Thursday, July 31, 2008

Monster of Montauk: what the hell is this?


Yesterday, Gawker ran what appeared to be a photo of a bloated, leathery animal corpse — only it was like no animal anyone had seen before. A stout, hairless creature with a beak, claws, and the almond-shaped eyes familiar from renderings of space aliens, it looked, in short, like a monster. Hence the headline: "Dead Monster Washes Ashore in Montauk." The photo had come over e-mail to Anna Holmes, the managing editor at Jezebel, from an employee at Evolutionary Media Group, in Los Angeles; Holmes passed it on to Gawker. Because it came from a marketing company, Gawker surmised, "our guess is that it's viral marketing for something." They later pointed to a Cartoon Network show, Cryptids Are Real, which features similar-looking chubby monsters. We called Evolutionary, where a woman named Alanna Navitski, who claimed to be responsible for the tip, swore it was not a viral-marketing campaign. "This is what happened," she said. More...

See also: Pruthviraj Patil, India's Werewolf Boy, longs for a cure...

And this: Strange creature found in Russia...

Funny butt-sniffing dog!! Hilarious!!

Music fans and way-out lyrics... Hilarious!

MUSIC fans struggle to sing along to songs because they can no longer read the lyrics. 

Today’s iPod generation admit they are often clueless when it comes to knowing what artists are actually singing about.

The correct words to millions of tracks are widely available online, yet a poll has revealed that half of music fans reckon lyrics are less easy to find now than they were five years ago. 

They also blame a decline in lyrics appearing on CD booklets. 

So it is no wonder an internet site is being blitzed with hilariously misheard versions of lines from songs.

Website kissthisguy.com is itself named in honour of a mis-heard line from Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze: “’Scuse me while I kiss the sky.”  More...

See also: Benny Lava rules!!

And this: Bulgarian Idol sings "Ken Lee". Hilarious!


Homeless man, with a laptop, cell-phone and full-time job, lives in a tent...

Tom Sepa would rather not be called homeless.

"That word is loaded," he said. "I prefer 'urban outdoorsman.' "

It is true that Sepa has a lot of things that aren't generally associated with the stereotypical San Francisco homeless person - like a full-time job.

A telemarketer, Sepa hits the phones at 7 a.m., working out of Zephyr Cafe in the Richmond District. He uses his laptop and a cell phone headset to make over 100 cold calls each morning. Currently, he's trying to get companies to take a meeting with a software firm he's representing. 

He gets paid via his PayPal account, and owns an iPod and a guitar. When he says he is going to take you out to see "my version of a shopping cart," he means a late model Chevy.

What he doesn't have is four walls and a roof. Instead, he's been living in a tent deep on the back trails of Golden Gate Park for three months. More...

See also: More than 100 homeless people live at Heathrow...

And this: Homeless women in Moscow...

And this: Vagabonds in America...


Who is responsible for the murder of Private LaVena Johnson?


LaVena Johnson, a private in the Army was brutally raped, beaten and killed in 2005. Her teeth were knocked in, her nose broken, she had teeth marks on her body and there was corrosive liquid poured into her vagina, most likely to destroy evidence. Then she was shot and her body set on fire. After all this, the military called it ... a suicide. 

Who are they kidding? What is the real reason they are covering up this murder? A trail of blood from the private's body led into the tent of a military contractor from Kellogg, Brown & Root (a subsidiary of Halliburton at the time). I don't want to make any conclusions now about who might have done this and why it was covered up, but one thing that is exceedingly clear from the evidence is that she was murdered and there needs to be an investigation into who did it. More + video...

See also: India: When all else fails, why not try the "truth serum?"

And this: Sordid sex-murder affair in Malaysia: who killed Altantuya Shaariibuu?

And this: 22,000 calls at suicide hot line for war veterans...


Indianised Bible heading for success with Indian Christians...


Lakhs of Christians in India have been following the teachings of the Bible for generations. But now for the first time, the holy book has made an appearance in an Indian avatar. All this in an attempt to help Indian Christians understand the Bible better. 

A prayer service in Marathi at a chapel in Vasai outside Mumbai in an area that has a majority of Christian fisherfolk or 'kolis' comes across as a surprise for some, and a routine for others.

These villagers, who converted to Christianity generations ago, are now happy their culture is finding a resonance in the scripture. 

"The latest edition of the Bible in India now has a distinctly Indian flavour. The Virgin Mary clad in a sari, or even the flight to Egypt depicted in pictures with clear Indian imprint," says Cardinal Oswald Gracious, the Archbishop of Mumbai.

There are 27 such typical Indian sketches besides footnotes that refer to the Indian scriptures for easy understanding. 

It's a work that took 18 years to accomplish and has been inspired by similar attempts in countries like the Phillipines.

"All our prayer services are in Marathi. Now that Virgin Mary's picture is also depicted in our clothes, that makes us feel nice," says Janu Peter Patil, a fisherwoman from Vasai.

Another resident of Vasai, Marisina Jonathan Patil, adds: "We already read the Bible the Marathi, now its like our scriptures are coming closer to us."

The new edition has sold 30,000 copies in its first week and gone in for a reprint.

The Bishop of Vasai, Thomas Dabre, says, "In today's materialistic world, its not possible to follow the true Christian way of life. The Church here cannot ignore the cultural similarities. This edition is an affirmation of that.

Orthodox Christians are not impressed, though. They feel the Bible should remain untouched.
But for villagers like them, efforts like these only reaffirm a way of life they've been following for generations.

Source

See also: World's oldest Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, to go online...

And this: Jesus loves me?

Une Lamborghini fait 10.500 km en avion pour une révision à Londres!!!


Une Lamborghini a effectué plus de 10.000 km en avion entre le Qatar et le Royaume-Uni pour une simple révision dans un garage londonien, déclenchant la colère des défenseurs de l'environnement, a rapporté jeudi un quotidien britannique.

La révision du véhicule noir et or, qui appartiendrait à un riche cheikh, aurait coûté 3.552 livres (4.514 euros), et le vol aller-retour sur une ligne régulière de la compagnie Qatar Airways aux environs de 20.000 livres (25.419 euros), écrit le tabloïde The Sun, dont l'histoire fait la Une.

La Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 --la Batmobile dans le dernier gros succès du box-office américain "Batman, Le chevalier noir" sorti récemment-- coûte près de 190.000 livres (241.000 euros), poursuit le journal.

"La pollution produite par une Lamborghini est déjà suffisamment élevée, mais en faire voler une sur des milliers de kilomètres pour une révision, c'est atteindre un nouveau sommet en matière de nuisance au climat", a relevé Tony Bosworth, de l'association de protection de l'environnement Les amis de la Terre.

Une porte-parole de la marque italienne au Royaume-Uni a expliqué au Sun que la marque disposait de concessionnaires dans un certain nombre de pays pour entretenir ces bolides de luxe, mais que "ce genre de cas n'était pas inédit".

Source (en anglais)

Voir aussi: Pour en finir avec le pétrole…

Et ceci: La Voiture qui marche à l'eau...

Germans and Poles fight over nudist beach!!!


The Usedom beach on the German-Polish border has become the unlikely place for a fresh battle between the countries - a nudist war! 

On the one side white bottoms burn in the sun. On the other side conservative swimming trunk-wearers turn up their noses at the naked beachgoers.

Now a heated argument has broken out between the exhibitionist Germans and the prudish Poles. 

For the last fifty years sun-loving Germans have been preserving their naturist traditions from Ahlbeck (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) to Swinemünde. 

But following the Schengen agreement in December 2007 the fence separating the German and Polish parts of the beach was removed. 

Now German nudists are battling the Poles for their freedom to prance around naked in the sun. 

"It's ridiculous" said Swinemündes minister Edward Zajac. And Anja (28) from Poland, who clearly think the German nudists are real swines, said: "It's horrible. We would never bathe naked - we are Catholic."

But the happy-go-naked Germans are not amused. Elke Bernholz (44) said: "It's a nudist beach. It's terrible, that the Poles come over dressed and stare."

Ines Müller (46) is also shocked by the Polish behaviour: "You feel like an ape in a zoo. The Poles come with their binoculars, stare and swear."

The priest in Swinemünde, who called the nudists 'sinners', did however call for calm. 

Kazimierz Sajadeusz (68) said: "From a Catholic point of view the nudists are sinners. But in Germany the people are brought up freer. I understand, that they go bathing naked. My fellow people are sometimes a little bit sensitive."

