. "I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." —Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

42. "The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself." —Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003

41. "I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America. It's pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004

40. "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties." —discussing the Iraq war with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, as quoted by Robertson

39. "I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." —presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004

38. "Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?" —to economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil, Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2002

37. "We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." —Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

36. "After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week — we will have an all-volunteer army!" —Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004

35. "Do you have blacks, too?" —to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

34. "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." —as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

33. "I got to know Ken Lay when he was head of the — what they call the Governor's Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor's Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken." —attempting to distance himself from his biggest political patron, Enron Chairman Ken Lay, whom he nicknamed "Kenny Boy," Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2002

32. "It is white." —after being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001

31. "I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." —at a White House menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001

30. "For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." —Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001

29. "I don't know why you're talking about Sweden. They're the neutral one. They don't have an army." —during a Dec. 2002 Oval Office meeting with Rep. Tom Lantos, as reported by the New York Times

28. "You forgot Poland." —to Sen. John Kerry during the first presidential debate, after Kerry failed to mention Poland's contributions to the Iraq war coalition, Miami, Fla., Sept. 30, 2004

27. "I'm the master of low expectations." —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

26. "I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things." —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

25. "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right." —Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001

24. "We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." —Washington, D.C. Oct. 4, 2001

23. "People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

22. "I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it…I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet….I don't want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't — you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one." —President George W. Bush, after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004

21. "The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway." —explaining why high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy, Annandale, Va., Aug. 9, 2004

20. "My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." —radio address, Feb. 24, 2001

19. "You know, when I was one time campaigning in Chicago, a reporter said, 'Would you ever have a deficit?' I said, 'I can't imagine it, but there would be one if we had a war, or a national emergency, or a recession.' Never did I dream we'd get the trifecta." —Houston, Texas, June 14, 2002 (There is no evidence Bush ever made any such statement, despite recounting the trifecta line repeatedly in 2002. A search by the Washington Post revealed that the three caveats were brought up before the 2000 campaign — by Al Gore.)

18. "See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction." —Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003

17. "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." —State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false

16. "In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard." —repeating the phrases "hard work," "working hard," "hard choices," and other "hard"-based verbiage 22 times in his first debate with Sen. John Kerry

15. "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

14. "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

13. "But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." —summing up his first year in office, three months after the 9/11 attacks, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001

12. "I try to go for longer runs, but it's tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It's sad that I can't run longer. It's one of the saddest things about the presidency." —interview with "Runners World," Aug. 2002

11. "Can we win? I don't think you can win it." —after being asked whether the war on terror was winnable, "Today" show interview, Aug. 30, 2004

10. "I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." —Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002

9. "I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job." —to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004

8. "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." —speaking underneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003

7. “We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories … And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." —Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

6. "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!" —President George W. Bush, as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents' Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004

5. "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

4. "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

3. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

2. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

1. "My answer is bring them on." —on Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003

HOW FOUR TURTLES FROM MANHATTAN BECAME AMERICA'S FAVORITE CRIME-FIGHTING HEROES.

2007-03-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

By Frank Paiva
Special to MSN Movies

In preparation for "TMNT," we show how four turtles from Manhattan became America's favorite crime-fighting heroes

In the cinematic pantheon of esteemed talking animals, a group that includes Babe, Francis the Talking Mule and Stuart Little, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are truly one of a kind. They have rippling muscles, they talk like a bunch of frat boys, they pig out on pizza and they fight crime. Their spiritual leader is a gigantic Buddhist rat that wears a pink kimono, and they're named after a bunch of old European artists. Not even Howard the Duck, in all his Lea Thompson-kissing glory, is that peculiar.

If there's anything Hollywood loves, it's a comic-book adaptation. As the "Fantastic Four" has proven, even a bad movie can make money if it has good action sequences and appealing stars. The recent boom of computer-animated films, many centering on talking animals, makes the big-screen return of Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo a seemingly sure thing. At least we know it can't be as bad as "Catwoman."

For the uninitiated, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT for short) are a quartet of anthropomorphic turtles living in the sewers of Manhattan. Using their awesome fighting skills, they help rid the city of criminals, aliens and any other evil creatures that pop up along the way. Their allies are Splinter, the aforementioned rat; April O'Neil, a saucy TV reporter; and, Casey Jones, a hockey-mask-wearing vigilante. Together, they fight the evil villain Shredder, a human fiend who wears spiky, modified samurai armor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a comic book in 1984. Although creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird originally intended their characters to be satirical, they soon found themselves with a runaway success that would lead to countless incarnations and spin-offs, including a nationwide, daily syndicated strip and mountains of merchandise.

As the comic's popularity grew, the demand for more turtle action increased, leading to the immensely successful 1987 cartoon TV series, a Saturday-morning staple for an entire generation of children. The show ran until 1996, on CBS and in syndication, for a total run of 193 episodes. After a failed 1997 reboot that was canceled after one season, the boys made their triumphant return to television in 2003 on the nation's No. 1 guilty-pleasure channel: the FOX Network. Currently, they can be found fighting crime in the future -- 2105 to be exact -- every Saturday morning.

"TMNT," the Turtles' fourth foray onto the big screen, will be released Friday, March 23. Their gritty and hip new look, coupled with the continued inexplicable wave of '80s nostalgia, positions the film for success. High expectations run counter to the franchise's tradition of wildly divergent quality.

It all began in 1990 with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," an independently produced smash that grossed $135 million and established the boys as true international stars. In the film, actors in elaborate foam-rubber suits portrayed the protagonists. Puppets, miniatures and animatronics did the rest. Like many first films in superhero franchises, the movie went back in time to tell the original story of how the turtles came about, mutated and banded together. The film is also notable for appearances by Sam Rockwell and Skeet Ulrich, both of whom appear in small roles as thugs.

A second film quickly followed in 1991, entitled "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze." The film was rushed into production following the success of the first film, and it shows. The picture is strange and poorly crafted, but still manages to be fun. This time, the plot involves the turtles battling Shredder for the magical ooze that caused them to mutate in the first place. Vanilla Ice also makes his film debut in this sequel. There are so many jokes I could make here, but I'll just allow you to create your own.

The final nail in the coffin was 1993's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III." The film follows the boys as they go back in time to ancient Japan to fight some samurai dude for some very loosely explained reason. The movie is only notable in that it provides a fascinating career arc for Corey Feldman, who voices the group leader, Leonardo, for the final time. The goofy fun of the franchise was no match for the stone-face machismo and big effects of other action movies from that year such as "Last Action Hero" and "Cliffhanger."

Now we have "TMNT," the franchise's first film to reflect the Turtles' new image and to fully incorporate computer animation technology. The film also features A-list vocal talent. There's no Corey Feldman here. Instead, the diverse cast includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, Zhang Ziyi, Patrick Stewart, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Smith and the late Mako. Although the trailer looks promising, audiences will have to wait and see whether the film delivers the big laughs and bigger action promised by the trailer.

So why does America love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Is it their magnificent green color and their adolescent charm? Is it an extension of our love for talking animals? Do we simply enjoy fighting? The truth is that no one person can explain the mass appeal of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's one of pop culture's biggest anomalies. Think about it. If someone told you 25 years ago that a bunch of talking turtles studying Eastern philosophy and kicking butt was going to take in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and merchandise worldwide, you'd probably laugh in their face.

Two possibilities best explain the Turtles' unlikely success. First, like all good franchises, the TMNT appeal to a wide variety of age groups: sophisticated kids, childlike adults, college-aged stoners and the confused elderly. In recent years, SpongeBob SquarePants has found gold with the same wide demographic. Second, there's that catchy theme song that is just about impossible to get out of your head.

While writing this article, the first thing I would hear from people when mentioning the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the theme song. With its high energy, instantly recognizable guitar riffs, the tune ranks up there with "The Brady Bunch," "Green Acres," "Gilligan's Island" and the rest of the best of the best in TV theme-song history.

Finally, in an attempt to end a nearly 25-year reign of confusion and debate: Leonardo wears the blue mask, Michelangelo wears the orange mask, Raphael wears the red mask and Donatello wears the purple mask.

Regardless of whether the film is a blockbuster or a flop, kids and longtime fans will scour the malls of America for new TMNT toys, and our friends Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello will continue to hold their rightful crown as the kings of Saturday morning.

CODING AND DECODING BODY LANGUAGE.

2007-03-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Whether you want to learn the body language of love, dating or closing the deal, welcome. The analysis I'm going to give you as part of this article includes both "liking" and deception judgments. It is fairly complex to analyze human behavior in snapshots in time. I made judgments on the relationships of these couples (seen below) based solely upon these photographs and the apparent context in which they were taken.

In this article my goal for you is to become aware of a few of the subtle nuances that you are going to begin picking up from now on. Instead of telling you each little nuance in a boring, clinical way, I'm going to let you have some fun and invest just a few minutes into being a body language expert with me. In the course, (which I designed equally with business and personal relationships in mind) I will go into much greater detail, but if you look closely you will learn a great deal today about the nuances of nonverbal communication.

The question I was asked to answer about these specific body language pictures was, "Who is the boss." "Who rules the family, and are they likely to stay together?" Let's take a look and see...

Photo 1 - Arnold Schwarzanegger and Maria Shriver.
Arnold has a straight back, thumb up, and focus on someone in the audience. He is engaged with both his wife and fan at the same time. His smile, however, is not his normal limbic smile. It's forced as you can see by the lines between chin and cheekbone. He is in control of the setting but he is pushing his smile.

Maria Shriver (wife) is also engaged with someone else while completely happily in love and comfortable with her husband. That smile is a genuine limbic smile and she couldn't be happier with whatever the setting is and her husband. The hand to the heart is a sign that she adores this man when the smile is in place as it is. Her body posture is leaning toward Arnold and it would be tough to do otherwise as it appears that Arnold's left hand is making sure that she is leaning into him. Nevertheless it is natural and she is brilliantly happy.

These are two people, very much in love who have a different agenda for the day. The mix of business and pleasure is obvious from the body language point of view. Both are going well. She appreciates the crowd more than Arnold and she appreciates Arnold, at this moment more than he does her.

What can you learn? Go back to Maria's smile. See those two lines that go back to her ears? When the smile is genuine (with the vast majority of people), you see those lines go back to people's ears and you see two or more. The more the better.

This couple is happy and nothing is likely to get in their way.

Photo 2 - Chelsea Clinton and Boyfriend.
This is a very interesting picture of the former President's daughter. Again, a snapshot in time. First the boyfriend. Notice where his hands are. They aren't up in the air, they are "holding the ceiling up." Generally when a man does this kind of "Samson" gesture (holding/pushing the pillars) you can read it as an intentional show of strength (which usually actually means quite the opposite!) Next look at his eyes. They are looking right down at his....correct. What he is seeing is anybody's guess but his facial expression indicates he is pleased with it...

Chelsea is close to this young man...but not as close as you might suspect given the depth perspective of the photo. Her eyes do NOT attend to her boyfriend but something/someone else off to the side. She also (in this snapshot in time) does not actually touch her boyfriend and that is interesting.

She appears happy and yet uncomfortable with the setting. A bit shy for this really now outgoing girl. Perhaps because of the camera in her face? You can't tell but the overall chemistry plays out like this. Samson and a distant Delilah. There is no talking going on between the bodies and although it appears they have fun together on some levels, this looks short-term from this moment in time forward. A full body shot would have added a great deal to the context. Her smile is genuine. Notice the lines...

Photo 3 - Liz Hurley and boyfriend.
Look at the power Liz Hurley has here. Start with her body position. She is holding him like a man holds a woman. Her right hand cupped tight against his right side. Very masculine. In charge. Her smile is irrelevant. It is only for the audience. There is no sign of anything in the smile that leads you to believe she likes what she is looking at. It is a prefrontal cortex smile. A smooth face with a smile is a sign of polite boredom. Notice where Hurley chooses to put her hand for the photo? Not like Maria Shriver with Arnold right? Correct. Her hand goes to her hip and unconsciously gives the feelings she has deep inside for this man away. I suspect they enjoy their intimacy and little else.

Looking at the boyfriend you see no happiness, not even contentment. Why is he here? I don't know. Whatever the context, it doesn't matter. The affection he shows for her is miniscule and forced.

These two have a short life expectancy together based upon only this snapshot in time.

Photo 4 - Nicky Hilton and Boyfriend.
This is a great photo and you don't need me to analyze it all that much for you so I'll let you do this. What is his body posture compared to hers? Is her affection level comparable to his? Do they appear to share the same level of desired connection? Compare facial expressions. Which one appears adoring and admiring?

Right on all accounts. Notice that she gives her cigarette in the right hand far more physical attention than he does from her. She is sitting in the shade but her face squints as if she's in the sun. This is usually a sign of dislike or annoyance. Difficult to tell without another snapshot in time.

Notice his right leg that he has positioned right into her legs. She has given nothing back. This poor man will be with another woman very soon.

Photo 5 - Tom Arnold and woman.
Does this photo remind you of Nicky Hilton's and to a lesser extent Liz Hurly's? It should.

Tom Arnold is being held on a string here. He might actually be married to this woman now, I believe this is the case. Let's look at affection. You work this out with me:

Does her face indicate she is appreciating Tom's affection?

Does her face seem to want to look toward Tom?

Does she appear to be grabbing Tom tightly and pulling her close to him?

Does she give more attention to the handbag at the end of the arm which appears to have a dead weight attached to it than Tom?

The affectionate touch to the stomach like Maria did is nowhere to be found. Tom clearly is very fond of this lass. Her smile is a combination of the prefrontal and limbic. Only one line usually means that there is some "truth" in the smile but not joy or happiness. The young ladies rear end is far too far back there for her to be feeling intimate toward Tom who appears that he could ignore his outdoor surroundings at any moment and ....well yes.

Now, there is much more that you can glean from each photograph. I'm going to reveal to you how to determine whether everyone you meet likes you or not. I'm going to show you how to read with precision whether they are leaning "yes" or "no." Like any skill, it simply take a little time investment to learn. The payoff? Enormous. Being able to control every situation you are in.

I'm going to let you participate in the course where we have about 100 candid photos of celebrities in different settings. Working with celebrity photos is the best way to learn because these are people who are taught to control their emotions and feelings. But just like what you have already learned to see, the little nuances like the cigarette in Nicky's hand, the handbag in Tom's girlfriend's hand. They tell quite a story. The story that the unconscious is revealing, but the conscious mind is not.

CODING AND DECODING BODY LANGUAGE.

2007-03-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Reading, decoding and interpreting body language is art and science! Every action or micro-action takes place within a context and in reaction to other actions that go on around the individual. Body language has meaning that few understand and most mis-interpret. This free article will show you some of the basic and advanced techniques used to interpret body language! Flirting and sexual body language is something you can quickly spot in a woman's body language as well as a man's in both business and personal context. Body language revealing lying is easily identified in both business and personal context. Nonverbal communication is the least understood and most important facet of communication. The course from which this article is adapted, will take you through step by step so you will understand body language quickly and accurately.

Whether you want to learn the body language of love, dating or closing the deal, welcome. The analysis I'm going to give you as part of this article includes both "liking" and deception judgments. It is fairly complex to analyze human behavior in snapshots in time. I made judgments on the relationships of these couples (seen below) based solely upon these photographs and the apparent context in which they were taken.

In this article my goal for you is to become aware of a few of the subtle nuances that you are going to begin picking up from now on. Instead of telling you each little nuance in a boring, clinical way, I'm going to let you have some fun and invest just a few minutes into being a body language expert with me. In the course, (which I designed equally with business and personal relationships in mind) I will go into much greater detail, but if you look closely you will learn a great deal today about the nuances of nonverbal communication.

The question I was asked to answer about these specific body language pictures was, "Who is the boss." "Who rules the family, and are they likely to stay together?" Let's take a look and see...

ISLAMIC CLERIC URGE INDONESIANS TO STOP PRE-MARITAL SEX.