Authorities are hoping to stop the war by putting up signs in both languages to divide the beach into a nudist area and a clothed bathing area again.

Source

See also: Italy: carry on sun-bathing, even with two corpses lying nearby?

And this: Nine British chicks arrested for taking part in oral sex competition in Zakynthos!!!

Fatboy Slim and Weapon of Choice...


Unrealeased Beatles tape discovered...

A previously unreleased tape of music recorded by The Beatles has been found in a Liverpool attic.

The tape, which has not been played since the 1960s, was found by a man who was cleaning out the loft of his elderly father's home.

A reel-to-reel Philips tape, the recording is roughly 30 minutes long. 

It includes a number of unreleased versions of The Beatles' hits including 'I Feel Fine' and 'I'm A Loser'[b/].

At one point, the band can be heard bursting into fits of laughter during an aborted take of [b]'I'll Follow The Sun'.

Beatles blog Wogew reports that the material was most likely recorded for the BBC TV programme 'Top Gear' in 1964.

The tape is being auctioned this August by Cameo Auctioneers, and is expected to reach a price between £8,000 and £12,000.

Source

See also: Beatles Paul and Ringo block "Let It Be" release...

And this: The Beatles and Norwegian Wood...

Got milk? No, wait! Got breastmilk? Hilarious...


WASILLA -- Got breast milk?

If so, don't brag about it.

The California Milk Processor Board might put you on notice too.

Talkeetna batik artist Barbara Holmes heard from the group behind the "got milk?" brand this month. 

Holmes made the mistake of advertising T-shirts and "onesies" -- those snappable one-piece underclothes for babies -- hand-lettered with the words "got breastmilk?" 

She whipped up 10 of the little things from her downtown Talkeetna home with an outhouse and no running water. She sold six at a holiday fair in the senior center two years ago, then moved on to other projects.

The letter from the board's Sacramento law firm showed up a few weeks ago. More...

See also: 90-year-old grandma gives corporate giants the finger!!!

And this: Breast-milk, nature's wonder drug...

And this: Giving up milk and dairy products results in better health...

Arabie saoudite - Les chats et chiens de compagnie interdits!!!


La police religieuse d’Arabie saoudite a annoncé une interdiction de vendre des chats et des chiens comme animaux de compagnie, ou de les promener en public dans la capitale saoudienne, parce que des hommes s’en servent pour faire des avances aux femmes, a déclaré un officiel mercredi.

Othman Al-Othman, chef de la Commission pour la promotion de la vertu et la prévention du vice à Riyad, connue sous le nom de Muttawa, a déclaré au quotidien Al-Hayat que la Commission a entrepris de mettre à exécution un ancien décret religieux.

Il dit que la Commission applique une décision prise il y a un mois par le gouverneur de la capitale, le Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, basée sur un vieux décret émis par le Conseil suprême des savants saoudiens.

La raison du renforcement du décret est la tendance nouvelle chez certains hommes d’utiliser des animaux de compagnie en public « pour faire des avances aux femmes et perturber les familles » a-t-il dit, sans plus de détails.

Othman dit que la Commission a demandé à ses bureaux de la capitale « de dire aux animaleries d’arrêter la vente de chats et de chiens ».

Source

Voir aussi: Arabie saoudite - Il risque la prison pour un café avec une dame...

Et ceci: Il brûle son chien! Quel cinglé!

Saudi religious police ban pet cats and dogs!!!

Saudi Arabia's religious police have announced a ban on selling cats and dogs as pets, or walking them in public in the Saudi capital, because of men using them as a means of making passes at women, an official said on Wednesday.

Othman al-Othman, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Riyadh, known as the Muttawa, told the Saudi edition of al-Hayat daily that the commission has started enforcing an old religious edict.

He said the commission was implementing a decision taken a month ago by the acting governor of the capital, Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, adding that it follows an old edict issued by the supreme council of Saudi scholars.

The reason behind reinforcing the edict now was a rising fashion among some men using pets in public "to make passes on women and disturb families," he said, without giving more details.

Othman said that the commission has instructed its offices in the capital to tell pet shops "to stop selling cats and dogs".

The 5,000-strong religious police oversees the adherence to Wahabism -- a strict version of Sunni Islam, which also forces women to cover from head to toe when in public, and bans them from driving.

Source

See also: 60-year-old Saudi man "wins" 10-year-old child in a bet as bride...

And this: Mutegi, the cat that jumps, well, pretty high...

And this: The stray dogs of Moscow...

You worry about stuff? Well, here are 10 things that you can scratch from your worry list...

For most of the year, it is the duty of the press to scour the known universe looking for ways to ruin your day. The more fear, guilt or angst a news story induces, the better. But with August upon us, perhaps you’re in the mood for a break, so I’ve rounded up a list of 10 things not to worry about on your vacation.

Now, I can’t guarantee you that any of these worries is groundless, because I can’t guarantee you that anything is absolutely safe, including the act of reading a newspaper. With enough money, an enterprising researcher could surely identify a chemical in newsprint or keyboards that is dangerously carcinogenic for any rat that reads a trillion science columns every day.

What I can guarantee is that I wouldn’t spend a nanosecond of my vacation worrying about any of these 10 things.  More...

See also: Should we live for pleasure? We certainly should!!

And this: Bobby Mcferrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy...

42% des Français ne partiront pas en vacances cette année...

Un été 42...
Mais pourquoi 42 ?

Ce 42 est un pourcentage qui vient, en fait, d'un sondage publié ce jeudi 31 juillet, dans L'Humanité.

D'après une triste étude de l'IFOP, déjà reprise en "une" du site du Monde, cet été, c'est 42 % des Français qui ne partiront pas en vacances ; soit 10 % de plus qu'en 2005 !

Ce sont naturellement, logiquement, les ouvriers et les employés qui sont les plus nombreux à avoir renoncé : 41 % des ouvriers et 47 % des employés ne sont pas partis en juillet. Ils ne partiront pas davantage en août.

Les principales raisons sont, évidemment, la hausse des prix et la baisse du pouvoir d'achat.

Source

Voir aussi: Les français ne sont pas bienvenus chez nous…

Et ceci: La France:destination préférée des touristes en 2007...


Beatles Paul and Ringo block "Let It Be" release...


Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have stopped the release of Beatles film 'Let It Be'.  

The 1970 documentary reveals tensions between the Fab Four - Paul, Ringo and the late John Lennon and George Harrison - shortly before their break-up, and insiders at the band's record company, Apple, claim the two surviving members do not want it re-released. 

A source said: "There has been talk of 'Let It Be' finally being released but now there has been a change of heart. The Beatles are still a massive global brand and it's felt it won't be helped if the public sees the darker side of the story. 

Neither Paul nor Ringo would feel comfortable publicising a film showing The Beatles getting on each other's nerves." 

The film was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg and shows the group recording the album of the same name, which eventually became their final studio release. 

The group's internal relations were at an all-time low during the making of the LP and recording sessions were fraught with internal squabbles. 

George Harrison took exception to Paul criticising his guitar playing, while John Lennon appeared disinterested during the entire process - preferring to spend his time with his wife Yoko Ono. 

Although the LP was their final release, the group were so disappointed with 'Let It Be' they recorded masterpiece 'Abbey Road' afterwards and released it before the much-maligned record. 

The source added to Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "People like to imagine The Beatles were a happy ship but the reality towards the end was very different as this film shows. There's all sorts of extra footage showing more squabbles but it's unlikely it will ever see the light of day in Paul and Ringo's lifetime."

Source

See also: The Beatles' "Two of Us" with upbeat tempo...

And this: Found: rare footage of the Beatles, to be called Mystery Tour Memories...

Sheikh flies Lamborghini 6,500 miles to Britain for oil change!!!

A rich Arab sent his Lamborghini on a 6,500-mile round trip to Britain for a service. 

The £190,000 supercar was put on a scheduled flight from Qatar to Heathrow – then flown BACK after the oil check. 

Money was no object as the flight would have cost the owner – thought to be a Sheikh – around £20,000. 

The move sparked fury from green campaigners. 

An airport worker said: “This car doesn’t have a carbon footprint – more of a crater.” 

The overall cost of sending the Lamborghini to London for the oil change would have cost more than £23,000. 

His black-and-gold supercar costs £3,552 to service at an approved dealer – on top of the £20,000 to freight from Qatar to Britain. 

The Murciélago LP640 – driven by Batman in movie The Dark Knight – arrived from the Middle Eastern country on Friday. 

It cleared customs and was trucked to specialist mechanics in London for the service. 