2007-03-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

Jakarta - A Muslim cleric has urged Indonesians, in particular teenagers, to stop having sex out of wedlock to avoid worsening the country's morality, a local report said Friday.

'The moral damage caused by pre-marital sexual behaviour has negative effects that are far worse than the tsunami disaster in Aceh province in 2004,' cleric Abdul Rasyid said after leading regular Friday prayers at a mosque within the Presidential Palace grounds.

Around 177,000 people were killed in Indonesia's Aceh province after an earthquake-triggered tsunami struck nine Asian countries on December 26, 2004. In all, more than 220,000 people perished in the international disaster.

'Research has shown that almost 50 per cent of Indonesian girls have sex out of wedlock, which will ruin us,' Rasyid said, according to the state-run Antara news agency.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation but has a secular government and constitution. The vast majority of the country's 190 million Muslims practice a moderate version of Islam, and drinking, smoking and pre-marital sex are commonplace within society.

Some Indonesian nationalists and moderate Muslim leaders have warned about back-door attempts by conservative and hard-line Muslims groups to change the constitution to make Indonesia an Islamic state.

THE WORLD IS RUNNING SHORT OF WOMEN.

2007-03-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

A Tibetan girl carries her baby brother as their father works on their wheatfield in Tsethang, south of Lhasa. Forced abortion and sterilization is common in both Tibet and China. China's growing shortage of women can lead to social instability, researchers warn.
Boy or girl? Pink or blue? Gender selection has historically existed in some form or another in many cultures, but thanks to technological advances in recent years, it has become an accepted and widespread practice in a number of developing countries.

The availability of cheap ultrasound scans in Asian countries within the last 20 years has made it possible for even the poorest woman to discern the sex of her unborn child.

Sex selection in countries such as China and India is now achieved mainly through ultrasound, followed by an abortion if the fetus is female. While the natural sex ratio is about 105 boys per 100 girls, in India it has climbed to 113 boys per 100 girls, and up to 156 boys per 100 girls in some regions.

The current sex ratio in China is about 120 boys per 100 girls, and in the more prosperous provinces it's even higher. Although both countries have banned sex selective abortion, India back in 1994 and China more recently, it is still widely practised.

The reasons for the high abortion rates of girls are many and varied. Both India and China, as well as other countries that use sex selective abortions widely, have a long-standing preference for boys, especially in rural areas. It often comes down to practicalities: a son can work the farm, carry on the family name, and look after elderly parents, whereas a daughter will become part of her husband's family after she gets married.

In India, where the cost of a dowry for a daughter can be prohibitive, financial pressure is often a reason for resorting to sex selective abortion or infanticide. A 2006 study published in the British medical journal, the Lancet, estimated that up to half a million female fetuses are aborted every year in India.

But China's strict one-child policy, implemented in 1979 to reduce the population, has severely upset the gender balance in that country. A January report in the China Daily estimated that there will be 30 million more men than women of marriageable age in China by 2020, leading to possible widespread social unrest.

Already, the skewed sex ratio has resulted in a rise in the kidnapping and trafficking of women, both within the country and internationally. Mail order bride services have mushroomed, which, for a fee of up to $2,400, import wives for Chinese men from other countries, especially Burma. Joseph D'Agostino, vice president for communications with the Virginia-based Population Research Institute (PRI), calls the one-child policy "a massive violation of human rights" which affects both women and men.

"When it comes to sex selective abortion, it's something that's leading to grave social problems-the extermination of tens of millions of girls," says D'Agostino. "And of course it's bad for the boys too because they're going to grow up and not be able to get married. It seems to be against everyone's interests except the very elite and the communist government that runs China, which has its own agenda and its own goals."

D'Agostino says Beijing has now become aware of the problems of sex selection, and recently introduced cash bonuses for families who have girls, but the gap in the boy/girl ratio is still widening. Meanwhile, the one-child policy will remain firmly in place for another 50 years, the goal being to reduce China's population from the present 1.2 billion to 600 million.

Because of the policy, pregnant women are subjected to harassment, financial penalties, and forced abortions and sterilization, often in the late stages of pregnancy. Chen Guangchen, a blind activist who has fought against the one-child policy, said last October that more than 120,000 women in Shandong province alone were at that time forced to undergo sterilizations and abortions. Forced abortion and sterilization is enforced in Tibet as well.

The Dying Rooms, a shocking British documentary that created an outcry around the world, showed children abandoned in some of China's state orphanages, uncared for and left to die in unimaginable misery and squalour, victims of the one-child policy. D'Agostino says 95 percent of China's orphans are girls.

In 2005, a U.N. report stated that the number of "missing" girls resulting from abortion and female infanticide is now at an estimated 200 million worldwide. In an effort to combat the problem, the U.S. last week sponsored a resolution at the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women calling on states to eliminate infanticide and gender selection.

But the resolution was withdrawn, thanks to opposition from China, India, Mexico and other countries-one of which apparently was Canada. Mary Ellen Douglas, national organizer with the Campaign Life Coalition which had a representative present at the two-week conference, said the resolution contained language that the Canadian delegation didn't agree with, and so they maneuvered against it.

"The Canadians are constantly trying to get the language of women's rights into everything, and they claim that they're doing this as a matter of justice. But their goal it seems is to get a universal right to abortion-that's the bottom line for them," says Douglas.

Although the Department of Foreign Affairs says that "Canada did not block the resolution," Samantha Singson asserts that, although she didn't attend the closed session, she "got it from sources in the negotiating room that Canada worked very hard to ensure that the resolution would be withdrawn."

Douglas says she was surprised that one of the countries that backed the resolution was South Korea, a country with a strong preference for sons. But maybe it's not so surprising, given that the South Korean government, recognizing that there's a severe gender imbalance in the country because of sex selective abortions, has been attempting to change public opinion with a "Love Your Daughter" campaign. Meanwhile, South Korean men have been traveling to other countries, primarily Vietnam, to find a wife.

India has been trying to turn the trend around with new laws introduced in 2002 that prohibit the disclosure of the sex of the fetus or advertising services that determine the sex of the fetus. But so far, only one doctor has been charged. Last year, China dropped a proposal to impose fines and prison terms for sex selective abortion.

As well as in many Asian countries, gender selective abortions are common in Cuba, Venezuela and Pakistan, and also within immigrant communities in Canada and the United States. A recent Western Standard article reported that some Asian immigrants are seeking sex selective abortions in Canada, and being accommodated by clinics in B.C. and Ontario. A B.C. clinician interviewed for the story estimated she sees women who want to abort female fetuses at a rate of about one per week.

But sex selective abortion is not within the realm of acceptance for most Canadians. A 1993 Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies found that 90 per cent of Canadians were uncomfortable with the idea of gender selective abortions.

And although many who are "pro-choice" draw the line at aborting a fetus because of gender preference, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has issued a position paper on sex selection stating, "It is important to remember that we cannot restrict women's right to abortion just because some women might make decisions we disagree with."

One of the latest high-tech sex selection methods to appear in the U.S. is a sperm sorting technique which is marketed as a way to achieve "family balancing" or "family completion." Demographers and women's rights groups are concerned that an increased acceptance of gender selection in the U.S. will serve to exacerbate the problem in countries where "son preference" prevails.

D'Agostino, who believes the gender imbalance "is turning into a huge global problem that's getting worse every year," says his organization would like to see sex selective abortion outlawed in the U.S. He says it should be more prominent on the U.N.'s agenda, and that countries need to work to "change the culture around this and hopefully change the laws."

"There needs to be some sort of global approach to this because it's fast becoming a social problem," says D'Agostino. "It's not only immoral, it's impractical, and people need to have a different mentality."

LIFE SENTENCE FOR BRUTAL MURDER OF 2 FRIENDS.

2007-03-20T09:57:00.001-07:00

A knife-obsessed cannabis addict has been jailed for life for the brutal murders of two school friends.

Tom Palmer, 20, will serve a minimum of 18 years.

A jury at Reading Crown Court rejected Palmer's admission of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. It decided instead that he was responsible for murdering Steven Bayliss, 16, and Nuttawut Nadauld, 14, known as T-Wood.

A habitual user of cannabis and a fan of violent horror movies, Palmer butchered the pair with a hunting knife on a leafy footpath near Wokingham, Berkshire, in September 2005.

After the case, Rethink, a mental health charity, called on the Government to fund a nationwide public health campaign warning people of the risks of cannabis use.

Palmer told prison doctors that he had tried, and failed to kick his cannabis habit in the year before the killing. After trying the drug at the age of 14 he was smoking it on a daily basis by the time he reached 15.

He was not smoking on the day of the killings but he told doctors he had been using the skunk form of the drug regularly in the preceding weeks. Doctors told the court the drug had "exacerbated" Palmer's anxiety and the strange auditory and visual hallucinations he reported suffering in the months before the attacks.

Palmer told clinicians that he had attacked the boys when they tried to comfort him as he had a serious panic attack.

Paul Corry, Rethink's director of public affairs, said: "We now know that cannabis can be a trigger for mental health problems and smoking it under the age of 18 can double people's chances of developing psychosis. While it is a terrible tragedy that two young people lost their lives in such a shocking way, homicide involving people with mental health problems is fortunately very rare. The Government must invest in a wide scale public health campaign so that young people know cannabis is not risk-free."

Palmer will serve at least 20 years minus the time he has already served on remand since the killings.

CONVICTED PRISONER WINS PHONE PRIVACY CASE.

2007-03-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

A convicted armed robber has won a landmark legal action claiming that a recorded message on his calls from prison breached his human rights.

Stewart Potter lodged a case against the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), complaining that the message on outgoing telephone calls breached his right to privacy.

The prisoner, who is at Glenochil in Clackmannanshire, said the words - "This call originates from a Scottish prison" - also "inhibited his social rehabilitation" and was embarrassing.

A judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that the message was unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Glennie cited Article 8 of the Convention, which provides that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

He said: "In some societies it might be regarded as obvious that a person convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a period of imprisonment should, for the duration of his imprisonment, be deprived of his civil rights.

"Such a notion has no place in our society."

Potter is serving a 21-year sentence imposed after separate convictions for assault and robbery.

Lawyers for the inmate argued that the message alerted his children's school to his incarceration.

It was claimed that the information was not relevant to his dealings with teachers and others.

MAN, 47, CHARGED WITH DOUBLE MURDER.

2007-03-20T09:48:00.001-07:00

An unemployed man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with the murder of a disabled woman and her carer.

David Tiley, 47, spoke only to confirm his name when he made a brief appearance at Alton Magistrates' Court in Hampshire.

Tiley is charged with the murder of mother-of-five Sue Hale, 49, who suffered from a degenerative brain disorder, and her carer, mother-of-two Sarah Merritt, 39, at Mrs Hale's flat in Meggeson Avenue in Southampton last Thursday.

Post-mortem examinations on both women showed they had died from stab wounds.

The bodies were found by police officers after Mrs Merritt's husband, Peter, raised the alarm when she failed to return to their home in Oaktree Road, Southampton.

He had spotted his wife's car outside the flat of Ms Hale who Mrs Merritt, a mother-of-two, visited twice a week in her work as a professional carer.

Tiley, who was in a relationship with Mrs Hale, was arrested on Saturday morning.

He was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned for him to appear at Winchester Crown Court on March 28.

There was no application for bail.

TEENAGER ARRESTED FOR THE MURDER OF ADAM REGIS.

2007-03-20T09:44:00.001-07:00

A youth has been arrested by police investigating the murder of teenager Adam Regis who was stabbed to death in east London.

Scotland Yard said the youth, who is believed to be in his teens, was arrested on Tuesday morning at an address in East Ham. He is in custody at an east London police station.

Adam, 15, the nephew of Olympic sprinter John Regis, was found fatally wounded on Saturday night in a residential area not far from West Ham United's football ground in Upton Park, east London. He was taken to Newham General Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

A Scotland Yard statement said: "At approximately 7.45 today, officers attended an address in East Ham and arrested a youth - believed aged in his teens - in connection with the inquiry. He is now in custody at an east London police station.

"We stress that the investigation continues and that all our points of appeal remain. All lines of inquiry do remain open."

Adam was on his way home from a visit with friends to the cinema in Beckton, east London, when he was attacked.

Police were called just after 9.30pm after he was found at the junction of Boundary Road and Kingsland Road. He died of his injuries shortly before 11pm.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a single stab wound.

Home Secretary John Reid on Monday announced that information on crimes involving knives will be recorded separately as part of a package of measures to tackle the use of weapons.

Mr Reid told the Commons that from next month, data on "serious or violent" offences involving knives will be recorded separately to give a "more detailed understanding of the prevalence of the problem".

RIGHT TO BAN NJABI IN SCHOOL CONDEMNED.

2007-03-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

New Government guidelines spelling out the right of headteachers to ban pupils from wearing religious dress such as the Islamic veil are "simply shocking", a British Muslim leader said.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson has drawn up the updated guidance after a 12-year-old girl lost a legal battle to wear the full-face niqab in class in her Buckinghamshire school last month.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills stressed that the Government was not imposing a blanket ban on veils at schools, and any decision on uniform policy was a matter for individual headteachers.

But Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said he felt "dismayed" at the guidelines.

He said: "Successive ministers dealing with education issues have failed to give proper guidance when requested by human rights campaigners about schools' obligations regarding religious dress, including the head scarf, and other service delivery under human rights laws and norms. To now proceed to issue guidance against Muslim communities is simply shocking."

The new guidelines issued on Tuesday will also warn schools they must not force parents to buy over-priced uniforms for their children.

The DFES spokesman said that headteachers have always been in a position to set their school's uniform policy, and this remains the case under the new guidelines.

The new document states that schools should consult widely with parents, governors and the local community on uniform policy relating to religious dress.

Where possible, they should try to tolerate a wide range of religious and cultural items of clothing. But they may ban certain garments, such as the full-face veil, if it is felt that they impede safety, security or the ability to learn.

The DFES is not ordering or advising headteachers to ban the veil, but is confirming that they have the ability to do so if they wish, so long as they carry out proper consultation, the spokesman said. Headteachers will be told they will face action from the Office of Fair Trading if they impose unfair uniform policies on families.

OVER 10,000 PASSPORT OBTAINED BY FRAUD.

2007-03-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

An estimated 10,000 British passports were issued to fraudulent applicants last year, new figures have shown.

Home Office minister Joan Ryan revealed that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) received 16,500 fraudulent applications between October 2005 to September last year.

In a written ministerial statement, she said "almost half" of those were stopped by existing safeguards but the remainder went undetected.

She said: "Our current estimate is therefore that the level of undetected fraud is about 0.5%, equivalent to 10,000 applications against the planned 6.6 million passports issued per year."

The announcement came on the day the IPS revealed details of a new project to reduce fraud.

From May, first-time adult applications will be forced to attend passport offices for face-to-face interviews.

Tuesday's fraud figures were based on a sample of several thousand applications and is believed to be the most accurate estimate so far of the extent of passport fraud.

Ms Ryan said: "Although precise figures are difficult to obtain, it appears that the level of attempted fraud is increasing and getting more sophisticated.

"Analysis of the frauds shows that the main fraud threat is from first-time adult applications, followed by first-time child applications."

The interview process will begin "modestly" in May and will be rolled out across Britain throughout the year, the minister added.

STOLEN CROCODILE FOUND IN CAR.

2007-03-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

Australian police have returned a stolen freshwater crocodile to its home after it was found in a car of a man who suffered a suspected epileptic fit.

Police said the crocodile and some of the 40 other lizards stolen from the Wildlife Wonderland Park in Bass, Australia, were found in a car after the driver was found slumped over the wheel, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

Damien Tilley, co-owner of the park, said eight blue-tongued lizards, two bearded dragons and two pink-tongued skinks remain missing from the Sunday robbery.