On Monday it was flown back 3,250 miles to the oil-rich state where it was collected by the owner. More...

See also: Can alcohol replace petrol as fuel? If so, why don't we know about it?

And this: Consumers are crying over oil prices, while oil executives laugh all the way to the bank...

And this: Airlines go on a diet to save fuel costs...

And this: Al Gore: do as I say, not as I do...


Leaked: Beijing 2008 Opening ceremony...

Beijing 2008 : répétition de la cérémonie d’ouverture filmée clandestinement…

Internet censuré lors des JO: la Chine assume...

La Chine a indiqué jeudi qu'elle ne reviendrait pas sur sa décision de censurer l'internet durant les jeux Olympiques, soulignant que les sites concernés enfreignaient les lois chinoises.

"Seuls quelques sites sont bloqués principalement parce qu'ils enfreignent les lois chinoises", a déclaré un porte-parole du comité d'organisation des jeux Olympiques, Sun Weide. "Nous espérons que les médias étrangers pourront respecter les lois et règlements de la Chine", a-t-il ajouté.

Mercredi, même le CIO a avoué que la Chine n'avait jamais envisagé de lever toutes les limitations imposées à la consultation d'internet par les journalistes.

Cette décision, prise mercredi matin, a suscité de nombreuses réactions: Suite...

Voir aussi: JO: Les chinois flippent complètement: de quoi ont-ils peur?

Ce ceci: JO de Pékin : ça va être épatant !

Manuel Uribe, world's heaviest man, is shrinking...


Losing 185kg (29 stones) in body weight might seem like an extreme way to get into the record books.

But that is what Manuel Uribe from Monterrey, Northern Mexico, has done. 

Now the world's heaviest man is on track to become the planet's most successful slimmer. 

Put another way, his weight loss in one year is the equivalent of shedding two fully grown adult males from his body. 

Manuel is already in the latest edition of the Guinness World Records as the heaviest living person. 

That's because, not long ago he weighed 560kg (88 stones), or half a tonne.  More...

See also: Manuel Uribe, the world's fattest man, goes on a diet...

And this: Is Chinese food the answer to obesity?

And this: Australia now world's obesity champion...

And this: Air India grounds fat air hostessess...

Daily Life in Belarus...


Belarus is a country of 10 million citizens in the heart of Europe. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko, has been in power since 1994, and U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain recently described him as a "brutal dictator" and supports continued U.S. sanctions, imposed in reaction to rigged elections in 2006. This September, over 700 international observers will be on hand to monitor new parliamentary elections, and Lukashenko may be trying to warm up to the West. Here is a look at some recent scenes in and around Belarus. 

Click here for photos...

South Africa: boys often raped by adult women...

Two out of five male South African students say they have been raped, according to a study published yesterday suggesting sexual abuse of boys is endemic in the country's schools.

The survey published in BioMed Central's International Journal for Equity in Health showed that boys were most often assaulted by adult women, followed closely by other schoolchildren.

"This study uncovers endemic sexual abuse of male children that was suspected but hitherto only poorly documented," Neil Andersson and Ari Ho-Foster of the Centre for Tropical Disease Research in Johannesburg wrote.

The findings underscore the need to raise awareness about the rape of male children and they urged further efforts to prevent sexual violence in South Africa, the researchers said.

Another problem is that the prevalence of rape is hampering efforts to combat AIDS in a country at the epicentre of the global pandemic.

"There is increasing recognition of links between sexual abuse and high-risk attitudes to sexual violence and HIV risk," the researchers wrote. "Sexually abused children are also more likely to engage in HIV high-risk behaviour."

The survey carried out in 1,200 schools across the country asked 127,000 boys aged between 10 and 19 if they had ever been sexually abused and, if so, by whom.

Abuse by fellow males was more common in rural areas while attacks by women happened mainly in cities, the study found.

Source

See also: If you're being raped, use your mobile to record it, says Sri Lanka's police chief!!! WTF!

And this: Boys, aged 11, rape (sister) and record it on cell-phone...

Beware! Google SMS is watching you!!! Hilarious!

Swiss/Libya conflict cooling down...

The foreign ministry says bilateral talks are continuing on a diplomatic level to end a row with Libya.

On Tuesday two Swiss citizens jailed for alleged immigration violations were released on bail. But no Swiss nationals are allowed to leave Libya.

Foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Philippe Jeannerat said moves were underway to restore normal relations between the two countries. Tensions began when one of the sons of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi was temporarily arrested in Geneva earlier in July.

"Work done in the past few days is beginning to show results," said Jeannerat at a media briefing on Wednesday.

"We are in talks with Libyan diplomats. Both countries agree that there are still important problems to be resolved," he added.

Jeannerat said Swiss companies paid about SFr9,000 ($8,582) in bail each to secure the release of their employees.

The two men were told they could move freely within Libya, but are not allowed to leave the country. Both of them are under consular protection. The foreign ministry refused to give further details.  More...

See also: Two Swiss released from Libyan jail...

And this: Swiss press attack Gaddafi's "revenge" and criticize his regime...

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Toilet seat woman's boyfriend will not go to prison...



A man whose girlfriend sat on a toilet for so long that the seat adhered to her body will spend six months on probation. 

Kory McFarren pleaded no contest last month to a misdemeanor count of mistreatment of a dependent adult. A judge sentenced him Tuesday to six months in jail but granted the probation after the victim, Pam Babcock, asked for leniency.

"She didn't believe that her circumstances were his fault," Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite said. 

Babcock's plight became known in February when McFarren called the Ness County sheriff, expressing concern about his live-in girlfriend. When authorities arrived, they found Babcock physically stuck to the toilet. 

McFarren told police Babcock had refused to come out of the bathroom for two years. Medical personnel estimated she had been sitting on the toilet for at least a month and said the seat had adhered to sores on her body. 

She is now under the protection of a guardian who was appointed through the legal department at the hospital where she received treatment. 

Also Tuesday, McFarren was sentenced to six months in jail for an unrelated charge of lewd and lascivious behavior for exposing himself to a teenage neighbor in March.

Source

See also: Stuck to the toilet seat for ... 2 years?

And this: Flush so we don't blush! Taiwanese city residents to be potty trained!!!

90-year-old grandma gives corporate giants the finger!!!


 For decades, Isabelle Champagne was a thorn in the side of the owners of Yoken's restaurant. She single-handedly put a halt to a massive supermarket on the other side of her fence blocking the view of Route 1. And, at the age of 90, she's prepared to keep fighting.

When she was a child, the land that was on the market last fall for $7 million was considered the "boonies," according to Champagne. Her family owned dozens of acres of farm land dating back to the early 19th century.

Over the years, it's dwindled down to the tiny less-than-an-acre parcel and the quaint home at 721 Peverly Hill Road, built by her late husband of 58 years, Andrew. Though her mother sold the Yoken's land for a measly $10,000, Champagne has resisted corporate attempts to buy the last bit of land she has. She's also resisted the generous offers that have included money, land elsewhere or space in an upscale Cape Cod retirement home.

This is her land, the land she grew up on and raised her family on. No matter how much the area surrounding her changes, it is still her home.

"I've lived here all my life," said Champagne, who still drives, shops, walks and uses her deer hunting license. "I don't want to go any place else." More...

See also: 78-year-old grandmother chases and catches thief! Bravo, grandma!

And this: This grandma is one helluva rocker!!!

And this: 94-year-old grandma being abused by a fat bitch...

Too intelligent to be a police officer!!!

A US man has been rejected in his bid to become a police officer for scoring too high on an intelligence test.

Robert Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took an exam to join the New London police, in Connecticut, in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125.

But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training.

Mr Jordan launched a federal lawsuit against the city, but lost.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower court's decision that the city did not discriminate against Mr Jordan because the same standards were applied to everyone who took the test.

He said: "This kind of puts an official face on discrimination in America against people of a certain class. I maintain you have no more control over your basic intelligence than your eye color or your gender or anything else."

He said he does not plan to take any further legal action and has worked as a prison guard since he took the test.

The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average.

Source

See also: NYPD cop assaults cyclist...

And this: Toronto cops disrupt street musicians...

And this: The Cop, Culture, and People Power (Must see)

Sex tests at Beijing Olympics: no more Santhi Soundarajan humiliations...


Suspicious-looking woman athletes participating in next month's Olympic Games in Beijing will be forced to take a gender test, the Chinese authorities have announced. 

To ensure that girls will be girls, officials have set up a sex-determination laboratory where they say that tests will be conducted with the utmost delicacy by four experts from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. 

The hospital has spent more than a year designing the facility to ensure the minimum of embarrassment for those athletes who may be asked to prove their credentials. 

China wants to avoid any disruption of the kind that marred the 2006 Asia Games in Doha when Santhi Soundarajan, the Indian middle-distance runner, was stripped of the silver medal she won in the 800 metres track event after failing a sex-determination test. More...

See also: When terrorist attacks lead to sex change...

And this: Kangsadarn Wongdusadeekul, Thailand's most beautiful transvestite!


The fertility tourists flock to India...

At the end of last year, Ekaterina Aleksandrova boarded a plane in London and flew to Mumbai. It wasn't her first trip there - she is a management consultant and often goes abroad on business. But this time she went to have five embryos implanted in her womb. A couple of days later she flew back to Europe. While on business in Hong Kong in January, she discovered she was pregnant with just one embryo.

For Aleksandrova, 42, this was the culmination of a six-year struggle to become a mother. She divorced at 29, and hadn't been in a serious relationship since she was 34. "I always wanted to have a child but the men kept saying, 'Why don't we travel?'" she says. "It wasn't that I was obsessed with my career, I just couldn't get men to be a father." 

First, she tried to adopt in Germany, where she holds citizenship, but that didn't work out. Then, in 2004, she moved to the UK to take advantage of this country's more liberal attitude to single women who need IVF. She spent £18,000 in less than three years, trying and failing to conceive at a private Harley Street clinic. When she finally conceived in India, Aleksandrova was in a state of "shock and disbelief". More...

See also: World's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born 30 years ago...

And this: Desiring a son, 70-year old Indian woman gives birth to twins...

Berlin pubs force U-turn on smoking ban...

Anti-smoking laws have been dramatically watered down in Berlin in an attempt to protect smaller bars and pubs from being driven out of business, opening the prospect of the law being challenged throughout Germany. 

In a ruling which smoking campaigners hope will set a precedent, the German Constitutional Court has ordered the government to re-draft a law which expelled smokers from bars and restaurants, or herded them into separate rooms. 

After hearing complaints by small bar owners that the ban was wrecking their trade, the judges ruled that any single-room bar or pub smaller than 75 square metres should be allowed to waive the anti-smoking legislation on condition that under-18s are not admitted and no food is prepared. 

So far, the ruling applies only to Berlin and the south-western state of Baden Wuerttemberg. However, it is expected to become the model for Germany as a whole, and many smokers hope it will start a European roll-back.  More...

See also: "Newport Nude" goes on display again after 60 years ... and is now being condemned for smoking!!!

And this: 10 cigars a day and a shot of whisky, and he's 100 years old!!!

And this: Smoking banned in German bars? No worries! Said bars are now reborn as private clubs!!!


NYPD cop assaults cyclist...

Un policier du NYPD malmène un cycliste…

China: teacher held for publishing quake photos...

A Chinese teacher has been detained for posting images on the internet of schools that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake, a rights group has said. 

Human Rights in China said Liu Shaokun had been ordered to serve a year of "re-education through labour". 

Mr Liu was detained for "disseminating rumours and destroying social order", the group said. 

The 12 May quake killed nearly 70,000 people. Many of those who died were children whose schools collapsed. 

The poor condition of the school buildings has become a sensitive political issue for the government, and grieving parents have staged numerous protests demanding an inquiry. 

Many have accused local officials of colluding with builders to allow them to get away with cheap and unsafe practices. 

"Instead of investigating and pursuing accountability for shoddy and dangerous school buildings, the authorities are resorting to re-education through labour to silence and lock up concerned citizens like teacher Liu Shaokun and others," said Human Rights in China Executive Director Sharon Hom. 

According to Human Rights in China, Mr Liu's wife was informed by police last week that the teacher, from Guanghan Middle School in Deyang city, had been sent to a labour camp. 

The "re-education through labour" system allows police to incarcerate a crime suspect for up to four years without the need for a criminal trial or a formal charge. 

The system, in place since 1957, has been widely criticised by the UN and other organisations. 

Source

See also: China quake: Chinese police harass grieving parents...

And this: Chinese official begs on his knees to prevent protests!!

And this: China earthquake: once again, why did so many schools collapse while other buildings stood intact?

Two Swiss released from Libyan jail...

Two Swiss citizens caught up in a diplomatic row over the arrest of Moammar Gaddafi's son have been released from custody, the foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

The men were granted bail by a judge in Tripoli earlier in the day and are presently at the Swiss embassy and are described to be in good health.

They were detained on July 19 on alleged immigration violations and have not yet been allowed to leave Libya, the Swiss foreign ministry said.

It said in a statement that "talks between Switzerland and Libya are continuing at a diplomatic level to resolve the tensions in the bilateral relationship".

Tensions have been high since the July 15 arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and his pregnant wife in a Geneva hotel on charges will ill-treatment of two domestic employees. The couple, which deny the allegations, were released on SFr500,000 ($478,300) bail and have since left Switzerland.

Switzerland has warned its citizens to keep away from travelling to Libya. The Libyan foreign ministry has reciprocated, cautioning its people to avoid "arbitrary measures, lack of respect and humiliation" at the hands of Swiss authorities.

Last week, Tripoli said it had halted oil shipments to Switzerland and had suspended the issuing of visas to Swiss nationals.

Source

See also: The Swiss/Libyan crisis, and a look at the Gaddafi brothers...

And this: The crisis between Libya and Switzerland worsens....

Bunch of ass-holes kick a man unconsciousness and then steal his money...


Sickening images released by police lay bare a horrific attack by a teenage gang who kicked a man unconscious on the ground as a woman rifled through his pockets for money.

The graphic images of the town centre attack show the group kicking and punching the 27-year-old repeatedly before Gemma Stafford, 18, is seen stealing cash and cigarettes.

CCTV captured the drunken gang laying into their victim. One of the assailants is filmed delivering a horrific running kick to his head as he lay motionless.

Full story here and video...

JO: Les chinois flippent complètement: de quoi ont-ils peur?

Comme les 253 millions d'internautes chinois, les journalistes étrangers, accrédités pour les JO de Pékin, n'auront qu'une version censurée de l'internet, contrairement aux promesses des autorités. 

Cette décision, confirmée mercredi à seulement dix jours de l'événement (8-24 août), a déclenché une polémique.

Journalistes et responsables olympiques se sont indignés que l'engagement d'assouplir le contrôle de la Toile pendant les Jeux ne soit pas tenu. 

Les pages et sites concernant le mouvement spirituel Falungong, interdit en Chine, et d'autres sites non précisés, resteront verrouillés pour les plus de 5.000 journalistes travaillant au principal centre de presse des JO à Pékin (MPC, Main press center), a indiqué à l'AFP le porte-parole du comité d'organisation, Sun Weide. 

Depuis le MPC, l'AFP a pu constater l'impossibilité d'accéder à des sites dissidents, pro-tibétains ou ceux d'organisation de défense des droits de l'Homme, comme Amnesty International ou Reporters sans frontières. 

Lors d'un entretien exclusif avec l'AFP il y a deux semaines, le président du CIO Jacques Rogge s'était pourtant félicité de la liberté accordé à la presse étrangère. Suite...

Voir aussi: JO de Pékin : ça va être épatant !

Et ceci: Mystérieuse disparition du dissident Huang Qi..

Is Microsoft going to replace Windows with Midori?

With the Internet increasingly taking on the role of the PC operating system and the growing prevalence of virtualization technologies, there will be a day when the Microsoft Windows client OS as it's been developed for the past 20-odd years becomes obsolete.

Microsoft seems to be preparing for that day with an incubation project code-named Midori, which seeks to create a componentized, non-Windows OS that will take advantage of technologies not available when Windows first was conceived, according to published reports.

Although Microsoft won't comment publicly on what Midori is, the company has confirmed that it exists. Several reports -- the most comprehensive to date published on Tuesday by Software Development Times -- have gone much further than that. 

That report paints Midori as an Internet-centric OS, based on the idea of connected systems, that largely eliminates the dependencies between local applications and the hardware they run on that exist with a typical OS today. More...

See also: Microsoft to stop selling Windows XP...

And this: Windows 7 to be released next year?

Sex Pistols 1976 "live" interview most sought-after clip...

A snippet of the Sex Pistols swearing during a live broadcast in 1976 has become a television archive's most requested clip. 