"The crocodile is actually now back in his enclosure, with his pen mate, he's warmed himself up lovely and he actually had a nice mouse for lunch this afternoon so he seems to have settled in all right," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Sgt. Darren Hedge of the Frankston Police said the driver of the vehicle was found "in a disoriented state" and taken to a hospital, where it was concluded that he was not bitten by any of the animals, The Age reported.

"Ambulance officers believed he might have suffered an epileptic fit or something," he said.

MINE BLAST KILLS 61 IN RUSSIA.

2007-03-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sixty-one miners are dead and at least 64 others missing following a methane gas explosion Monday at a coal mine in West Siberia.

Nearly 200 miners were underground at the Ulyanovskaya mine when the blast occurred, Interfax reported.

While explosions are not uncommon in Russia's coal industry, the Ulyanovskaya mine was opened only five years ago.

The mine produces about 3 million tons of coal annually with estimated reserves of 210 million tons, the Novosti news agency reported.

Rains havoc in Muscat.

2007-03-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

Muscat : An unexpected downpour of rains starting at dawn today, Sunday, March 18th 2007, brought unprecedented damage to vehicles and property in the Sultanate of Oman.

In one place thirteen cars were swept away from the parking lot in front of Muscat Municipality. Most of the cars belonged to Europecar, the rent a car company. This incident took place around 8:30 a.m. Two of the vehicles which were still running were swept away when the drivers made the mistake of daring to cross the overflowing wadi. These people had obviously underestimated the fury of nature. Fortunately for them they were rescued by the police rescue team.

Its 12 noon Muscat time now and the rains have abated. However, they have left a wake of damage around the city. The road are covered with stones and debris, people are stranded and some of them have not yet made it to the offices.

The road leading to Seeb International Airport was completely blocked as the traffic on the opposite side was diverted to the same road.

Rains were observed since yesterday evening in most of the Wilayats like Sohar, Saham, Shinas and some of the Dhalkaliya regions.

So far, no casualties have been reported. The ROP (Royal Oman Police) are actively engaged in clearing the traffic as well as getting people to safety. They are receiving all help from the locals as well as the expatriate community.

15 YEAR OLD STABBED TO DEATH.

2007-03-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

A boy of 15 was stabbed to death in a street attack in London on Saturday night, police said.

The boy, who has not been named, collapsed on the pavement in front of passers-by only a few hundred yards from West Ham's football stadium.

His murder comes just three days after 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga was stabbed to death while walking with his girlfriend on the other side of the capital in Hammersmith. The latest victim, like Kodjo, is black.

Police are searching for two youths seen near the murder scene at the junction of Boundary Road and Kingsland Road in Newham.

The victim was found at around 9.30pm on the pavement with blood pouring from a wound in his leg. He also had another stab wound, said police. An ambulance took him to Newham General Hospital where he died just before 11pm.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Stevenson, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "At this very early stage of the investigation, we are trying to build up a picture of events. The victim, although only 15, was tall for his age, was wearing white Nike trainers and casual clothing.

"He had been to the Showcase Cinema in Beckton with some friends earlier in the evening and may have travelled to Boundary Road by bus. Bus numbers 104 and 376 stop near to where he was found and we will be examining CCTV as a priority.

"Two youths were seen near to where the victim was found and I urgently need them to come forward as they may have vital information. Equally, I would appeal for anyone who may have seen the victim or the two youths in Kingsland Road to contact police."

Local councillor Pearson Shillingford, who went to the scene, said: "This is the first time this has happened in this part of Newham. I am very sad to hear of such an incident taking place, and my sympathy is with the community, and I know the community is very concerned about it.

"As far as I'm concerned, I've not heard of any gang in this area. I've heard of knife cases in neighbouring boroughs, but this is the first time that this has happened here, and let's hope it will be the last."

LINDSAY LOHAN HURLED OBSCENITIES IN PUBLIC

2007-03-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

HOLLYWOOD - Lindsay Lohan hurled obscenities at a nightclub crowd in New York on Thursday night when fans refused to stop taking photographs of the actress as she hosted a DJ set.

The Mean Girls star, who recently underwent counseling to curb her wild ways, was DJing at Manhattan's Plumm nightclub when she lost her temper as fans kept 'flashing' her.

Lohan turned off the music from the DJ booth and reportedly screamed at the snap-happy fans, "If I see one more f**king flashbulb go off, I'm going to stop the music and I'm out of here."

Fans took her threat seriously and the rest of her DJ set went smoothly.

It was a tense night for Lohan--she demanded club owners hire extra security to make sure her estranged father, who was released from prison earlier in the week after serving time for assault, didn't get access.

Sources tell Web site TMZ.com that Lohan handed bouncers a photograph of her father, Michael, and told them to keep him out if he showed up.

Upon his release from jail, Michael Lohan revealed he wanted to reconcile with his famous daughter.

WHO WILL PLAY ANNA NICOLE SMITH?

2007-03-17T02:32:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Filming will begin in Los Angeles early next month on a motion picture about the life of Anna Nicole Smith, CNN has learned.

Producer Jack Nasser of All-Media Productions told CNN on Friday that his company is in the process of casting the lead role in the film, which could be released as early as June.

"We're moving as quickly as possible" on the production, Nasser told CNN. "We're on what we call 'the fast track.' "

Nasser said the film will cover Smith's life from from age 17 until her death last month at 39, including her marriage to billionaire J. Howard Marshall and the death of her son Daniel.

Nasser said his film will focus on "the positive" about Smith, whose February 8 death caused a media sensation. "It's not focused on the trash," he said.

Nasser's company has produced a long list of little-known TV movies, including "Amber's Story," "Hostage Negotiator" and "The Suspect."

He told CNN the untitled Smith biopic is intended for a theatrical release but could wind up on TV.

Nasser said it was not necessary for him to obtain the rights to Smith's story to make the film because it is based on biographical details that have been widely reported.

"She's very famous," he told CNN. "There's so much in the public domain. In this case rights aren't necessary."

Casting for the role of Smith will begin next week, he said. Nasser said he may cast two women, one to play the younger Smith, the other the older. A casting notice online specifies the role involves "some minor nudity for two brief striptease" scenes. Smith was a stripper in Texas when she met her late husband, Marshall.

Actors also will be cast to play Marshall, Smith's son Daniel at ages 5, 9 and 16, and the private nurse who discovered Smith's lifeless body in a Florida hotel room, among other roles.

Nasser told CNN his company had been at work on a film about Smith for the last two years and stepped up production after she died unexpectedly.

"We just kicked it into gear" after her death, he said.

Confessions from a Former Enterprise Rental Salesman

2007-03-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

There's always useful information over at The Consumerist, a blog devoted to helping you get the most bang for your buck as a customer (I'm not so keen on the word "consumer", it implies that your role is to spend, not to think). Here's an article for those of you who rent cars often: 9 Confessions from a Former Enterprise Rental Salesman, which are:

1. Enterprise doesn't have any set prices. The rates are negotiable, and someone who walks into the office and announces that s/he "needs a car, no matter what the price" is going to get screwed. "There are three main categories of rentals: personal (retail), corporate, and insurance, but on every single contract that goes out the agent manually types out how much you pay per day and he has authority to make it pretty much whatever he thinks you should pay."

2. You don't need all that extra rental insurance, but you can use it to lower your rental rate. "...just like service contracts at Best Buy, you can negotiate the daily rate of your rental down by agreeing to add all the insurance (we call it "full boat" when some poor soul gets soaked for all of the extra protections--damage waiver, personal accident insurance, and supplemental liability: the trifecta of consumer stupidity)."

3. If you want to secure a really low daily rate but stay on that employee's good side (i.e. so you can get the same deal again and again), take your rental by any Enterprise in the region the next day and remove the extra coverage. It's win-win: you end up not paying for insurance you don't need, and the sales rep who rented out the car to you still gets credit for the sale.

4. Most of Enterprise's business comes from insurance replacement rentals, so they get a better deal [NOT RECOMMENDED]. Knowing this, you can go to Enterprise and tell them your car was totalled and that State Farm (or some other very large insurance company) is giving you low daily rental allowance. I don't recommend using this trick; I'm all for saving a buck, but I'd much rather do it honestly.

5. Enterprise runs the "weekend specials" because there are loads of spare cars on weekends. "Airport and tourist-heavy places won't have much for you, but neighborhood branches will be "sitting fat" (way too many cars) 40 out of 52 weeks of every year...Weekends are hard on insurance adjustors' numbers so they push the body shops to get all their jobs done by Friday evening, therefore a ton of rental returns come in on Fridays...having a car unrented over the weekend is murder on your branch's numbers, the more expensive the car the more we need to get it off the books for that weekend."

6. For the best weekend deal call up on Friday sometime before 2pm and say, "I have all my info, drivers license and credit card, can I get a rental all setup so I don't have to do anything but sign the ticket when I come in?" "This is GOLD because now the agent can pre-write your ticket and get that car off his books before the 2pm count (if a car is unrented at 2pm, it counts against the branch for that day so he'll write your ticket before 2:00 and then the car can sit there all day for all he cares)."

7. What if you're traveling to a far away city and don't want to use the insurance replacement method (tip #2)? Call ERES at 1-800-Rent-a-Car and tell them you're a State Farm adjustor [NOT RECOMMENDED]. "Insurance adjustors are treated like royalty at Enterprise, they'll bend over backwards to make you happy." For a number of reasons ranging from the moral to the Machiavellian, I think that this trick is a bad idea.

8. Enterprise has what they call "ESQI," like car dealers each branch is rated on how many customers rate our service as 5/5 on the phone surveys. "Anything less than 5 is the same as zero. Managers have to answer for this number like you can't believe, so next time you forget to fill the tank or you bring a car back a few hours late, say there was some problem with the car--it smelled smoky, wasn't running right, anything that says you're not entirely happy with your experience. Most people just turn the car in and go; you'd be amazed what you can get away with just so the manager makes you "extremely satisfied." I'd happily waive up to a full day's rental charges if I think that's needed to keep you happy, a grunt doesn't have much stake in the ESQI but he has the authority to do the same."

9. Don't take the free ride. Yes, Enterprise has a service where they'll pick you up and drive you to their branch, but don't take it. "If you make us pick you up, even if you're really close, we won't be so happy to serve you as if you'd walked in. Set the deal up on the phone and if you can get a ride in, do it. It seems small but every little bit helps."

50 Ways to Lose your Debtor.

2007-03-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

I had a Citibank credit card. Technically, I still have it but I will be closing the account shortly. My recent experience has been a not-so-rare glimpse at how strange the business practices of a mega-corporation can be sometimes. This is not a story about fraudulent charges or bad customer service, just a sequence of events that made me doubt their ability to competently run their own business.

1) The story starts a few months ago when we received an ominous letter telling us that our card had been compromised and that we needed to contact their customer service people immediately. With us both in full possession of the cards, our overall rare use of the card (it’s mostly backup for the rare occasions when our primary card won’t scan or decides to go on fraud-alert freak out, or for when I’m traveling to help keep track of expenses), and my fairly elaborate attempts to keep our personal information protected (crosscut shredder, receive electronic billing statements only, etc) I wondered how that was possible and wondered if it was some kind of Citibank ad campaign.

It turns out that they were the ones who were compromised; Citibank had lost our information, and then sent us a letter making it look like they had ingeniously detected some fraud and proactively addressed it. They insisted on sending us a new card and an affidavit in case we needed to report fraudulent activity. They were not amused by my wife’s sardonic questioning regarding their ability to protect this new account number any better than the previous one.

2) When I received the new card,we had to call to activate it as is customary. Normally, you dial a number and get an automated message asking you to enter the number and then it is activated almost immediately. We recently received a new card for our primary credit card account because it had expired and this is exactly what was necessary to activate the card. Citibank on the other hand has “pioneered”, at least I experienced it with anyone else, the use of a live person to activate your card when you call. This provides them with the opportunity to cram some sort of up-sell gimmick down your throat when all you were expecting was an automated message.

This time around it was the new “credit protection” plan that everyone wants to sell you, where for a fee based on your balance, you can skip a payment (or 2 or 3?) if you lose your job or you have a serious medical incident or one of the other horrible qualifying conditions. I tried to explain to him that regardless of the fact that I don’t take part in fear-based nonsense, if I instead took the money I would have been paying for the credit protection and stuck it in a savings account, I would easily be able to cover a minimum payment for a few months. Insurance only makes sense if the gap between the cost to insure and the cost to replace/repair is high (home insurance), or qualifying conditions are likely (car insurance). In this case, it wasn’t even close. I wasted 10 minutes of my life trying to get off the phone without being rude, and then finally resorted to being rude since I had only called to activate my f&@$ing card.

3) After activating the new card I went to log on to the card site to check that everything was in order. Of course, I was naive to assume that because this card was the logical successor to the previous one, that card would show up. Instead, it showed our old account as closed and nothing else. I was forced to create a whole new username and account for this new card. That was annoying, but not terrible. It will be turn out to be important later on though.

4) This is more of an annoyance than a real part of the story: Citibank revamped their credit card website, and now whenever you go there you get a pop-over add thing that blocks out your access to their actual website until you click a few things. It’s like they created a DIV that they position over the site, but instead of just making it the size of the ads, it blocks out the entire site with white. And this is just to show me ads for a product I already own. Keep in mind that I had to click through that thing a zillion times during the course of the ordeal I am about to describe.

5) A few weeks ago, I made a payment on the web site scheduled to take effect a few days later. A day after the day it was to be debited, I got an email from Citibank thanking me for my payment. I went and looked at our bank account and there was no charge. That seemed odd and I chalked it up to a timing glitch with online processing. When I checked the next day, still no charge. Then it hit me, I had another bank account that I had been using previously but which now had like $100 in it but I was too lazy busy to close. Going to look at that other account, I noticed that sure enough, a charge had been attempted and of course rejected for insufficient funds.

I was really mad for 2 reasons: first, I had no idea that bank account was even on that new card’s account. It had been on my old Citibank card, and without telling me, Citibank had brought over that old information to the new account I opened. So it never occurred to me to double check that I had the right bank account selected because I didn’t even realize that there was more than one. Why they could link my bank account after the fact, but forced me to create a whole new card account is beyond me. Second, why can’t they ask if you have the funds available without actually debiting it? It seems silly for me to pay a bounced check fee when there is no person receiving the check, and no goods changing hands, etc. Why should electronic funds work exactly the same as physical funds? Especially with a huge conglomerate like Citibank would could save themselves and their customers huge hassles with a better system.

6) Now it got fun. My credit card statement showed that it had been paid, despite the fact that there was evidence that it had been rejected by my bank, so I couldn’t just make another payment and be done with it because you can’t pay more than your remaining balance. I called customer service who explained that they must not have been notified yet (which seems unlikely since it showed up in my online banking statement) but that the problem was that Citibank might keep trying to debit the amount depending on “what response they received back from my bank”. So I was supposed to call my bank and find out how they would have marked the rejection, either as insufficient funds, or just denied. If it was insufficient funds, they might just keep retrying, with me incurring a new charge every time! She insisted that this was all done electronically and her hands were tied.

I called my bank and actually got someone who understood what I needed to know. He advised me that given that it wasn’t an active bank account and had only a small amount of money, I should just close it and make it impossible for them to retry and incur additional charges, which I did (thanks guy at bank, you are the only person in this entire thing that had any interest in helping me!)

7) Fast-forward to today. Ten days after I originally got the bounced check notification, Citibank finally notified me about it. The best part is that their email says, in a nutshell “since your bank account was closed, we have disabled your on-line payment functionality until you call customer service“. Remember that I have a perfectly valid bank account that I have used several times before to pay this card, and it was only because they decided to bring over an older bank account unexpectedly that this happened, and that I had already spoken to their customer service to explain the problem and was given essentially no alternatives. So now I can’t pay the bill on line any more and have to call them. I guess I would have needed to call to close the account anyway.

The thing that bothers me most is that Citibank will feign interest in my leaving them when I call to close it, but they ultimately don’t care about people like me except in some sort of aggregate statistical way. I feel at every turn their message is “we don’t really care about making you angry or costing you time and money if it means we might make a few extra bucks because of sheer volume”, which I’m going to call the “spam theory of business”. After a decade of card membership with an ever increasing level of disinterest on their part, it’s time for me to stop rewarding them.

Teenager, others arrested for armed robbery

2007-03-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

An 18-year-old boy was among three suspected armed robbers, who were arrested on Wednesday in Lagos at a scene where a lady was robbed of her possessions at gunpoint.

Each of the suspects had a gun loaded with ammunition at the time of their arrest at about 10.30am around Lekki on the outskirts of Lagos.

A team of anti-robbery policemen, who were on patrol of the area, reportedly sighted the suspects in a questionable circumstance.

The policemen, it was gathered, pursued the men and arrested them. It was during interrogation of the suspects that the policemen became more curious.

Consequently, one of the policemen ordered that a search should be conducted on the suspects. During the search, three locally-made guns, three live cartridges and one expended cartridge were found on the suspects.

The men were immediately arrested and taken to Ilasan police station under the Eti-Osa Local Government area of the state.

The names of the suspects were given as Olaniyi Akanni (25), Michael Akanume (18) and Oghagha Akponido (22).

Our correspondent learnt that a lady (name withheld) had earlier lodged a complaint at the police station that she was attacked and robbed by a gang of three hoodlums.

According to a source at the station, police preliminary investigation showed that the three suspects were responsible for the attack on the lady.

Investigation by our correspondent, however, showed that the suspects had denied robbing the lady.

But it was not ascertained whether the police had called the victim to come and identify the suspects who robbed her.

Spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Olubode Ojajuni, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Wednesday.

Ojajuni said, “If the suspects claimed to be ignorant of the attack on the lady, what were they doing with those weapons?

Money and its omen—the perception of man

2007-03-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

MONEY has solved many problem of man yet, it has trouble man more than any other thing on earth. Many has brought comfort to many homes yet it ranks number one when we consider factors that have split and cause divorce in homes. It has turned many ladies into corporate prostitutes and many men into whoredoms. Men that have build integrity for years have sacrifice it at the alter of money. Many talented and promising youths have lost focus because of money.

Money has introduced Class in the family, amongst brethren and religious members. Some have entered into wrong marriages courtesy of money. The rate of undergraduate drop out is on increase all because of money. The reputations of many countries of the world have been smeared in the mud due to money.

Men have praised and worshipped money more than the Creator. Money is a confusionist. Those who do not have it are crying and feel cheated. While those that have it complain about it troubles. Money has categorized man into two groups namely, rich and poor.

The poor envy the rich for his wealthy and security while the rich admirers the poor man’s easy going life. The rich has said that the demerits of money out weigh its merits. Money is an omen which can either be bad or good. It all depends on your perception and interpretation. Even the Holy Book acknowledges this neutrality of money by saying that money:

•That money is the root of all evil

•That money answers all things

What a paradox!

Men have enjoyed good time and maximum fun through money. Many seemingly closed doors have open because of money.

The question is, do we need money? If yes, why do we need it!

Naturally, there are many needs of man and some of these needs can not be met without the use of money. For example, you can not talk of having a care without money. Even if someone gives you as a gift. You still would need money to maintain it.

Therefore, the followings are some of the reasons why men run amok for money which could be normal or abnormal depending on the school of thought you belong.

To meet physiological needs–Man naturally needs money to provide physiologial needs. These include, shelter, clothing, food, etc. these are basic needs of a man which could be provided through money. The pursuit for money to meet these necessities could be said is normal.

For easy living– Money makes life easy. No debate about that statement. People send their money on errand instead of doing it themselves. Through the help of money people hire other persons to be their cook, nanny, cleaner, gardener, chauffeur, etc.

Through the availability of money, one can afford summer holiday overseas, go for medical treatment or check up abroad, ride on a good car and wear designers’ accessories. Some do buy mansion in every city. All these luxuries can only be achieved if money is available.

For Defense- Money is a defense, well as all know that. Money is a defense against poverty; it is a defense against poor living. It is a defense against poor environment. It is defense against poor health and diseases, it is defense against hunger. It is a defense against poor influence. It is a defense against human insecurity. Money is a defense against unemployment. Money gives confidence.

For power- This is another area where men have strived so much to achieve. We all know that money is a symbol of authority and it commands respect. In the history of humanity, no other generation has looked for money because of power than this generation. The power in this case can be Political or Economical. The former is more pronounced in this art of the world. In a bid to attain political height. Politicians have don unimaginable things in order to get money to run an election because in this art of world if you don’t have money you can’t win an election. Hence, the slogan, money is the soul of political power.

To help others- In as much as many of us are acquiring money for our personal use. Few people are still interested in the plight of others. We have philanthropists who are considerate. They share their riches with the under-privilege. We still have foundations sponsored by kindhearted people. Some of these Charity homes take care of orphanage Homes, prisons, hospitals, free-education, etc. I wonder how the world would have been without money.

Blame lecturers for my plight, I took to robbery when they frustrated me twice - Student-robber who stole a jeep

2007-03-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

Chidi with the stolen jeep and other robbery
suspects paraded along with him

POLICE authorities in Minna have put an end to the nefarious activities of a robbery suspect who claims to be a student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna.

The suspect who gave his name as Chidi Jackson Okeke, during police interrogation stated that he could not graduate since year 2005 because his lecturers were frustrating him.

According to him,“I had carry over in two courses and all attempts I made to remedy the deficiency had failed.”

Since he could not however obtain the certificate required for him to begin life outside the university, Jackson found another profession in robbery.

The former FUT student did not stay long in his new found job before he was nabbed by the police.

During one of his escapades, Jackson was said to have robbed a lecturer in his department, Abdullahi Mohammed, and two others. The trio were staying within the same compound. During the operation, Jackson allegedly stole N8,585, a Nokia handset and some household equipment.

However, according to the Niger State Police Commissioner, Mr. Oliver Osuchukwu, “luck ran out on the student-turned-robber when he was apprehended following a tip off.

Mr. Osuchukwu said a British-made pistol with 11 rounds of ammunition were also recovered from Jackson who has also made useful statements to the police as investigations into the matter continue.

Jackson however denied that he was a robber, saying the gun and 11 rounds of ammunition were found “in my compound”.

He confirmed however that he was to have left the university in 2005 but for the two “carry overs” he had, blaming some of the lecturers for his plight.

“The lecturers are frustrating me,” he said, adding that after repeating the courses, he was sure he passed yet “they still failed me”.

Bad day for armed robbers in Kaduna

2007-03-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

The suspects with their weapons
after their arrest.

POLICE in Kaduna State have arrested two armed robbery suspects, Chidozie Nwozor and Paul Ogadinma, who intercepted an Akwa-Ibom Transport Company bus and robbed some passengers who intended to travel to Enugu at gun point.

The State Police Commissioner, Ernest Ibhaze, made this known while parading to newsmen, some robbery suspects recently arrested across the state in the last two months.

According to him, “The suspects were intercepted by a police patrol team along Kaduna—Abuja road after they had successfully diverted the passenger bus into the bush and robbed the occupants of their valuables.”

The police boss stated that some of the personal effects of the passengers stolen by the suspects have been released to the victims.

Similarly, on January 2, 2007, one Iliyasu Usman (now dismissed from the Army) who was attached to the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps, Kaduna, left his beat at the residence of General Sani Sami (rtd) and went to Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Kawo, Kaduna, where he attacked one Miss Julie John and five others at gunpoint. He robbed them of three GSM handsets and some cash. The victims, however, summoned courage, countered the attack and disarmed him of his rifle and took him to the police.

The suspect, according to the police boss, has since been dismissed from the Army and will soon be charged to court. Two locally-made pistols were recovered from him.

Other armed robbery suspects that have been paraded by the command within the last two months included Risku Alhaji Jae, Umar Idris (a.k.a Usama), Ade Mathew, Lawal Bala, Ibrahim Mohammed, Sunday Dominic, Danladi Suleima (Receiver), Rabi’u Umaru, Abubakar Umar, Abubakar Musa, Sale Ahmadu, and Sale Yuguda.

In a related development, the police boss said that on February 16, 2007, one Monday Ayuba, in company with two others, went to ERMACO Filling Station in Kafanchan, attacked and robbed the attendant at gunpoint of the sum of N98,000.00. The suspect was later pursued and arrested. He is currently assisting the police in their investigation.

Ibhaze further stated that a police patrol team along Kaduna–Saminaka Road, intercepted a gang of armed robbers. The team exchanged fire with the robbers and in the process, the hoodlums escaped and abandoned two vehicles, a Toyota Carina and a Honda Accord. The owner of one of the vehicles was later contacted through a complimentary card, and has confirmed that the vehicle was snatched from her at gunpoint on February 19, 2007 in Kano.

The Command has also succeeded in arresting some notorious car thieves who have been terrorising residents of the state in recent times. The suspects were arrested at a hideout along Maiduguri Road, Kaduna and have been charged to court.

Thirteen vehicles which included one Honda Accord ‘86 and one ‘98 model, one Honda Civic saloon, four Toyota Litace buses, one Honda Hala, two Toyota Corolla (1st Lady), two Toyota Compact, one Honda Erodeck and one Peugeot 505 saloon were recovered in all.

Secret language of whales revealed

2007-03-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Deep below the ocean’s surface, blue whales are singing and for the first time, scientists think they know why.

Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography recorded the sounds and say they offer new insight into the behavior of the passenger jet-sized animals.

Using tags suctioned to the whales’ bodies, researchers tracked the whales and found that as they feed, they send out calls to let each other know where they are, each group employing a different sound.

The noises play a similarly important role during mating season when males sing long, low-pitched songs to indicate their reproductive fitness to females. Females select mates based on size and estimate that by evaluating males’ songs: Larger males can take in more air and hold notes longer.

The research appeared in the January issue of the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal.

A related study, also by Scripps researchers, found that there are distinct “dialects” of whale-speak in different regions of the ocean. The finding could have implications for preservation efforts.

Saddam's Sons Buried Twice!

2007-03-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

The bodies of Saddam Hussein’s two sons and his grandson have been reburied near the former Iraqi leader’s grave in his hometown, tribal leaders said.

Uday and Qusay Hussein, and 14-year-old Mustafa Hussein, died in a gun battle with US troops months after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

They were moved to the courtyard of Saddam Hussein’s burial hall from nearby Ouja cemetery, relatives said. Saddam Hussein was convicted for crimes against humanity last year and hanged.

"It happened yesterday. We took the bodies from Ouja cemetery and we put them close to the graves of Awad al- Bandar and Barzan," said Ali Nida, head of Saddam Hussein’s Albu Nasir tribe.

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, and al-Bandar, his former intelligence chief, were both hanged after the same trial.

Mr Nida and several close relatives accompanied the bodies as they were transferred in three cars from Ouja cemetery about two kilometres (1.2 miles) away last Tuesday. Prayers were held near the five burial mounds covered with Iraqi flags.

Traditional Ruler Arrested

2007-03-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested a village head for alleged conspiracy in the murder of a Shariah Court Judge in the state, Mallam Mohammed Dayyabu.

Mallam Alhassan Guga, the police public relations officer, confirmed the arrest of the traditional ruler and two other suspects in connection with the murder.

The death of the judge occurred on February 27, at Yuga village in Toro Local Government Area of the state.

The public relations officer said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the police completed investigation into the case. It was gathered that the sharia court judge was killed by some unknown persons after refusing to collect a N40,000 bribe and a ram. The items were allegedly passed to the judge through the village head, by an accused person standing trial before him.

The police have also invited one of the wives of the slained judge to assist in unraveling the circumstances surrounding her husband’s death.

Jilted Lover Hangs Self

2007-03-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

A middle aged man identified as Mallam Muhammad Magori of Dutsi council area of Katsina State has killed himself for failure to marry the girl he so much loved.

Leadership gathered that the deceased hanged himself shortly before the wedding fatiha of his beloved girl friend, Malama Abule with another man.

It was also gathered that the victim fell in love with Malama Abule who resides at Chediyar Mairanda village.

Late Magori was a businessman and survived by one wife and three children.

According to Leadership source, he did not leave any note on why he hanged himself.

It was gathered that the elder brother of the victim, Malam Abdulhamid Katoge said the victim went to his farm with a rope to tie corn stalk for his animals, only for some people to report to the family that the victim had hanged himself in the bush.

When contacted, the Dutsi local government area Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Boha refused to comment on the case.

The victim, Leadership learnt has since been buried according to Islamic rites.

Armed Robbery Suspect Set Ablaze

2007-03-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

A suspected armed robber was lynched by an angry mob at the Nnamdi Azikiwe expressway bypass, Badiko, Kaduna State.
Leadership gathered that the suspect specialised in robbing his victims in a taxi car, adding that the robber was in a taxi with his partners in crime, when they attacked a victim who was with them in a taxi car. The victim was dispossessed of his money and a mobile phone.

As the hoodlums were about pushing the passenger out from the taxi after robbing him, the passenger who became a victim mustered courage and dragged one of the criminals down from the taxi car which they used in robbing their victims.

Immediately, he fell out from the car, passers-by who were obviously watching from a distance descended on the criminal and beat him before setting him ablaze by the road side.

It was gathered that a team of police officers who visited the scene shortly after carried away the charred body of the suspected criminal.

Man Jailed For Stabbing Policeman In Abuja

2007-03-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Mabel Dayo, a 19 year-old resident of Area 1, Garki Abuja, was arraigned before an Abuja Magistrate Court for stabbing a police constable with a knife.

The accused person was said to have inflicted several injuries on the victim, a police constable, Mr. Emmanuel Adegboye of Lugbe police station.

When the charges were read to the accused, he pleaded guilty. In view of this, Inspector Emmanuel Lateef, the prosecutor, asked the court to try the accused summarily, having admitted guilt.

The presiding magistrate Zubairu then asked the accused to narrate how the incident happened. In his story, the accused said, "I was directed by somebody to a house and when I got there I asked who was in the house and there was no answer. As I was leaving, somebody came from behind me and started beating me continuously so I stabbed him".

Magistrate Zubairu then convicted the accused under section 157 of the criminal procedure code.

Inspector Lateef, the prosecutor, therefore prayed the court to reserve sentence since the accused was still in the hospital.

Magistrate Zubairu granted the prosecutor’s request and reserved the sentence for March 7, 2007. While the accused was ordered to be remanded in the prison custody.

Why do we have higher incidence of kidney disease now?

2007-03-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

Kidney failure or damage to the kidney is particularly more likely if you are a black person and if you are not. If you are in this part of the world where we are black, we are more prone to it than people in the other part of the world, whether Caucasians or Asians. There is a genetic predisposition if you are a black person and if you are not.

Secondly, the second causes of kidney failure are particularly prevalent in our environment. They include hypertension, diabetes and chronic glumerulonephritis.

Hypertension affects almost one in every five Nigerian. Diabetes affects almost one in every three and then chronic glumerulonephritis usually affects individuals with pretty common infections that for some reasons tend to be chronic.

So, you can have complicated malaria, which is very common, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which are also common in our environment but also mainly because in this environment, we generally tend not to want to take advantage of health facilities around us, you find that we tend to self-medicate and we actually end up damaging the kidneys. Hypertension is common; diabetes is not uncommon; chronic infections are not properly treated and it can lead on to kidney failure. So, it is not a surprise that kidney failure is particularly common in our environment.

The cost of treatment is very high particularly here because poverty rate is also high. What do you thin k could be done for people who have kidney failure?

First of all, government should lay more emphasis on prevention. This is done even in the wealthier countries of the world, take America for example.