The incident, which happened during an interview with Bill Grundy, topped requests received by FremantleMedia, which owns the Thames TV catalogue. 

Clips of former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson running along the beach came second in the list. 

Talent show winners Paul Potts, Leona Lewis and Will Young also featured. 

Opera singer Potts, who won TV variety show Britain's Got Talent in 2007, comes third in the top ten with requests for his first performance on the programme. 

Fourth most popular are Jack Regan's catchphrases "shut it" and "you're nicked" from police drama The Sweeney. More...

Watch the video here...

Is your hotel room clean? How to find out...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

What happens when you don't turn on the TV for a week?

“What could you accomplish if you stopped watching TV? What would you do with all the extra time?” My wife asked me these questions two weeks ago. After a short discussion, we decided to find out for ourselves. We completely eliminated television from our lives last week. It turned out to be an incredibly rewarding experience. We now have a plan to drastically reduce our future viewing habits.

Here are 40 positive effects from our week without television.

Wrote 4 blog posts. – I usually only have time to write 2 articles a week.

Made it to the gym 5 times. – I went Monday through Friday for about 45 minutes, hitting every major muscle group.

Increased household communication. – TV kills the flow of household communication. We both noticed that we had a lot more time to talk.

Read a novel cover to cover. – I read the short novel “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse. It’s a powerful story about the importance of life experiences as they relate to approaching an understanding of reality and attaining enlightenment. I highly recommend it.  More...

See also: Simon's cat TV dinner...

And this: Indian jailbird Dara Singh goes on hunger strike to have cable TV in his cell!!!

Thierry Henry to play for ... Manchester United??!!


SIR ALEX FERGUSON is weighing up a shock £15m swoop to sign Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

The Manchester United boss has been forced to look at other strikers after being blocked so far in his attempts to sign Dimitar Berbatov. 

And ex-Arsenal star Henry is one of those near the top of his list. Ferguson believes the Barcelona forward could do a similar job to Berbatov, leading the line at Old Trafford in a role which would release Wayne Rooney from his shackles. 

The United boss has also run the rule over Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz and Ajax’s highly-rated Klass Jan Huntelaar. 

But it is the emergence of Henry as one player in the frame that will come as a huge shock to Premier League supporters – particularly Gunners fans. 

The thought of seeing their hero line up in a United shirt will fill Arsenal followers with dread – but such a prospect is not out of the question. 

Ferguson is desperate to bring in another forward, but with Spurs playing hardball and seeking to find other buyers for £30m Berbatov, the Scot has been forced to cast his net further afield. 

There are few players in Europe with the pedigree to fulfil the role, which has led Ferguson to check out Henry’s situation at the Nou Camp. 

Though new boss Pep Guardiola has indicated he wants Henry, 30, to stay, the fact Samuel Eto’o is still at the club means the Frenchman could be available. 

The United boss has a history of making surprise signings – the likes of Eric Cantona and Henrik Larsson all came out of left-field. 

And he has no qualms going in for a player with such a big Arsenal history as he proved two years ago by trying to tempt Patrick Vieira to Old Trafford. 

Much depends on whether Ferguson wants a player to make an immediate impact, or a signing to build for the future. 

Dutch striker Huntelaar represents a long-term plan but in Henry, Ferguson knows he would be getting a player already adept at the demands of Premier League and Champions League football.

Source

See also: Nigerians look to England for their soccer thrills...

And this: Manchester United to woo fans in India...

Stupid bitch abusing a puppy...

Une conne en train d'abuser un chiot...

Thieves break into shop and steal a ... shark???

British police were searching for a shark stolen from an aquatics shop over the weekend in southern England.

The female Australian marbled cat shark was one of a breeding pair kept in a converted garage in the back of a store owned by Peter Newman in Farnborough, about 20 miles west of London's Heathrow Airport, police said Tuesday.

The shark, two feet long and mottled brown, is rare in Britain, police said.

Newman, 68, said he realized the shark was missing Saturday morning when he found the door to the converted garage ajar and the lights on inside.

"I'm just very angry really," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Whoever came in there clearly knew what they were after. They probably would have taken the pair, but the male's a bit harder to catch really."

The two sharks have produced seven pups, which are kept in an adjacent tank, Newman said. None of them were taken in the theft.

His wife, June Newman, said the pair might together be worth as much as $20,000 because of their rarity. She said her husband might have left a door unlocked.

She also said she was puzzled by the theft, explaining that it would have been difficult to snatch the shark because the top of the tank was around five feet off the ground.

"It's mind-boggling to me as to how this shark has been taken," she said.

Source

See also: Wily thief escapes by baring breasts!!!

And this: The Shark and the Octopus...

2008, the year Spain went on a winning streak...


A cheer rose from Madrid's Plaza de San Andrés on Sunday as cycling fans, gathered around televisions, watched native son Carlos Sastre coast around Paris's Arc de Triomphe to win the Tour de France. But the ovation was polite compared to the roar that greeted Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon victory two weeks earlier or the raucous all-night party ignited by Spain's soccer team when it claimed the European Cup on June 29. Spain, it seems, is getting accustomed to winning. 

With this impressive string of victories, Spain has emerged as an international sports powerhouse. Indeed, in 2007, Spanish athletes competing in Olympic Federation sports won 66 medals in international competitions and 114 in European ones, up from 21 and 22, respectively, in 2003. Spain is now readying for unprecedented performances at the Olympics. 

"In June and July we have had two months without comparison in our history," Jaime Lissavetzky, secretary of state for sports, said at a press conference Sunday. "It proves that there are many high-level athletes in this country, and it could be a good omen for the Olympics."  More...

See also: Fernando Torres pays tribute to Liverpool and snubs Chelsea...

And this: Spain are the 2008 Euro champions!!

And this: Soccer more popular than sex! Erotic festival can't compete with Euro 08!!!

And this: Wimbledon 2008: the best final ever?

La Suisse, pays de "mesures arbitraires" selon la Libye...

"Du fait des mesures arbitraires, du non-respect et de l'humiliation infligés par les autorités suisses aux citoyens arabes et libyens, (le ministère) déconseille aux citoyens de la Grande Jamahirya de se rendre en Suisse pour éviter de faire face à de telles mesures arbitraires", a indiqué le ministère sur son site internet.

Hannibal Kadhafi - le fils du dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi - et son épouse ont été arrêtés le 15 juillet dans un hôtel de Genève. Ils ont été inculpés de lésions corporelles simples, menaces et contraintes envers deux domestiques, une Tunisienne et un Marocain, qui ont déposé plainte contre eux. Le couple a pu regagner la Libye après avoir versé une caution de 500'000 francs.

En réaction à cette arrestation, les autorités de Tripoli ont arrêté deux ressortissants suisses qu'elles accusent de violation des disposition sur l'immigration et le séjour. Elles ont également pris des sanctions contre des entreprises suisses basées dans le pays.

En raison de l'interdiction de trafic décrétée par la Libye, Swiss a annulé six vols à destination de Tripoli depuis le 20 juillet. La compagnie aérienne a supprimé quatre liaisons en raison de l'interdiction de trafic décrétée par la Libye et a décidé d'annuler deux des vols autorisés.

Swiss a décidé de ne pas voler dimanche dernier "pour des raisons opérationnelles", a indiqué Jean-Claude Donzel, porte-parole de Swiss. Le vol du dimanche 20 juillet avait été supprimé pour les mêmes motifs.

Source

Voir aussi: La Libye et la Suisse: la crise s'intensifie...

Et ceci: L’affaire Hannibal Gaddafi : La Libye cesse de livrer du pétrole à la Suisse...

China: angry air travellers smash up airport!!

Scores of Chinese air passengers have smashed computers and desks and clashed with police after a night stranded at an airport without accommodation, state media said.

More than 170 passengers were due to leave Kunming, capital of south-western Yunnan province, on three flights operated by China Southern Airlines late on Monday, but the flights were cancelled due to bad weather, Xinhua news agency said.

"All the passengers had to spend the night on the planes or in the departure hall," Xinhua said. "No one came to tend to their food and board."

The passengers clashed with airport police this morning, smashing computers and desks, Xinhua said, blaming the melee on China Southern staff's "inappropriate working attitude".

Around 2:00am (local time), many of the passengers - including toddlers and people over 60 - took taxis to a hotel where China Southern said they could stay, only to be turned away once they arrived, Xinhua said.

Frustration at mysterious delays, diversions and cancellations have at times boiled over into violence at Chinese airports as passengers try to storm grounded aircraft and police are brought in to keep the peace.