In 2000, America spent $18 billion US dollars managing patients with kidney failure and as a serious country they have already projected that by 2010 they would end up spending $29.7 billion, that is, almost $30 billion US dollars. Then, they suddenly realised that this is beyond what their economy can survive. So, they started laying emphasis on prevention and ensuring that they encourage people to go out and have tests done, particularly if they have those conditions that we know generally tend to lead on to kidney failure.

So, if you are hypertensive, as part of your regular checks, you should get your doctor to, not just check your blood pressure, you should also check your urine and make sure that there is no protein in it, that there is no caste in it and that there is no abnormal cells, which should not be there.

If you are diabetic as well, you should, as part of your checks at least once a year, also check for the presence of protein in the urine. If you have chronic infection, rather than go ahead and try to self-medicate, go to a hospital where you will be properly diagnosed and properly treated.

Thank God, we don�t have fake drugs again. At least, its prevalence and problems associated with it have reduced. In the old days before the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Dora Akunyili came on board, a lot of the drugs bought then, not only would not treat the conditions you wanted it to treat, but they in themselves were also toxic to the treatment.

Looking at our environment, about how many kidney patients do you receive monthly or have you observed an increment in the number of people with this disease?

Clearly, there is an increment. St. Nicolas Hospital was set up in 1998. During the first month, we saw three patients and carried out five sessions of dialysis. As at December of 2006, we see an average of 50 patients per month and we carry out 300 sessions of dialysis every month, So, clearly, there is an increase both because of awareness and also because the conditions that lead up to kidney failure are becoming more and more prevalent, and unfortunately, they have not been well managed as they should be. It is not everybody with hypertension that will develop kidney failure. It is not everybody with diabetes that will develop it.

However, if you recognise that you have those conditions and you follow the instructions of your doctors, and compliant with medications, then you are less likely to develop kidney failure.

One trend in Nigeria is people using herbal medication based in alcoholic spirit to treat a lot of things. Hence, we see a lot of people taking alcohol by the roadside and they say they are taking medicine. Can this lead to kidney disease?

That is another cause of kidney failure in our environment A study was done at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) where they looked at individuals who developed kidney failure and found that there was always an increase around the time of trade fares because at trade fares, people go there to peddle native, herbal medications and usually around then, the intake of those medications will increase and correspondingly the number of patients with kidney failure will also increase.

Please explain what can be done to prevent this disease?

Talking about prevent0ive healing, the thing about kidney failure is that if well managed, then, the likelihood that a patient will die from it is not as high.

Clearly, mortality is very high among patients with kidney failure, but it is not all patients with kidney failure that will die because there are modalities available for managing it.

Either you do what is called hemo-dialysis or peritoneal dialysis or transplantation.

However, the problem with each of these mentioned is that the cost is phenomenal. It is beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

The average cost of dialysis for one month is about N300,000. Each session of dialysis costs about N25,000. A patient is expected to do at least three sessions per week. So, if you do N25,000 X 3 that is N75,000 in one week. Multiply that by 4 and you get about N300,000 and that is just for dialysis.

There is certain medications that you need to use along with dialysis, a dose of which costs about N5,000 and you take it with each session of dialysis. You will spend nothing less than N20,000 on that per week. Multiply that by 4 and you are looking at N80,000.

A person with kidney failure has a very high blood pressure and very often you need up to three or four medications before you eventually can control that blood pressure.

Hence, on average, we have estimated that between N3.5 million to N4 million is required yearly to manage a patient with kidney failure, to pay for dialysis and all the other antecedent things that come along with it. So, it is not surprising that not many people can avail themselves of the opportunities that we have in certain units. Quite apart from that, the units we have are not enough. The whole of Nigeria has only 50 dialysis units and you find that 50 percent of those units are in the southwest of the country.

When we look at our studies, we find that for some reasons, people from the south-south and the south-east have a higher incidence of kidney failure than people from the south-west and yet the numbers of dialysis units we have in those parts with higher incidence are not as much as what is available in the area with the lower incidence.

What will you say is the reason for the high incidence of kidney failure in the southeast and south south or rather can you adduce one or two reasons?

As a scientist, unless I can objectively prove it, it is difficult for me to assert and say it is this. Of course, there are certain postulations that one can make. One of it is that generally in those parts of the world, the quality of care that one gets in those parts of Nigeria is not as good. Generally, there used to be a lot of sharp practices. The use of herbal medications are very rife and the use of fake drugs also.

Studies were done even by the NAFDAC, which found that the incidence of fake drugs is higher in those parts of the country than in the other parts of the nation.

More so, there might also be a genetic predisposition and most importantly, we cannot completely eliminate the possibility that exposure to hydrocarbons from the oil industry may also have something to do with lit. Besides, studies have actually shown that there is an association between exposure to hydrocarbons and the incidence of kidney damage and failure.

What exactly are the preventive measures that government needs to take?

I think the preventive measures should be directed at recognising what in our environment causes kidney failure and then we focus on those. The simple one is legislate against the use of native medications, legislate against the use of bleaching creams, and ensure that drugs cannot be bought over the counter. There is absolutely no medication that you cannot walk into any pharmacy in Nigeria today and get, even though to be fair to NAFDAC they have done a lot to try and encourage pharmacies to ensure they have prescriptions before they administer drugs. Quite a number of these drugs are toxic.

More importantly, empower the health centres and the general hospitals and make it mandatory for them to screen people who present at such hospitals, and make it mandatory for them to have public enlightenment programmes where they go out on television and radio and public address systems to encourage people to have kidney tests done and then go ahead and do a country-wide screening programme where you can screen whole population so that we can have an estimate of how many in this country currently have the different stages of kidney failure. Like I said in America, it is about 11 percent. I am certain that in Nigeria, it is about 15 percent.

Bus from hell crushes newspaper vendors

2007-03-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

•The bus

Victims of a motor accident in Maryland area of Lagos, involving a Mazda bus have recounted their ordeals to Daily Sun.

The early morning accident was said to have claimed the life of a newspaper agent, simply identified as Alfa Olalekan, while six persons were said to be seriously injured. Among those injured were, Peter, Abbey, Friday and Abiodun Mustapha.

Friday is said to have sustained serious stomach injuries, which makes it difficult for him to pass out urine. He is said to be lying critically ill at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

The victims, mainly newspaper vendors, who described their escape as miracle, said many of them would have lost their lives if not for providence.
Mustapha, who said he was hit by the vehicle explained that he was sorting out newspapers before some people started shouting that a bus had lost control.

“Before I realized what was happening, the vehicle had hit me. I found myself on the other side of the road. I became unconscious. Later, I regained consciousness, only to discover that one of our colleagues had been killed by the driver,” he said.
He said the driver of the bus, which was coming from Ikeja, was on high speed, making it possible for him to lose control.

He regretted that Olalekan, who was with him few minutes earlier was confirmed dead after he was rushed to the LASUTH.
The 35-year-old man said: “I will never forget today throughout my life.”
An eyewitness, Femi Martins, described it as a black Monday for the vendors in Maryland.
Martins said Olalekan, who distributed newspapers to vendors in Ketu area of Lagos, had already taken delivery of some newspapers and was waiting to take delivery of two other national newspapers before the ugly incident.

Girl killed by stray bullet in her father’s house

2007-03-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

•Folashade Akinbola

The family of a 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly killed by a stray bullet from a police gun, in the Mushin area of Lagos, is now demanding justice.

The victim, Folashade Akinbola, was said to have been hit by a stray bullet, which pierced through the window of their house and hit her on the back.

According to Mr. Omolaya Olayemi, who spoke to Daily Sun, Folashade, who was the first child in the family of four, was at home with three of her siblings when she met her untimely death.
He said: “She was in the house that fateful day with three of her siblings, when, from nowhere, a bullet hit her on the back, and pierced through her. She didn’t die immediately, but was rushed to three different hospitals, where she was rejected until she eventually gave up the ghost.”

Olayemi told Daily Sun that trouble began after a governorship aspirant for Lagos State gave N50, 000 to a group of supporters, who trooped out to cheer him during his campaign tour of Mushin.
He said: “He gave them N50,000, but when they couldn’t share the money amicably among themselves, it resulted in a fight. Rather than the police use tear-gas to disperse the crowd, they started shooting sporadically into the crowd and in the process, the bullet entered through the window and pierced Folashade’s back.

“Since the unfortunate incident, police have not deemed it necessary to come to the house to see the harm they caused the family. All effort to make them see reasons have fallen on deaf ears. It is a shock for us because here was a promising young girl, in SS 3. All her dreams and potentialities cut short. The bullet battered her back, that even if she had survived it, she might not be able to walk erect again.”

Another family member, Mr. Adesokan Gbenga, who also spoke to Daily Sun, said that politicians do not care, even when a lot of lives have been lost in the cause of their campaigns.
The family, is however, calling on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, to fish out the killers and bring them to book.
The girl has since been buried.

Naked News Reporter.

2007-03-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Naked Yukiko Kimura in an enthusiastic presentation of sports
Asian Sex Gazette has reported on The Naked News here before, with Lily Kwan the featured anchor. However, Lily is and has not been the only Asian member of their nude news team.

Yukiko Kimura has been a naked newscaster since September 2005 and, as you can tell from the clip; she really gets into delivering the sports. And, interestingly, one of her hobbies is glass blowing.

In January of last year Asian Sex Gazette reported that Naked News was breaking into the Japanese market (story here, with video). To a certain extent the success was believed to be in part due to news presenter Lily Kwan, who proved to have a strong following in the Japanese market.

Some beleive that signing on of Yukiko onto the team might have been related to the push into the Japanese market.

As we reported in January, beneath a banner proclaiming Naked News as "The program with nothing to hide," Sunrise Corp. CEO Takuya Uchikawa described the service as "a unique concept for the Japanese market."

Sunrise, which specialises in sales of goods and services via the Internet, and Naked News owner eGalaxy Multimedia have set a target of 10,000 mobile subscribers in the first year.

"We would not have dared to come to Japan unless we were convinced that there was a definite market, and we now see there is a massive market here, we have a partner that understands that market and the technological skills to provide an enjoyable product," eGalaxy Multimedia Inc. CEO David Warga said.

Ambassador naked, drunk, with sex toys

2007-03-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

As an Israeli ambassador, Tsuriel Raphael was accomplished at putting a gloss on delicate subjects, be it Tel Aviv's nuclear program, the treatment of Palestinians or the invasion of Lebanon.

When San Salvador police discovered him in his official embassy residence yard in the capital San Salvador, however, smooth talk was not really an option. For starters there was the gag and the rubber ball in his mouth. There was also the matter of being drunk. And naked. And bound. And surrounded by sex toys.

Once he was untied and the gag and ball were removed Raphael identified himself as the ambassador but for perhaps the first time in his diplomatic career, this was a crisis he could not explain away.

"The ministry sees his behavior as unbecoming of a diplomat," Zehavit Ben-Hillel, an Israeli foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Monday. It was, she added, an unprecedented embarrassment. Raphael was recalled home two weeks ago when the ministry first learned of the incident but the news became public only on Monday, when reports surfaced in the Israeli media. "He is going to remain in Israel," said the spokeswoman.

Before being sent to El Salvador six months ago, the veteran diplomat had served in several other countries, including the US, and as director of the Israel Information Center in Jerusalem.

Zimbabwe police crush prayer rally, seize leaders

2007-03-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwean riot police arrested the country's top opposition leader and shot a man dead on Sunday as they crushed a prayer rally planned to protest against President Robert Mugabe.

Witnesses said police fought skirmishes with rock-throwing opposition supporters in the Harare township of Highfield, where organisers had tried to hold the rally to address Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic crisis.

Police arrested Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other opposition officials after blocking their motor convoy from driving to the rally site.

The party said Tsvangirai and the others were severely assaulted and that one MDC activist had been shot dead.

Political tensions have risen in Zimbabwe as it sinks deeper into its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation above 1700 per cent, unemployment close to 80 per cent and shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.

Mugabe, 83, and in power since independence in 1980, dismisses the MDC as a puppet of Zimbabwe's former colonial master Britain.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement: "The United States government condemns the brutal and unwarranted actions of the government of Zimbabwe in attacking its citizens peacefully gathered to exercise their legitimate democratic rights.

"We hold President Robert Mugabe and the government of Zimbabwe accountable for the government's actions today, and for the safety and well-being of those in custody," said McCormack.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said in a statement a police patrol had killed a man after being attacked by "MDC thugs" at a shopping mall in the area, and that three police officers had suffered severe injuries.

"The police shot one male adult who appeared to be the leader of the group in the chest. He died on the spot and the group dispersed," said Bvudzijena.

He said another group had burned a military truck and attacked a police patrol while using children as human shields.

MDC national organising secretary Elias Mudzuri said in a statement: "Morgan Tsvangirai, his aides, civic leaders and several senior MDC officials have been arrested, detained without charge and severely assaulted."

In a statement, the opposition Save Zimbabwe Campaign said lawyers were being denied access to the detained and that police had arrested five student activists at a workshop in Harare.

It said riot squads had forced shops, bars and churches to shut down for the day and assaulted patrons in beer halls.

"Highfield has been turned into a war zone," said the group.

Riot police moved in force early on Sunday to head off the rally, saying it would violate a ban on political protests imposed after opposition supporters clashed with police in Highfield last month.

Organisers had said the ban should not apply to a prayer vigil.

Witnesses said later in the day police had fired tear gas at youths who were throwing stones at their patrols, taunting them and defying orders not to move around in large numbers.

Riot police mounted road blocks on major highways into the the township, and were searching vehicles for arms and questioning motorists.

Police on Saturday accused some elements in the MDC of hiring and arming "thugs" to attack officers.

Authorities have tightened the screws on the opposition since violence broke out last month when police broke up a MDC rally despite a court order directing that it should be allowed.

Unknown Gunmen Kill Chief, 4 Others

2007-03-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

No fewer than four persons including an Owu chief, Adedotun Sowole, were shot dead by unknown gunmen who invaded head of communities and Oba's meetings in the Owuland held at Ansaru-deen Primary School, Atan -Ota in Ado-Odo Ota council area of Ogun state at the weekend.

Sowole, who was slained according to checks, was said to be at the meeting where some Baale and Obas who were installed last year by Olowu of Owu, Oba Olusanya Dosunmu, were waiting for the arrrival of the Olowu for an urgent meeting when gunmen invaded the venue and killed four persons.

THISDAY gathered that already, 20 people have been arrested by the police in connection with the killing.
Last year, controversies trailed the installation of the Baales and Obas by the Olowu, as the Aworis kicked against it believing that it was an affront to them for him to have imposed the Obas and Baales on them in their own community.

A top security source who pleaded annonymity told THISDAY that some of those killed have not been identified, but a source closed to one of the Baales confided in THISDAY that their identities would be unveiled during the week.
However, indication emerged that the intractable chieftaincy crisis in the area was as a result of the installation of Owu Obas who the Aworis saw as a total annexation of their people by the olowu.

Commenting on the incident, the Baale of Ketu Oluyomi, Chief Adedotun Owoyele an Owu chief, alleged that the gunmen who invaded the meeting were Awori youths, adding that they had the first hand information about the invasion but were caught unawares.

He exoressed surprise that despite calling on the police to provide security for the meeting they never showed up.
However, defending the Awori youths, one of the Awori chiefs who pleaded annonymity, said it could not be Awori youths even though they were not happy about the imposition of Obas and Baales on them adding that they were peaceful people and could not have killed any person.

Nigeria's Vice President in Domestic Accident, Flown Abroad

2007-03-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

After what has been described as a "mild domestic accident", Vice President Atiku Abu-bakar was yesterday night flown abroad on the presidential Jet for surgery on his knee after President Olusegun Obasanjo had called to wish him well.
But the temporary truce between Obasanjo and Atiku came a day after the VP had written Senate President Ken Nnamani, drawing his attention to what he described as moves by the President to derail the transition programme.