There have also been cases in which passengers, after delayed arrivals, have refused to get off the planes in protest.

Source

See also: Checking travellers at airports: security or humiliation?

And this: WTF!Bush flies into Heathrow, pisses off 40,000 passengers!!!

Crazy dare-devils do crazy bike stunts!

Ce n'est pas le Tour de France mais des cyclists vraiment fous!!!

Barack Obama has a brother in China...

BARACK Obama’s half-brother has been helping to promote cheap Chinese exports in a low-profile business career while the Democratic senator has been winning worldwide fame in his race for the White House. 

He has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid public attention and his family links remain unknown to most of his acquaintances in Shenzhen, a border boomtown in southern China where he has lived since 2002. 

Mark Ndesandjo is the son of Barack Obama’s late father and his third wife, an American woman named Ruth Nidesand who runs the up-market Maduri kindergarten in Nairobi. 

Obama, however, refers to him simply as “my brother” and says he was the only uncontested heir after their father, a Kenyan, died in a car crash in 1982. More...

See also: He ventured forth to bring light to the world!!!

And this: Obama City's Obama dancing girls!!!


Who is Haruki Murakami?


Haruki Murakami is quite possibly the most successful and influential cult author in the world today. The 59-year-old sells millions of books in Japan. His fifth novel, Norwegian Wood, sold more than 3.5m copies in its first year and his work has been translated into 40 languages, in which he sells almost as well. Last year’s novella, After Dark, shifted more than 100,000 copies in English in its first three months. His books are like Japanese food — a mix of the delicate, the deliberately bland and the curiously exotic. Dreams, memory and reality swap places, all leavened with dry humour. His translator, Professor Jay Rubin, says reading Murakami changes your brain. His world-view has inspired Sofia Coppola, the author David Mitchell and American bands such as the Flaming Lips. He is a recipient of the Franz Kafka prize, has honorary degrees from Princeton and Liège, and is tipped for the Nobel prize for literature. More...

See also:  Salman Rushdie wins Best of Booker prize...

And this:  Book burning? In the 21st. century?

Monday, July 28, 2008

Inde: Chhotu le chien devant le tribunal ... de nouveau!!!


Un chien a été traduit en justice dans l'État indien de Bihar. Nommé Chhotu, l'animal est accusé d'avoir troublé la paix en mordant plusieurs personnes.

Les policiers ont demandé qu'une action sévère soit prise contre lui. Ses propriétaires affirment pour leur part qu'il n'a attaqué que des cambrioleurs.

Ce n'est pas la première fois que Chhotu a des ennuis avec la justice. En 2003, un juge l'a condamné à mort pour les mêmes raisons. Des militants pour les droits des animaux ont cependant fait renverser la décision.

Chhotu sera de retour devant le tribunal le 5 août prochain.

Source

Voir aussi: Pit-bull mord garçon; garçon mord pit-bull!!!

Et ceci: Le chien le plus heureux au monde!!!

Et ceci: Heart-Kun, le chien qui a du coeur!!!

India:Chhotu the dog appears in court ... again!!!


A dog has appeared in court in the eastern Indian state of Bihar accused of breaching the peace. 

Police demanded severe action against the dog for biting people. Its owner says it has only attacked burglars. 

The dog, named Chhotu, has been in trouble with the law before. In 2003, a magistrate sentenced Chhotu to death. 

Neighbours complained he had gone mad and bitten several people. But animal rights activists managed to get the decision reversed.

Chhotu made his latest appearance in a crowded court on Thursday in the town of Purnea. 

"The court was compelled to issue a summons to the dog since the police found that it was a threat to peace and feared that it might create a law and order problem," district official Rajiv Ranjan said. 

In court Chhotu appeared to have been on best behaviour. More...

See also: Some jerk put a dog into a washing machine ... and turned it on...

And this: How to make a sculptured dog cake! Boy oh boy!!

And this: Heart-Kun - the Dog With a Heart-Shaped Mark

Otis Redding is sittin' on the dock of the bay...

St Tropez residents declare war on jet-set helicopters...

Jean-Claude Molho and his wife, Martine, have no need for an alarm clock. Their wake-up call comes almost every day at about 7.30am, when, out of the hills of Font Mourier, a helicopter thunders over their whitewashed villa and makes sleep an impossibility.

It is not the peace and quiet they expected from their retirement, and they are not happy. Along with thousands of other locals, they have begun to mobilise against the celebrities, businessmen and formula one racing drivers who treat private helicopters as a taxi service and have turned the airspace above St Tropez into one of the busiest in Europe. 

"It's hellish. They come over every five minutes," Molho said, his lavish grey eyebrows arching as rotor blades droned into earshot over his patio. "It starts in April and goes on until the end of August. At night you have to close all the windows and shutters because it starts when you're still in bed."

Things have got so bad that Molho, president of the pressure group Halte Hélico, handed in a petition this month to local authorities complaining that not enough was being done to protect long-term residents from the summertime pollution of a noisy minority. More than 4,000 people signed it, warning that if no action were taken by August 1, they would block the nearest official landing site, at Grimaud, and stop its well-heeled clientele from boarding their flights. More...

See also: Egyptian ferry verdict: the rich and the powerful need not fear the law...

And this: Welcome to the Poverty Tour...


England's pride of white lion cubs!! Pretty cute...


Fluffy, mewing and the purest of pale, these white lion cubs have become an instant hit.

The adorable infants – born to two different mothers – help form the world’s largest pride of this striking species in captivity.

The cubs, who made their public debut today, take the number of white lions at West Midland Safari Park in Worcestershire to 19.

Two male cubs, named Star and Haze, were born on April 6 to lioness Natasha, before another four cubs were born on May 2 to their mother Maryn.

The latest cubs - three male and one female - have been named Neptune, Ariel, Oberon and Ophelia.

Wendy Jackson, the park’s spokeswoman, said the first outing of the ‘very playful’ cubs from the lion house led to queues of people eager to see them.

She said: ‘They went out today for the first time and they are just like large kittens, padding about and getting braver and braver by the second.

‘They walk in a row and follow each other, which is really comical.’

Meanwhile, she said, the cubs’ mothers, who are rearing their young away from the rest of the pride, watch their every step.

The park’s white lion collection has grown from four animals who were introduced in 2004.

The lions are not albino but are a rare mutation of lion found in a 200-square-mile area called Timbavati, in South Africa’s bush country.

According to African folklore, once every hundred years, magical white lions will be born bringing joy to those who witness them.

Source

See also: Kevin Richardson, the lion whisperer of South Africa...

And this: The lion would not remember, they said...

And this: The lion sleeps tonight. Beautiful!

Are children being harmed by wireless internet?

Children's health is being put at risk by the rush to introduce wireless networks in schools, a teachers' leader warned today.

Trade union Voice, previously the Professional Association of Teachers, called for a moratorium on new classrooms being fitted with wi-fi. 

But architects suggested wireless networks were likely to become increasingly important for schools.

Voice general secretary Philip Parkin said: 'I don't know whether wi-fi is safe but there is an accumulation of evidence that suggests it can have a significant impact on growing children, in particular the development of the nervous system.'

He said research was under way, adding: 'Our view would be that nobody should move in any significant way until the results of that review are known.'

Teachers working in wireless zones have reported nausea, headaches and memory loss. More...

See also: Downloading information directly into your brain?

Des anciens de Google créent Cuil...


Des anciens cadres du géant internet Google ont lancé un nouveau moteur de recherche, baptisé Cuil - du mot gaélique signifiant connaissance - qui se veut concurrent du leader mondial de l'internet.

Ce moteur affirme indexer 120 milliards de pages, ce qui serait, selon les promoteurs du site, davantage que Google (qui depuis longtemps n'indique plus le nombre de pages qu'il indexe). 

Sa technique d'analyse du contenu des pages donnerait --affirme la société-- des résultats plus pertinents. Les résultats sont présentés sous forme de résumé et non sous forme de liste. 

Autre avantage, selon ses créateurs, il est plus respectueux de la vie privé que Google car il ne conserve pas l'historique de recherche des internautes avec leur adresse IP. 

Les fondateurs de Cuil, Anna Patterson, Russell Power et Louis Monier sont d'anciens cadres de Google et des spécialistes de la recherche sur internet. Le quatrième, Tom Costello, PDG de Cuil, vient d'IBM. 

Cependant, testé sur quelques mots-clé en français et en anglais, Cuil apparaît donner bien moins de résultats que Google. 