Atiku, according to THISDAY checks, had the domestic accident while walking on the treadmill, during a morning exercise at his residence and went to the Aso Clinics for a check-up.
THISDAY checks further reveal that following a scan, it was discovered that what Atiku considered mild was actually bigger as he had torn his tendon and would require surgery on his knee and was so adviced by the doctors.

Speaking to THISDAY on phone shortly before he travelled out of the country last night, Atiku said he had a knock on his knee while doing the exercise and initially thought it was no big deal until he began to feel the pain. "I had campaign programmes for the day but when the pain was getting severe I had to go to Aso Clinics where, after a scan, it was discovered that I had a torn tendon and would require surgery.

"While making arrangement for an aircraft, the Chief of Staff to the President, (Major General Abdullahi Mohammed) informed the president who called to commiserate with me. He also said he had instructed that the Presidential Jet be released for me to travel out of the country."
The VP said he would only be gone for a few days and would return to the country shortly to continue his campaign.

Meanwhile, Atiku has taken his struggle to contest the April 21 Presidential election to Senate President Ken Nnamani, drawing his attention to what he called moves by President Olusegun Oba-sanjo to scuttle the election and have it postponed.
In the letter copied to the European Union, US and the UK governments, Atiku said he needed to draw Senate attention to the grave danger posed to the ongoing transition programme by the growing culture of arbitrariness, reckless disregard for the rule of law and the gross abuse of democratic institutions by the president.

According to Atiku, "it is now very clear to all discerning people in and outside Nigeria that President Olusegun Obasanjo and a clique within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are determined to contrive a crisis that will necessitate the indefinite postponement of the April elections as well as the May 29th handover date."
According to him, "the gross abuse and unconscionable manipulation of public institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the State Security Service (SSS), the police and the Federal Executive Council, are all intended to serve the selfish interests of a President" who he claimed is hell-bent on perpetuating himself in office.
Atiku said the President has sworn to frustrate his (Atiku's) legitimate desire to contest the Presidential election in April because he led the frustration of his desire to perpetuate himself in the office.

"He has used state institutions to harass, intimidate and humiliate me. He has erected several legal and political obstacles against me. As a democrat and a strong believer in the rule of law, I have confronted these vendetta- induced obstacles and challenges through our legal and political systems.
"Thus far, I have won almost all the court cases and won the hearts and minds of most Nigerians who have come to admire my patience, tenacity and the courage to stand up to evil," Atiku said.
According to the VP, the latest legal victory came on March 7, 2007 "when a Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice B.O.Kuewumi ruled that INEC does not have the powers under the 1999 constitution and the Electoral Act 2006 to disqualify a candidate for an election from contesting.

"The court went on to state that 'the power to disqualify any candidate sponsored by any political party from contesting an election is vested in the courts as provided for in Section 32(5) of the Electoral Act 2006 and in any other legislation that is validly enacted in that behalf'."
The VP explained, "how in spite of this very clear and unambiguous ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is bent on denying me my fundamental human right as a free citizen of this country to offer myself for elective office.

"The INEC leadership, obviously acting on the instructions of the Presidency, declared rather arrogantly on Thursday March 8th, that 'court judgment or no court judgment, Vice President Atiku Abubakar remains disqualified from the April Presidential Election'".
He then urged the Senate President to note that "such blatant disregard for the decision of a sacred institution, as the judiciary, is dangerous for the future of our country. It is a clear invitation to anarchy and it is the beginning of the end of the institutions, which serve as the pillars of our young democracy.

"This is not right. This is criminal. And it must not be allowed to stand. It is sad and unfortunate that INEC has become part of the plot to scuttle our transition programme and indeed, our hard-earned democracy."
Atiku further urged the Senate to "as a stakeholder, I urge you in the name of God and for the love of our country to do something about these serious threats to the transition programme."
He reminded the Senate that given the fragility of this country, the National Assembly should be concerned about potential threats to national peace and stability. "INEC has become an obstacle to free and fair elections in April and we owe it a duty to the Nigerian people to check this executive interference in the work of the commission and urgently take steps to restore its independence and integrity."

Tears Of My People

2007-03-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Nigeria has been faltering from ethnic discord, a result of a flawed system that has spelt neglect, poverty and agitations. Militancy and separatism are on the increase. Nigerian leaders have turned deaf ears to local and international warnings on her ills. Inaction may lead to a tragedy of an unimaginable proportion in the country.

In recent times, the pendulum powered by ethnic, political and religious rival engines has been swinging and beating the drums of instability, uncertainty and chaos in Nigeria. Ethnic militias and activists are making one demand or another, from true federalism that would allow for resource control to complete break-up of the country. This is not surprising considering the fact that Nigeria has operated on the aggregate, an unjust and oppressive system since its existence as a Nation.

Nigerian federal system though designed after the U.S. structure is flawed as it failed to adopt the major ingredients that made the U.S. a success which include resource control and residency. Control of natural resources by the federal government has negated an economy of comparative advantage where states would have been producing products and commodities they have competitiveness in. The prevailing arrangement in the country makes the states unproductive as they depend on the federal government for handouts from the oil money. Resource control would encourage non-oil producing states to generate new revenue generating capacity in agriculture, tourism, information technology and solid minerals. Oil presently accounts for 80 percent of Nigeria's gross national product(GNP). The omission of residency provision by states to settlers and residency by birth in the constitution has produced states and communities with ethnic rather than national identity.

The people suffer, middle class in Nigeria has been completely eroded. The nation seems ‘oiled to poverty’. In the midst of natural resource abundance Nigeria remains a low income nation with a per capita income of $390.00. From better to worse, Nigeria’s per capita income is below the 1960 level, the year she attained independence and below the average for sub-Saharan Africa according to World Bank records. Things got worst over the years. Upon independence up to the mid-1980s Nigeria ranked a middle-income nation. Some may argue the partition of Africa and/or amalgamation of Nigeria gave birth to an artificial country named Nigeria that was bound to fail. Nigerian leaders are to be blamed with the regression of the country since they failed to work on the composition or restructure of the country after independence. Your roommates can be imposed by a superior power, but you do not have to live with each other or abide by the rules after such power is gone. Options that were available upon independence and are still available to Nigeria are to either break-up into several nations according to culture, number and tribe or remain one under a chosen structure best for the relationship amongst the different groups. The best means of weighing such options before military interruption of the first republic was at the house of parliament, but now it is best done through Sovereign National Conference(SNC). This is because with allegations of election rigging as rampant as they are now, the National Assembly might not reflect the peoples’ choices. Sovereign National Conference would include natural and acceptable leaders of each group or tribe, that would push for the best interest of their people within the confines of the polity.

Nigerian leaders have failed to accept the fact that Nigeria is a nation of nations. This is obvious from the political, sectional, religious and cultural polarity amongst the different constituent groups. People are always talking of presidency from their tribe or section and marginalization by the center. Nigeria is best described a unitary system than Federal, even though it goes by the name “Federal Republic of Nigeria”. True federalism would have saved the country from its present state of instability, economic chaos and uncertainty.

Military incursion into Nigerian politics buried democracy and ushered untold hardship, poverty and uncertainty in the country. The bulk of Nigerian wealth is in the hands of retired generals and their associates who use it to manipulate the system. Sovereign National Conference remains the only way out of the woods for Nigeria. The people have long suffered and waited.

Over 1 million civilian lives were lost through starvation during the Nigerian civil war. People suffered in the East. Nigerian troops were used to bombard and raze Odi and surrounding communities of Rivers State in 1999. People suffered in Niger Delta. In 2001 Zaki-Biam in Benue State was razed by the Nigerian Army, many lost their lives. People suffered in the Middle-Belt. In 2000, 250 people were killed in Ajegunle, Lagos from ethnic fighting between the Yoruba and Hausa. In 2002 over 70 lost their lives in Idi-Araba, Lagos in another Yoruba/Hausa clash. The same year hundreds of civilians, many of them women and children lost their lives in Lagos when an army munitions dump exploded. Thousands were traumatized from the incident. People suffered in the West. The North has witnessed several ethnic riots involving many lives and billions of naira worth of property. These ethnic riots are usually dressed up as religious riots by politicians who use them to exert control on the people. Many have lost their lives and hard earned properties from these conflicts. People suffered in the North.

Open the news pages of Nigerian dailies or world news about Nigeria, only very few things would make one smile. Beautiful and handsome but sad faces roam the streets. Unemployment rate may run as high as 70 percent and very high inflation rate makes the case worse. There are conflicting reports on the value of income accruing to the nation that was stashed away in foreign banks by Nigerian leaders. President Obasanjo was quoted in 2002 as putting the total amount of money stolen by African leaders at $104 billion ( BBC Online of 6/13/02 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2043403.stm ). In an article published by BusinessDay, written by Wale Haastrup the total amount looted by Nigerian leaders was put at $20 trillion( refer to http://www.businessdayonline.com/?c=45&a=8569 and http://www.africamasterweb.com/AdSense/NigerianLeadersStole20Trillion.html ). The chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu was quoted by BBC as putting the loot by Nigerian leaders since independence at over $380 billion( BBC Online of 10/20/06 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6069230.stm ). It is not certain the value of Nigerian leaders' loot, but one thing that is obvious is that it is enormous.

High number of elected and government officials seem to be misappropriating and siphoning money. Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan, the Accountant- General of Nigeria at the National 5th Seminar on Economic and Financial Crimes spoke on how public servants loot the treasury( refer to http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1002&Itemid=2 ). Widespread poverty accounts for the bourgeoning rate of crime in the country, which is being exported overseas through Internet or mail scams, popularly known as 419. Desperate Nigerians are finding their way abroad where they are engaged in criminal or illegal activities such as prostitution, fraud, drug and human trafficking. The Mercury( a South African daily ) November 30, 2006 online issue, carried tears-causing article titled “Italian streets offer no joy, hope for Nigerian women”. The article dealt on the sympathetic plight of Nigerian prostitutes in Italy, who face crushing debt, insults, rape, robbery, and battery. They are reportedly shivery and cold, soliciting customers under extremely cold temperatures and constitute over half the Italian prostitute population( refer to http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3569168 ).

Most of Nigeria’s earnings are salted away to foreign lands and the people suffer and cry but are held down under one Nigeria. There is nothing wrong with one Nigeria provided it is based on equity, fair play and progress, above all, the design and endorsement of the people. A country is owned by the people and any system that does not cater to their well-being and security is undemocratic and a dictatorship. The people design the system through participation in the drafting of the constitution and amend it through their representatives and referendums. Systems that do not involve democratic participation of the masses result to corrupt and inept government that eventually lead to failed state. Lasting nationhood is not achieved by force through the barrel of the gun, but through willing participation of all groups involved. Defunct Yugoslavia Federation and Soviet Union are good examples for Nigeria to learn from, at least they are the most recent balkanization in history. The ball is in the court of Nigerian leaders to be truthful to themselves in salvaging one Nigeria or facing violent balkanization or break-up of the country. When the masses are poor and crying for redemption, a good leadership would listen and try to redraw the rules. There is ample evidence of massive unemployment, inflation, neglect of infrastructure, and corruption in Nigeria. Decades of misrule by past leaders negate any progress by the present administration which itself does not have a clean slate.

Clamp down of militant, ethnic or self-determination groups in a situation such as Nigeria without addressing issues resulting to their emergence is detrimental to the nation. Such tactics would fail in the long run, judging from history. Dialogue through SNC is the solution for a nation that has been misruled for her greater life leading to untold hardship of constituent groups that possess the necessary qualities in forming their own states. Expediency and justice call for peaceful dissolution of a state be it marriage or association, or renegotiation in the midst of mistrust, rivalry and hostility. Only the uninformed would wait for a violent break-up and its consequences. On this note Nigeria is called upon to release all detained leaders of self-determination groups facing charges of treason. These leaders when freed would be able to exercise their civic rights of voting during the next elections. Sovereign National Conference could be shifted to the next administration since the forthcoming elections would interfere with it's organization. SNC remains an imperative in Nigeria as soon as possible.

Who feels it knows it. I, the author of this article is a good example of the decay, injustice and ineptitude of Nigeria. I was lucky to be able to leave the shores of Nigeria quite unlike millions of talented and qualified unemployed graduates. I was discharged from my scholarship/employment bond with the Imo State Government, Nigeria in 1984 after the Buhari/Idiagbon coup, even though the State sponsored my graduate studies in Agriculture. I obtained my M.S. in Agriculture in 1981 in the U.S. after which the Imo State government wrote me to return to serve my bond with her. The government paid for my return ticket to Nigeria in 1982, but required me to complete my National Youth Service before commencing my employment bond with the state. The army struck overthrowing the civilian government before I could finish my service and wrote me terminating my bond with the state. I was thrown into the unemployment pool for ten months after my service before securing employment in the private sector. My employment was interrupted by a second coup in 1985 that ushered in Structural Adjustment Program(SAP). SAP devalued the naira(local currency) and banned the importation of grains, including maize that was vital to our farm’s livestock unit. Businesses, including farms struggled to make profit and pay salaries. Eventually I was forced to return to the United States in 1987.

It is noteworthy the fact that even though I graduated in 1981, I did not get half of my scholarship fees until 1982. The other half (full payment) I received in 1986, seven years later and this enabled me to return to the United States in 1987. This meant that I pulled through school without my scholarship fees even though my full fees was remitted to the Nigerian Consulate in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. That was the practice then for corrupt Nigerian embassy officials to divert student funds for private use. Affected government scholars would be denied the funds if they dropped out of school. When I went after the consulate for payment they asked me to tender proof I graduated, and when I did they only acknowledged the receipt of half of my fees. The Public Complaints Commission, Owerri, Imo State, wrote over ten letters to the Nigerian U.S. mission between 1983 to 1986 regarding payment of my outstanding scholarship fees without a single reply from the mission. Payment was only possible in 1986 after the then Imo State governor, Navy Captain Allison Madueke intervened with a threat to the consulate that failure to pay me in full would compel him to seek federal action on the matter. My special thanks to Allison Madueke. Nigeria needs more leaders like him. My gratitude remains forever to University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, U.S.A. that on learning of my financial difficulties that were about to force me out of school, secured me employment in the physical plant department of the school.

Nigerian leaders have turned deaf ears to several warnings on addressing the ills of the country and the impending break-up of the polity if nothing is done. The following publications are some of the warnings(some with recommendations) pointing towards the possible break-up of the country:-

1. Nigeria’s Faltering Federal Experience – In the document The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group), an independent, non-profit, non-governmental analytical and advocacy organization in the prevention and resolution of deadly conflicts reported the Nigerian federal system and politics as being flawed. It stated the imperfections contributed to the rising violence that was threatening destabilization of the country. It recommended solutions in stabilizing the polity.
URL of Article:- http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4464&l=1

2. U.S. Intelligence: Nigeria ‘ll fail in 15 years – In this article it was reported the U.S. National Intelligence Council in a document entitled “Mapping Sub-Saharan Africa’s Future” predicted “outright collapse of Nigeria” as a nation-state within 15 years.
URL of Article:- http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=18299

3. In Nigeria, things fall apart – In this article The New York Times warned that Nigeria was deteriorating from third term bid by President Obasanjo which was enflaming political tensions among Nigeria’s polarized ethnic groups, particularly the Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.
URL of Article:- http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/26/opinion/ednigeria.php

4. Civil war still possible – In this article Nobel literature laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka warned that the continued agitations of power shift by a section of the country could lead to another civil war.
URL of Article:- http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=57707

5. Nigeria ’ll break up if… Gowon, Adebayo cry out – In this article Nigeria’s former head of state General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) warned that Nigeria was on the brink of disintegration because his successors failed to build on the national unity and similar values achieved through the civil war. Ex-military governor of Old Western State, Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd) agreed with Gowon that much of the gains of the past had been overlooked.
URL of Article:- http://www.independentng.com/news/nnnov110402.htm

6. Nigeria ‘on the brink of disaster’ – In this article Nobel literature laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka warned that Nigeria was heading towards a violent implosion that would dwarf the crisis in Darfur with the wave of mass killings in the country.
URL of Article:- http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=284&fArticleId=2149288

Recently, 65 Nobel laureates comprising the Commission of Nobel Laureates on Peace, Equity and Development in the Niger Delta of Nigeria proposed measures in reducing the likelihood of conflict escalation in the region. The Commission was established to address injustice, mitigate suffering, and prevent conflicts in Niger Delta from escalating and spilling across Nigerian borders. Recommendations of the laureates included unfettered 2007 election, comprehensive fight on corruption, environmental clean-up, investment and employment opportunities in oil producing communities( refer to http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f102122006.html ). This is yet another opportunity for Nigeria in solving the ills shaking and rattling her cooperate existence.