Plusieurs autres moteurs de recherche ont tenté en vain ces dernières années de rivaliser avec Google: le géant Microsoft avec son Live Search, mais aussi des jeunes sociétés comme Teoma, Vivisimo, Snap, Mahalo et Powerset. Ce qui n'a pas empêché Google de gagner chaque année des parts de marché, et de centraliser actuellement plus de 62% des recherches sur internet dans le monde selon Comscore (et 91% en France, selon XitiMonitor), loin devant son premier concurrent, Yahoo!, qui a environ 14%, et Live Search de Microsoft qui n'a qu'environ 3% du marché.

Source

Voir aussi: Google lance son Street View pour la France...

Et ceci: Vinton Cerf: Après la Terre, Internet va conquérir l'espace...

Is it a search engine war? Ex-Google staff launch Cuil...


Anna Patterson's last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc. bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable — only this time it's not for sale.

Patterson instead intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

The end result is Cuil, pronounced "cool." Backed by $33 million in venture capital, the search engine plans to begin processing requests for the first time Monday.

Cuil had kept a low profile while Patterson, her husband, Tom Costello, and two other former Google engineers — Russell Power and Louis Monier — searched for better ways to search.

Now, it's boasting time.

For starters, Cuil's search index spans 120 billion Web pages. More...

See also: Wow! I would love to do a Google search on her saree!!!

And this: Google launches Knol as rival to Wikipedia...

Torture widespread in Palestinian prisons...

One detainee told of being beaten with pipes and having a screwdriver rammed into his back. Another said interrogators tied his hands behind his back then lifted him into the air by his bound wrists. 

Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread torture of political opponents by bitter Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah, and Associated Press interviews with three victims and a doctor backed the reports of abuse. 

The findings emerged as the two sides carried out fresh arrest sweeps in the West Bank and Gaza—highlighting deep tensions in the Palestinian territories after a flare-up in violence over the weekend. 

In the West Bank on Monday, the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rounded up more than 50 suspected Hamas supporters, including mosque preachers and intellectuals, in retaliation for a similar sweep of Fatah loyalists in Gaza, set off by a bombing that killed five Hamas members Friday. 

Hamas violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, leaving the Islamic militant group in charge of the coastal territory and Abbas' forces controlling the West Bank. 

The Palestinian human rights group Al Haq said Monday that arbitrary arrests of political opponents have been common since Hamas' takeover of Gaza, with each side trying to defend its turf. 

"Arrests for political reasons haven't stopped for a second," Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin told reporters. He estimated that before the latest sweeps, more than 1,000 people had been seized by each side. 

An estimated 20 to 30 percent of the detainees suffered torture, including severe beatings and being tied up in painful positions, said Jabarin, citing sworn statements from 150 detainees.

More...

See also: Are children being kept prisoners in Guantanamo Bay?

And this: Malaysian taxi driver gets 8 years in prison plus 10 strokes of the rotan for cannabis possession...

The Story of a Sign...

Japan: It's a hot summer! Would you like an ... eel drink???

It's the hottest season of the year in Japan, and that means it's eel season. So, bottom's up!

A canned drink called "Unagi Nobori," or "Surging Eel," made by Japan Tobacco Inc., hit the nation's stores this month just ahead of Japan's annual eel-eating season, company spokesman Kazunori Hayashi said Monday.

"It's mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer's heat," Hayashi said of the beverage, believed to be the first mass-produced eel drink in Japan.

Many Japanese believe eating eel boosts stamina in hot weather.

The fizzy, yellow-colored drink contains extracts from the head and bones of eel and five vitamins _ A, B1, B2, D and E _ contained in the fish.

The Japanese particularly like to eat eel on traditional eel days, which fall on July 24 and Aug. 5 this year.

Demand for eel is so high that Japan has been hit by scores of eel fraud cases, including a recent high-profile incident in which a government ministry publicly scolded two companies for mislabeling eel imported from China as being domestically grown.

The eel involved in recent scandals was prepared in a popular "kaba-yaki" style, in which it is broiled and covered with a sweet sauce. The $1.30 drink costs about one-tenth as much as broiled eel, but has a similar flavor.

Eel extract is also used in cookies and pies made in Japan's biggest eel producing town, Hamamatsu.

Source

See also: China's penis restaurant!!

And this: Squirrels are green and environmentally friendly, so let's eat them!!!

And this: If you liked Blumenthal's egg and bacon ice-cream, then you'll certainly love his chocolate wine...

22,000 calls at suicide hot line for war veterans...


More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.

According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.

This month, a former Army medic, Joseph Dwyer, who was shown in a Military Times photograph running through a battle zone carrying an Iraqi boy, died of an accidental overdose after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for almost five years. More...

See also: The war in Afghanistan is just as bad as Iraq...

And this: Iraq: the dirty war that is made to look clean...

And this: War is hell; say "NO" to war...

The war in Afghanistan is just as bad as Iraq...

Guatemala: tragedy of a trash avalanche...

At least three people have died and at least 10 others are missing after a mountain of rubbish near the Guatemalan capital collapsed on them, emergency workers have said.

The rubbish pile, which contained broken glass, tyres and human remains, disintegrated on Friday while people were foraging at the dump, the emergency services said.

Hundreds of police and bystanders are searching for those missing after the incident near Guatemala City, Jose Victor Chavez, one of the rescue workers, said.

Dozens of people search the rubbish tip every day to take jewellery from bodies dumped there when their relatives cannot afford to pay for the upkeep of their graves, Chavez said.

At least six children searching for valuables in the dump are among the missing, he said.

A police spokesman put the death toll at four and said 14 people had disappeared.

Scores of poor people forage for scrap metal and other recyclables despite dangers of landslides during seasonal rainfall.

"Yesterday it rained all afternoon and into the night, saturating the land and causing the landslide," Gerson Contreras, a police spokesman, said.

"Because of the rains and what happened before, the authorities have been trying to stop people from going there, but their need is so great they just kept coming," Contreras said.

Last month, eight people were killed in a similar collapse at Guatemala City's main rubbish dump, located to the south of the capital.

Source

See also: Naples: Why the Mafia loves garbage...

And this: When the State starts to snoop into your rubbish...

L'industrie du sexe en panne!!!

Déjà confrontée à l'explosion du nombre de vidéos gratuites sur Internet, l'industrie X doit désormais penser à réduire ses coûts pour survivre. «Aussi loin que je me souvienne c'est la première fois que nous sommes touchés par la situation économique», déclare Steve Orenstein, président de Wicked Pictures, qui travaille depuis vingt-neuf ans dans le «divertissement pour adultes».

«On a toujours dit que ce business était insensible à la récession, a-t-il expliqué au magazine «Wired». Mais là il va falloir réduire les dépenses sur le transport et la fabrication des DVD si on veut pouvoir continuer à produire autant de films.» «Les locations ont baissé de 10 à 15% dans tous les magasins», assure Paul Fischbein, fondateur de Adult Video News. Ce que confirme Gerry Kaufhold, analyste pour InStat: «Non seulement le prix de l'essence augmente le coût de fabrication des DVD mais en plus le consommateur hésite désormais à prendre deux fois sa voiture pour louer et rapporter un film.»

Source

Voir aussi: Menaces terroristes contre le porno de Canal Plus ...

Et ceci: Porno avant le journal!!! Mama mia! 

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Whitman: To Him that was Crucified...

MY spirit to yours, dear brother;  
Do not mind because many, sounding your name, do not understand you;  
I do not sound your name, but I understand you, (there are others also;)  
I specify you with joy, O my comrade, to salute you, and to salute those who are with you, before and since—and those to come also,  
That we all labor together, transmitting the same charge and succession;
We few, equals, indifferent of lands, indifferent of times;  
We, enclosers of all continents, all castes—allowers of all theologies,  
Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men,  
We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but reject not the disputers, nor any thing that is asserted;  
We hear the bawling and din—we are reach’d at by divisions, jealousies, recriminations on every side,
They close peremptorily upon us, to surround us, my comrade,  
Yet we walk unheld, free, the whole earth over, journeying up and down, till we make our ineffaceable mark upon time and the diverse eras,  
Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and women of races, ages to come, may prove brethren and lovers, as we are.

See also: Whitman: I think I could turn and live with animals...

Have you ever seen a pussy riding a cock?

Egyptian ferry verdict: the rich and the powerful need not fear the law...

There have been angry scenes at a court in Egypt after a ferry-owner was cleared of all charges over a 2006 sinking in which more than 1,000 died.