Can Nigeria be saved? This is a question that can be answered through SNC and this should have been done before voter registration in the 2007 elections. The polity is heating up from ethnic and sectional tensions as the elections draw nearer. A mere statement by President Obasanjo that he sees the need now for a Sovereign National Conference, but owing to time limitation would support one after handover in 2007, would help cool the air.

A Sovereign National Conference when conveyed would address issues that are presently holding the country hostage and trying to tear her apart. The conference would produce documents that would be used in the drafting of a suitable constitution for the people. This is the only solution in saving Nigeria either as a Union, Confederacy or peacefully balkanized region. No action may lead to a violent break-up.

GRUESOME

2007-03-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

By Olusola Fabiyi

Residents of the Apo Mechanic Village in Abuja are yet to come to terms with the gruesome murder of Mr. Adewale Onatemowo, a superintendent of police, on February 9.

Onatemowo

Onatemowo’s wife, Emem, recalled how on that fateful morning, her husband had told her that he was going to drop his friend at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja. The friend, it was gathered, had been with them for two days and was returning to his base in London . “Go in peace,” Emem, whose name means ‘peace,’ told her husband. But though the man actually went in peace, he never returned. He died.

And the wife did not know until the following day. Emem was not at peace with herself when at about 11 pm of the fateful day, her husband had not retuned. The incessant cry of her children, who, it was gathered, were fond of their father, did not help matters. “Go and sleep, your father will soon return,” she repeatedly told the trio of Ade (7), Bisola (5) and Bimbola (7 months). While the toddler was said to have slept after the mother sang her some lullabies, the other two insisted that they would not sleep without seeing their father. The mother had to pick her telephone and called her husband.

Emem recalled that around 11p.m. that Friday night when she called his line to find out where he was, as they spoke, she heard music in the background as well as excited voices of people who seemed to be having fun. That made her to assume that he was probably having fun with his course mates, more so as she was aware that his course mates and friends in Abuja used to have such outings periodically, particularly on Fridays. Moreover, her husband did not sound as someone in distress, and that made her to think all was well. She went to bed thereafter.

The following morning, she was astonished that her husband had not returned home. She went outside and paced up and down the compound anxiously. Later that morning, she noticed many of her neighbours were avoiding her, and that increased her anxiety. Not long after, the Commissioner of Police, in charge of the Federal Capital Territory Command, Mr. Lawrence Alobi, and a few other officers walked in. The CP asked after Emem’s husband. According to her, given the fact that such a high-powered delegation had never visited their home since she got married to her husband she got worried and thought he was probably in trouble with police authorities. She, therefore, lied to the delegation that he had gone out in the morning. The team departed.

But there were ominous signs that something terrible had happened to her husband. Emem recalled that each time she stepped out of the family house in the early hours of Saturday, February 10, to look down the street in the hope that her husband would drive in, she observed that her neighbours wore mournful looks and avoided talking to her. Apparently, they already heard about the fate that had befallen her husband, as she was to learn later that his body was recovered on the street that leads to their home.

It was a tragic piece of news that the police authorities did not know how to break to Emem. They resorted to telling her that her husband was attacked by unknown persons and was in a coma. By Sunday, she was finally told the tragedy that had befallen him.

Saturday Punch gathered that Onatemowo’s body was found in a soak-away pit on the road to his residence. The corpse was said to have been discovered about noon on Saturday, February 10, by some neighbours who saw sticking out of the soak-away pit, the legs of a man who appeared to be lying still. Although no gunshot wounds were noticed on him, his hands and feet were said to be tied, while his head appeared to have been hit repeatedly with a heavy object. His face also bore marks of torture. His purse was found lying open by his side and his police identity card lay on the road, suggesting that his assailants might have deliberately kept it there for the purpose of identification. The neighbours who stumbled on the corpse invited the police, who identified Onatemowo as one of their own.

Many of Onatemowo’s colleagues say they cannot fathom what could have been responsible for his untimely death. The deceased had just arrived with his family from a one-year course at the University of Portsmouth. It was gathered that on arrival, he decided to settle in his personal house at Apo Mechanic Village. Before his departure for the training overseas in 2005, he and his family lived in the Police barracks at Garki. The colleagues said all through his career, Onatemowo, who graduated from the Ogun State University in 1991, never held any beat job. In other words, he never worked in a police station. Rather, he worked as a desk officer in the administration department of the Force.

So, what could have been responsible for his killing? Police sources proffered some theories. One was that he could be a victim of armed robbery. This is because after he arrived with his family from the training overseas in October 2006 and moved to his residence, armed robbers visited his house. The location became attractive for armed robbers to ply their deadly trade after the demolition of illegal structures that used to occupy the area. The few houses that survived the demolition became isolated.

It was said that when armed robbers attacked his house, Onatemowo, who joined the force in 1995 as an Assistant Superintendent of Police, had called his colleagues for help and a detachment of policemen responded promptly. In the ensuing shootout with the robbers, one of them was killed and the others fled. It was said that since then, there had been no reports of threats against his life or that of any member of his family.

Another theory the police are working on is the alleged row between Onatemowo and the dealer of the vehicle he drove on the day he met his untimely death. The vehicle, which is yet to be recovered, is a conventional Honda car.

On arrival from his overseas training, 38-year-old Onatemowo had bought a Honda CRV jeep from a car dealer in Abuja . However, he was said to have discovered later that the car was converted to left-hand drive from its original manufacturers’ configuration of right-hand drive. Upset by the deceit associated with the transaction, he had confronted the car dealer and insisted on having a replacement. He was said to have struck an arrangement that the Honda CRV jeep be disposed off and the difference in its price and that of the car given to him as replacement by the dealer be refunded to him, since the price of the former car is more than the one he was later given. A comprehensive and effective security system was then installed in the replacement.

It was said that once, after Onatemowo took possession of the new vehicle, an attempt was made to steal it from a parking lot in Abuja . A junior policeman, who works as aide to Onatemowo, had gone to run an errand for him with the car. In the process of parking where he was sent to, he got into an altercation with a female motorist as they struggled for parking space. The matter was resolved amicably. However, while the aide went away to deliver his boss’ message, some people made to break into the car. Luckily, the lady with whom the aide had had an altercation was around when the intruders wanted to strike. She observed that the people trying to gain entry into the car were different from the fellow with whom she had quarrelled. She raised the alarm and the strangers fled.

Detectives are working on the theory that the dealer who sold the vehicle to Onatemowo could have resorted to foul means to deny him of both the initial car he bought as well as the replacement car.

As if the death of her husband was not enough trauma for her, Emem is said to have received a death threat via a text message, telling her that she was not safe. Specifically, on Sunday, February 18, two days after the burial of her husband in Lagos, Emem, while at the late husband’s family house in Lagos, received a text message worded as follows: “Emem Onatemowo, we are waiting for you. You are the next to go on our list.” The message was received around 2:11 p.m.

Onatemowo’s colleagues insist that the riddle of his death must be solved. Some of them who spoke on condition of anonymity said it would be “a shame if, again, we fail to unravel the death of this man. Do not forget that another senior police officer in the person of CP Felix Oteka was killed in December, and nothing has happened.”

When contacted, the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Haz Iwendi, told our correspondent that the matter was being handled at the command. He said although he did not know the details of the investigation, the killers of Onatemowo would not go unpunished.

Alobi, who spoke glowingly of his dead officer, said the police were working on different theories to unravel the motive behind the killing. Given the gruesome manner in which Onatemowo was killed, Alobi said he would want to know if the robbers, who were once dislodged, returned to revenge the loss of one of their own. Onatemowo’s hands were said to have been tied, and different weapons, including guns and knives, used to hit him until he died. His head was also said to have been hit with a big stone which shattered his skull. “This is the way the officer was killed and I must confess to you that it is terrible. I was shocked when I saw it,” Alobi said.

Alobi said the Force would look at every possible lead to get to the root of the matter.

HORROR! Jilted man sets lover ablaze

2007-03-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

By Sesan Olufowobi

For more than two years, Folake Oseni and Ayodele Akinyanju remained the envy of many bachelors and spinsters in their neighbourhood at Akinfenwa Close, Ikotun, Lagos.

Folake, before and after the tragic incident

Although they had not started living together as husband and wife, the close affinity they demonstrated convinced everyone that they had a kind of relationship that could only end up in a successful marriage. This perception was reinforced by the proximity of their houses to each other.

However, like an unfinished song, the blossoming love affair lost its harmony and resulted in a tragedy. The duo are not only separated, Folake died from horrifying blisters she got when Akinyanju spewed her with petrol and set her on fire. Akinyanju, while Akinyanju himself is on the run with severe burns from the same fire.

Now, the question on the lips of baffled residents of Akinfenwa Close is, ‘What went wrong?’

Family sources told Saturday Punch on Wednesday that contrary to the thinking of their admirers, the relationship between 25-year-old Folake and 32-year-old Akinyanju was far from being rancour-free. As a matter of fact, Folake was said to have only tolerated Akinyanju’s hot temper while the relationship lasted.

According to Folake’s father, Akinyanju was in the habit of beating the lady silly at the slightest provocation. This situation, he said, prompted Folake to opt out of the relationship. But that decision did not go down well with Akinyanju who, in a fit of anger, poured petrol on her and set her ablaze.

Following the incident said to have occurred in December, last year, Folake was rushed to the hospital by her parents and other concerned people. She gave up the ghost last week, after enduring the pains for two months.

Agboola Oseni, Folake’s devastated father, told policemen at the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Lagos, on Wednesday that by killing his beloved daughter, Akinyanju had taken the joy of his life away. “And she did nothing wrong. All she did was to end the relationship,” he lamented.

The father said his daughter could not imagine a lifetime relationship with someone who had turned her into a punching bag while they were still courting. So, in November, last year, Folake called her lover of two years and told him that she had decided to end the relationship.

Expectedly, the news of the broken relationship spread around the neighbourhood like a wild fire. Akinyanju reportedly tried to persuade Folake to have a change of mind, but she would not bulge. As days turned to weeks, it became obvious that she was resolved.

Not one to give up easily, Akinyanju was said to have reached out to some people in the area to help him persuade Folake to renew the relationship, all to no avail. Then, in the run-up to the Christmas and New Year celebrations, Akinyanju approached Folake and asked for a private discussion with her. Folake obliged and led him into her room. But a few minutes later, the agonising cry of the duo jolted people in the neighbourhood.

On getting to Folake’s room, they beheld a sordid spectacle: she had been set ablaze by Akinyanju. But as the fire raged, the hapless woman held tightly to her assailant, causing him to share in the fiery flames.

The police at SCID quoted Folake as saying that when they went into the room, Akinyanju again tried to persuade her to change her mind, but she refused. Then he got angry and accused her of dating other men. Before she could respond to the allegation, Akinyanju, opened a container he had brought into the room and emptied the petrol in there on her. Before she could call for help, Akinyanju set fire to her.

A police source said, “She did what she could in the circumstance. She quickly hugged him and because the fumes of the petrol had also engulfed Akinyanju, the fire got to him, but not as severely as Folake.”

The police initially arrested Adeyanju, but later granted him bail to treat himself because of the extensive burn he also suffered. Meanwhile, Folake was taken to the hospital, where she eventually died.

But as soon as Akinyanju learnt that Folake was dead, he fled, prompting the police to arrest his father, Mr. Albert Akinyanju.

The police said apart from their desire to bring the younger Akinyanju to justice, they were worried that without good medical attention, he might die like Folake.

“We are aware that before he ran away, maggots had already started coming out from his head. So if he doesn’t receive treatment, he may die,” a police source said.

Spokesman of the police in Lagos State, Mr Olubode Ojajuni, said the police would leave no stone unturned in their bid to locate Akinyanju, adding that it was for that reason that his father was arrested. “He stood surety for him and that is why he is helping us now to locate him, not just because he is the father,” Ojajuni said.

However 60-year-old Akinyanju said he did not know where his son could be because he lived in Oyo, while his son lived in Lagos. He said he had to stand surety for his son because no one else was prepared to do so.

Duke lists qualities of good leaders

2007-03-10T09:27:00.001-08:00

NIGERIA - Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State has stated that his utmost desire has always been for the country to produce the right kind of leadership that would fully harness the huge potentials that abound in the country for the benefit of its citizenry.

Receiving the presidential flag bearer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Prof. Pat Utomi and members of his campaign team in Calabar, Duke contended that over the years, leadership problem had robbed the country its right place as a true giant of Africa.

“We have not done enough towards achieving our potentials until now which is the reason for our unfulfilled existence as Nigerians, hence we need the best hand to get there,” Duke said.

Continuing, the governor said, “If Nigeria does not make the right choice of leadership now irrespective of party affiliation, it would take years to correct the wrong it would make.”

He pointed out that Utomi’s emergence from the private sector to vie for public office was indeed for greater tie between private and public sector, amd added that both sectors need to interface to bring about the deserved economic prosperity.

Earlier Prof. Utomi who was accompanied by the gubernatorial candidate in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Idaka, commended the leadership qualities of Mr. Duke and stressed that, “our country is challenged to have people of like minds to work together.

Utomi maintained that now is the time to choose a man that would actualise Nigerian’s dream by stimulating not only the centre but all its subordinates to move in the same trend of economic development.

He pointed out that he would put in place the needed infrastructural facilities to promote the Africa’s premier Business Resort, called the Tinapa project, as well as the Margaret Ekpo Airport the desired international and regional status.

In another development, the presidential flag bearer of the Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP), Alhaji (Dr.) Attahiru Dalhatu, has promised free and qualitative education from primary to secondary level in the country if elected into office.

The flag bearer who is also the governor of Sokoto State made the declaration in Calabar, during the party’s, South-South zonal campaign rally held at the Cross River State cultural centre complex.

He noted that already he had awarded scholarship to eligible students in Sokoto State up to the university level even though the state comes virtually last in the federation accounts chart in the country.

“It is my belief that the Niger Delta problems are Nigeria’s problems. We cannot shy away from it, nor can we sweep it under the carpet. My party and I are fully committed to recreating a new Nigeria where the abundant human and natural resources will be harnessed for the benefit and welfare of all the citizens,” he said.

He pointed out that they deliberately chose the South-South geo-political zone to begin their zonal rallies because of their unflinching commitments to resolving the unique problems of the Niger Delta.

Just before the deluge

2007-03-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

Holes keep popping up in the dam that stops the flood, and through them flow automobiles, pharmaceutical products, and textiles.

President Roh Moo-hyun tells the new prime minister, who wears a banner reading "open up the market without holding anything back," in order to quickly finish the job of negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States.

Hankyoreh Geurimpan

India gets serious on sex tests

2007-03-10T00:13:00.000-08:00

Bhopal - Faced with a declining sex ratio, the Madhya Pradesh government has directed that cases against sonography centres - misused by people who want sons - can now be directly registered in courts.

According to official sources, violations under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act would be dealt with directly by the courts.

'Minister for Public Health and Family Welfare Ajay Vishnoi has directed the PNDT state supervisory board that cases against sonography centres for sex determination tests should be registered straight in court so that erring institutions can be punished at the earliest,' said an official here.

The minister also asked for action against centres that fail to submit detailed records of their clients to chief medical officers every month.

The state has 1,139 sonography centres, including 1,058 private ones.

The act strictly forbids the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for sex determination and restricts sharing information on the foetus' sex. 'It further prohibits sex selection, sale of ultrasound machines to unregistered units and any kind of advertising for sex determination techniques,' said Sunil Jain, counsel for NGOs Praytan and Dharti Gram Uthan that recently petitioned against the prevalence of female foeticide in the state.

'Though the act exists, its poor implementation has seen an alarming decline in the child sex ratio over the past two decades. From a child sex ratio of 975 girls per 1,000 boys in the state in 1981, it has declined to 932 girls as per Census 2001,' he said.

The 2001 Census figures paint a startling picture about the gender balance in some districts with the worst affected being Bhind (832 girls per 1,000 boys), Morena (837) and Gwalior (853). In some villages of Morena, there are as few as 400 to 700 females for every 1,000 males.

'If conditions do not improve, girls will be on the brink of extinction at these places,' said another official, pointing out that the state's ratio (920 girls per 1,000 boys) was far below the national ratio of 933 girls per 1,000 boys.

Bus line reduced fare further

2007-03-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Megabus.com - the bargain fare bus service that offers rides for a little as $1 through its Web site - is expanding its service to Pittsburgh; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo., and Louisville.

The Chicago-based company, which last year began operating in a number of midwestern cities, including Cincinnati, is hoping the promise of such bargains will entice ever more drivers to leave their cars behind in favor of its colorful coaches. The company already offers service between Chicago and Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Toledo.

"We're really trying to get people out of their car," Dale Moser, president and chief operating officer of Coach USA, the domestic subsidiary of Scotland-based Stagecoach Group PLC, which runs Megabus, said earlier this week. "We think that's the real big advantage."

To keep fares low, Megabus uses online ticketing and sidewalk stops instead of ticket counters and bus terminals. Passengers do not buy tickets, but instead give bus drivers reservation numbers they receive when booking online.

The low-cost model was imported from the United Kingdom, where Stagecoach introduced a similar service more than three-and-a-half years ago.

"I don't have a terminal, so I don't have bricks-and-mortar," he said. "I don't have the staff that maintains it. Everything's back room - it's all computer sales. I have nobody handling cash. I have nobody handling any kind of transactions at the bus. The bus driver is focused on taking care of the customers and driving safely."

"The demand for this type of service has been outstanding," Moser added before a news conference on a street corner in downtown Pittsburgh.

The lowest fares generally hinge on planning. A limited number of seats are priced at $1, and the fares increase incrementally based on the time between the booking and departure dates, a pricing scheme used by discount airlines.

"But I will tell you that the highest-price seat is still cheaper than all the alternatives to get from Pittsburgh to Chicago," Moser said. The most expensive ticket for such a trip, booked 24 hours in advance, would be $43.50, he said.

Its top-end fares, he said, are lower than those of Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., the largest intercity bus service in North America.

Bert Powell, an analyst who follows Greyhound for BMO Capital Markets-Canada, said bus activity seems to have increased since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that regional competition among bus companies has intensified.

"In select routes, you're going to get guys who cherry-pick," he said. "You're going to have guys with three buses nipping at (Greyhound's) heels."

Megabus' vehicles have been more than half-full on average since its launch in April 2006.

It will have a fleet of 18 buses under the expansion plan, but will be able to draw on a pool of 2,500 vehicles as needed, according to Moser.

How to Manage money after you have purchased a house

2007-03-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

DON'T PURCHASE EXPENSIVE ITEMS ON CREDIT BEFORE CLOSING DEAL

Sue McAllister
Mercury News

The potential pitfalls of home buying don't disappear when the purchase offer has been accepted and the loan has been lined up.

As you may have guessed, most of them have to do with managing money. A few pointers:

Don't buy any high-priced items on credit before closing the home purchase, or you might not qualify for your mortgage anymore. Lenders will look at that new debt - a car loan, for example, or lots of furniture charged to a credit card - and judge that you are less able to take on mortgage debt. And don't spend a large chunk of cash, either, if you might need it for closing costs.

Expect to get a "supplemental" property tax bill from the county tax collector soon after you've purchased your home. This bill is for the difference between the amount of tax the former owner paid and the amount you will be paying, prorated according to when you bought the house.

Don't ignore this bill. Many people assume the tax was paid during escrow, but that is not so. The supplemental tax bill is a one-time charge that you must pay.

Some people also wrongly assume that the supplemental bill is the annual property tax bill, said J.R. Wheelwright of Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley.

Which brings us to this reminder ...

Remember to budget for property taxes. One of the joys of home ownership is getting to deduct what you pay in property taxes each year from your taxable income. But one of the miseries is having to pay the tax bill in the first place.

Property taxes amount to about 1.25 percent of the sales price of your home. On a $700,000 home, that's $8,750 annually in property taxes, made in two payments. The first installment is due Nov. 1 but not late until after Dec. 10; the second payment is due Feb. 1 but not late until after April 10.

Consider setting up an "impound account" to help save enough for taxes and insurance. Training yourself to save enough money to pay these bills when they come due is hard, but setting up an impound account when you get the mortgage can really help.

With an impound account, each month you'll pay one bill that includes the mortgage payment, plus one-twelfth of the annual property taxes and home insurance payments. The money for taxes and insurance is held in reserve until the bills are due, and the lender automatically sends the payments for you. Some lenders, however, charge a monthly fee to manage an impound account.

If you're disciplined enough, a better alternative is to set up an account with a bank or credit union for paying taxes, insurance and/or homeowners association dues. Arrange for the monthly costs to be transferred into this account automatically each month from a checking or savings account, and then you won't have to scramble to find the money. And, this way, you earn interest, rather than your lender.

This next tip sounds obvious, but:

Pay your mortgage on time. True, there is often a grace period of two weeks before you are charged extra, but don't be tempted to pay late. You'll be accruing extra interest on your principal if you delay, and in the long run that will cost you money.

Late payments can also hurt your credit history, possibly resulting in a higher interest rate if you try to refinance, for example.

If you are temporarily unable to pay your mortgage, notify your lender. If because of a job loss or other serious circumstance you can't make a payment, the lender may allow you to skip it and make it up later. The lender may also allow you to pay only the interest, or offer some other temporary remedy.

If your payments are not up to date, "the thing to do is get friendly with your banker," Wheelwright said. "Be honest with them and let them know the situation you're in and how you plan on resolving it."

Pay your homeowners association dues on time, too. Failure to pay required dues to your homeowners association can have serious consequences.

If you have private mortgage insurance, be familiar with how to get rid of it, and do so as soon as you can.

When you buy a home using a loan equal to 80 percent or more of the home's value, you are often required to pay for private mortgage insurance, or PMI. PMI insures your lender in case you default. In other words, this is money you don't want to shell out any longer than you must.

Typically, you must pay for PMI for two years, or until you have about 20 percent equity in the home, whichever comes last.

Borrowers' PMI is canceled automatically once they pay their loan down to 78 percent of the home's value at the time of purchase, Beth Haiken of the PMI Group said.

Or, if you think appreciation has increased your equity past the 20 percent mark (see "How much equity do I have?"), you should have your house appraised by an appraiser who's been approved by your lender. If the appraisal agrees with your assessment, your lender will cancel the PMI, and you'll be spending less on your monthly mortgage costs. An appraisal typically costs $300 to $400.

Some home buyers avoid getting PMI upfront by taking out two mortgages. For example, you make a 10 percent down payment, and get one loan for 80 percent of the home's value, and a second mortgage for the remaining 10 percent (this is known as a "piggyback" loan).

But "piggybacking" is not as attractive an option now as it was in recent years. Interest rates for the second mortgages have risen steeply, for one thing. And there's a new federal tax break for PMI premiums this year. For those who get a mortgage in 2007 and whose household income is no more than $100,000, the cost of private mortgage insurance premiums is deductible in 2007.

Revealed: Helicopter rides cause seizures for some.

2007-03-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A University of Rochester case report suggests light streaming through whirling helicopter rotor blades during emergency transport can cause seizures in some.

The findings, published in the journal Prehospital Emergency Care, suggest that the phenomenon is an under-recognized but highly preventable complication of helicopter transport.

"This shouldn't preclude transporting a patient from point A to point B in an aircraft," lead author Dr. Jeremy Cushman, an attending physician at the university's medical center, said in a statement. "But this concern does need to register as a legitimate risk for a small number of patients."

In a one example, paramedics noted flickering bursts of sunlight cast across the patient's face; the patient's eyes soon began blinking, and his facial muscles began jerking in coordinated rhythm. The patient, stable and displaying strong vital signs, immediately fell into a seizure, despite paramedics' attempts to block the flashes from the patient's face.

jem.com

I’m Alive And Well, Says Yar’Adua

2007-03-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

NIGERIA - Rumours of the bad health – and even the death – of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Umaru Yar’ Adua, have quickly faded as they came, with the man himself insisting that he is well, alive; and without plans to back down from the campaign.

Yar’Adua on Wednesday spoke on the telephone to Daily Independent from Wiesebaden Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany.

He said: "The reports about my health are extremely exaggerated, I am coming back home very soon to campaign very hard to win the election in the April polls."

He was admitted on Tuesday night, after he, in his own words, had "suffered from breathlessness" and had taken his doctor's advice to have a thorough medical check-up abroad.

"There have been speculations since 2000 surrounding my health. I am only human, as they are," Yar’Adua riposted to his critics.

"I don't think a human being has control over his health or ill health, life or death, and therefore they should not create conclusions on any other human being."

Yar’Adua, 55, advised his supporters not to panic, as he intends to pilot the PDP to victory in the elections.

Sceptical Nigerians, have, however, not stopped worrying about the man most likely to emerge President next month.

But PDP National Secretary, Ojo Maduekwe, in a statement issued on Tuesday night, stressed that he is in a steady health condition, despite being flown abroad.

He said there are no plans to replace him.

To underscore that fact, the PDP on Wednesday evening continued with its campaign in Abeokuta, where President Olusegun Obasanjo publicly spoke to Yar’Adua on the telephone from the podium.

"Umaru, there is this wild rumour that you have died, as they said I too died in Accra, Ghana. So, what do you want to say to people here?"

Yar’Adua replied: "I am very fine, accept my apologies for not being with you in Abeokuta. I am very much alive and well." Obasanjo burst into a hearty laughter and the stadium erupted in cheers.

He had also stated on the BBC’s Focus on Africa that he is well and healthy and ready for the rigours of Aso Rock.

Before Wednesday evening, it was a different tale across the country, as citizens pondered over his health and the talk that former military President, Ibrahim Babangida, has been tipped to replace him as PDP arrowhead.

Bauchi Governor, Adamu Mu’azu, is also being named as an alternative.

Nevertheless, Yar’Adua’s spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, relayed in a statement that the man thanks his supporters for their well wishes, and assures them that he is "quite fine and will be back on the campaign trail shortly."

The statement recalled that on Monday, as part of a routine medical check-up, Yar’Adua reported to his doctors at a private clinic where regular tests were conducted.

"Some of the results indicated that (he) was under stress and would need to rest. He was accordingly recalled yesterday (Tuesday) morning by the clinic and advised to rest. Following this medical report, his personal physicians – who had complained that the grueling Presidential campaign had obstructed (his) medical schedule – saw an opportunity to let (him) rest.

"They seized it, insisting that Yar’Adua should not only suspend the campaign for a few days, but must travel abroad for a long overdue specialist medical check-up."

According to Ughamadu, after consultation with President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP leadership, Yar’Adua accepted the advice of his doctors to travel overseas.

"He left for Germany last night (Tuesday). It is, therefore, categorically untrue that he collapsed and had to be rushed to a private hospital for medical attention.

"Reports from Germany give clear assurances that he is in fine health. In fact, Yar’Adua, in a telephone conversation with his associates this afternoon (Wednesday), expressed appreciation to all Nigerians who had shown their concern …."

Ughamadu quoted Yar’Adua as having given an assurance to Nigerians that he "would soon return to the country to rejoin the campaign, re-invigorated and better prepared to carry out his campaign promise to keep Nigeria moving forward through a proposal of good jobs, constant power, and better education.

"The widespread show of concern by Nigerians is a comforting demonstration of the confidence they have in me and my party to keep Nigeria moving forward."

The Action Congress (AC) joined other Nigerians in wishing Yar’Adua a quick recovery to enable him face the challenges ahead.

Its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said in a statement that the party received news of his ill-health with concern.

Muhammadu Buhari, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Presidential candidate, also sent a message wishing him a quick recovery.

His statement, signed by the Vice Chairman of the Publicity Committee of the Buhari Organisation, Osita Okechukwu, wished Yar'Adua "God's guidance and good health."

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) did not meet in Abuja on Wednesday.

No official reason was given, but it was learnt that it was re-scheduled for today to enable Obasanjo attend PDP rallies in Ibadan and Abeokuta.

Tech - Gadget trouble.

2007-03-08T04:26:00.001-08:00

AEDAN HELMER,
SPECIAL TO THE SUN

There have been several recent incidents involving students using personal electronic devices, such as cellphones, in an abusive manner:

* Yesterday, four teenage boys appeared in Brampton court, charged in a gang sexual assault on Feb. 25 of a 16-year-old girl, which was recorded and photographed using a cellphone.

* Two students were suspended from Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School in Ottawa earlier this week when footage of a fight between the boys was viewed by over 1,000 people on YouTube.

* In November 2006, a Gatineau school board banned cellphones and PEDs after two students secretly recorded a provoked outburst by their teacher and posted the video clip on YouTube.

India's 'wet desert' losing steam

2007-03-05T13:06:00.002-08:00

Raymond Raplang Kharmujai

RAINFALL in the unique "wet desert" of India's northeast has become unpredictable and the dry season longer in a disturbing sign of major changes in global weather patterns, scientists say.

Cherrapunji, in northeast India's tiny Meghalaya state, has long been a top contender for the world's wettest spot, with approximately 12m of rainfall annually, most of it in the summer monsoon season.

But a group of Polish and Indian scientists who have been studying the unusual ecosystem it falls on a latitude known for some of the world's driest areas, including the Sahara and Gobi deserts say this is changing.

Rainfall steadily lessened in the last half of the 20th century, they say. At the same time, fluctuations increased, meaning the wet years were frequently wetter and the dry years dryer.

"We took data from 1851 to 2001, almost 150 years of data," says Surendra Singh, a geographer with the North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong.

Singh and another Indian geographer, Hiambok J Syiemlieh, worked with three scientists from the Polish Academy of Sciences as part of a scientific research cooperation between the two countries.

"There is a decreasing (rainfall) tendency" throughout the century which accelerated in the second half of the period under study, the geographer says.

The monsoon clouds that rupture when they hit Cherrapunji, located on the southern spur of a steep plateau between the Bay of Bengal to the south and the Himalayan mountains to the north, are shedding less water here, he says.

"In 2005, rain was 25 per cent less in Cherrapunji. For 2006 we are still calculating but it is below normal," says Singh.

"Fluctuation in the rainfall pattern is increasing over time, and it is increasing too much."

The reduced rainfall has caused water scarcity and electricity shortages in the hydroelectricity-dependent state. Although local factors have led to some of the environmental problems the area faces such as more erosion during the wet years because of deforestation the scientists are pointing to global causes for the fluctuation in rain.

"Fluctuation is not influenced by local factors, it is related to climate. The climate of the entire country is changing," Singh says. "The entire pattern of rain and the intensity of rain is changing," he adds, pointing to the unusual amount of rainfall and floods last year in the usually parched western desert state of Rajasthan, on the same latitude, which he attributes to global warming. AFP