Relatives of the victims scuffled with security forces while others denounced the judges and defendants.

The ferry's owner, a rich businessman close to Egypt's political elite, and four others were acquitted.

A captain of another ship was found guilty of failing to help the stricken ferry and was jailed for six months.

"We are stunned. There can't be a ruling like this," said Asaad Heikal, a lawyer for several victims' families.

"We will not give up and will appeal the ruling," he told reporters outside the Cairo courthouse on Sunday. More...

See also: Riots in Egypt... Western media silent.

And this: Egyptians in a sour mood...

And this: Egypt:bread shortage kills ten people...

Astaire and Rogers: Let's face the music and dance...

Carlos Sastre gagne le Tour de France 08...

Le Belge Gertd Steegmans (Quick Step) a remporté au sprint sur les Champs-Elysées à Paris, la 21e et dernière étape du Tour de France cycliste, dont le classement final est revenu à l'Espagnol Carlos Sastre.

L'absence du Britannique Mark Cavendish (vainqueur de quatre étapes) dans la dernière étape, longue de 143 kilomètres entre Etampes et les Champs-Elysées, a laissé la voie libre aux autres sprinteurs.

Au sprint, Steegmans a devancé nettement l'Allemand Gerald Ciolek et l'Espagnol Oscar Freire qui a gardé le maillot vert du classement par points.

Agé de 27 ans, Steegmans a enlevé son deuxième succès dans le Tour après l'étape de Gand (Belgique) l'année passée. 


Vainqueur pour la première fois du Tour de France à l'âge de 33 ans, Carlos Sastre (CSC) a continué la série de succès espagnols, dimanche, sur les Champs-Elysées à Paris, où le Belge Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) a enlevé au sprint la 21e et dernière étape. 

Au terme des 3560 kilomètres, Sastre a battu au classement final l'Australien Cadel Evans (31 ans), déjà deuxième l'année passée derrière un autre coureur espagnol, Alberto Contador. 

Le grimpeur autrichien Bernhard Kohl, 26 ans, a complété le podium et a assorti sa troisième place du maillot à pois de meilleur grimpeur, qui est revenu pour la première fois à un coureur de son pays. 


Sastre a pris le maillot jaune au soir de sa victoire dans la 17e étape à l'Alpe-d'Huez, la seule qu'il ait enlevée dans cette 95e édition. 

Sept leaders (Valverde, Feillu, Schumacher, Kirchen, Evans, F. Schleck, Sastre) se sont succédé en tête du classement général dans une course organisée en dehors de l'Union cycliste internationale (UCI) et marquée par des contrôles antidopage ciblés, orchestrés par l'Agence française (AFLD). 

Ces opérations, doublées d'une surveillance serrée par les autorités publiques, ont abouti à trois cas positifs dans la première moitié de course. 

L'équipe CSC, en butte à de très nombreux contrôles, même hors course (fouille de la voiture du père des frères Schleck), est passée au travers. Elle est dirigée par le Danois Bjarne Riis, qui avait reconnu l'an passé s'être dopé à l'EPO pour gagner le Tour 1996. 

Sa formation, la plus en vue dans les temps forts de la course, a enlevé le classement par équipes et placé trois coureurs dans les douze premiers (Sastre, les frères Schleck). 

Son grand espoir, Andy Schleck (12e), a ramené aussi le maillot blanc du classement par points malgré ses limites dans les contre-la-montre, exercice qu'a dominé dans ce Tour l'Allemand Stefan Schumacher, inattendu à ce niveau.

Source

Voir aussi: Tour de France: Ricardo Ricco positif à l'EPO...

Et ceci: Jan Ullrich règle ses comptes avec le Tour de France…

Drinking too much water can be dangerous for your health...

A mother of two has won more than £800,000 at the High Court after she claimed that a radical detox diet left her brain-damaged and epileptic. 

Dawn Page, 52, said that she was told to drink four extra pints of water a day and reduce her salt intake to prevent fluid retention and reduce weight. 

Within days of going on “The Amazing Hydration Diet” she began vomiting and, less than a week after starting the diet, suffered a massive epileptic fit. She was taken to intensive care but doctors were unable to prevent permanent brain injury. 

Mrs Page now suffers from epilepsy and a “cognitive deficit” that affects her memory, concentration and her ability to speak normally. She was forced to quit her job as a conference organiser, suffers from frequent mood swings and relies on her husband, Geoff, for help around the house. More...

See also: Just drink when you are thirsty...

And this: 8 glasses of water a day is good for you? Really?

He ventured forth to bring light to the world!!!

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness. 

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow. 

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?” 

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites. More...

See also: Indian monkey god, Hanuman, sent to Obama...

And this: Obama the Messiah! Scary...


Lloyd Pye: Humans did not evolve on earth, but came from elsewhere...

Suisse: les petites banques se frottent les mains...

«Nous voudrions vous remercier de votre fidélité en ces temps difficiles.» Le ton de la lettre envoyée début mai par UBS à 2,5 millions de clients privés n'a manifestement pas fait mouche. Au contraire, peut-être cela a-t-il constitué la goutte de trop qui a poussé certains clients à sauter le pas. En direction d'autres banques, un peu moins grandes sans doute, moins internationales surtout, et dont la politique d'investissements s'avère moins hasardeuse.

Au premier trimestre 2008, UBS admettait une perte de 1,9 milliard de francs retirés par des petits clients et des PME. Et rien ne permet d'affirmer que la tendance s'est inversée au premier semestre, dont la banque communiquera le bilan le 12 août prochain.

Car, entre-temps, la mise en cause d'UBS aux Etats-Unis (avec la banque LGT) dans une affaire de fraude fiscale portant sur 100 milliards de dollars ainsi que les 25 milliards de dollars réclamés jeudi par le ministre de la Justice de l'Etat de New York pour avoir trompé des milliers d'investisseurs américains ont accru sa fragilité (lire encadré page 21).

Les «petites» banques helvétiques, elles, se frottent les mains. A l'image de Raiffeisen, qui a doublé le nombre de nouveaux clients par rapport à 2007, du jamais-vu selon son directeur, Pierin Vincenz (lire interview p. 21). Ou de PostFinance, qui a ouvert 125 000 nouveaux comptes de janvier à juin, soit 49% de plus qu'au premier semestre 2007... Et 39 000 nouveaux clients ont rejoint le prestataire de services financiers de La Poste, soit 8000 de plus que l'an passé. «C'est vrai que la crise est bonne pour ces afflux de clients, se félicite son porte-parole, Marc Andrey. On le constate nettement depuis l'automne 2007, lors de l'éclatement de la crise des subprime.»
 Suite...


Voir aussi: L'économie américaine est au bord du krach?

Et ceci: Raiffeisen: le malheur des grandes banques fait le bonheur...

Et ceci: UBS: les clients se vengent...

Nigerians look to England for their soccer thrills...

This weekend Nigerian football fans are in for a treat as Manchester United and Portsmouth play a one-off friendly in the capital Abuja.

But while the popularity of the Premiership grows, it seems to be at the expense of the Nigerian domestic league. 

Observers say the future is bleak for Nigerian football, with all its brightest stars being drawn to Europe, while its own clubs wither and die, watched by fewer and fewer people. 

The coach of FC Abuja says the league officials need to change the time of their matches to avoid Premiership fixtures. 

"Whenever we play at the same time as an Arsenal game, nobody shows up," says Abdu Maikaba. More...

See also: Manchester United to woo fans in India...

And this: Calling all men who don't like soccer: you will ... after watching this!!!

Singapore's Wicked Chocs proposes Kama Sutra chocolate! Wow!


Satin smooth, deliciously creamy, sweet and sensuous – Wicked Chocs epitomizes the way good chocolate should be. Completely confectioned in Singapore, each little piece of heaven not only looks amazing, but tastes spectacular, with a fruity aroma and subtle hint of woodiness. What makes Wicked Chocs stand out from the competition is the variety of unique and somewhat eccentric flavours the pralines come in. Wasabi, sesame, green tea, kaya – all these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Started at the end of 2005, Wicked Chocs aims to produce 100% made in Singapore chocolates using state of the art tempering equipment and ingredients from all over the world. The designs come from Italy and France, the fillings from Belgium, Mexico and Japan, and the nuts from Australia and USA. It is clear a lot of effort goes into the manufacture of these sweet treats. More...

See also: Kama Sutra for lesbians!! Oh boy! Oh boy!

And this: L’apprenti et le Kâma-Sûtra


Saturday, July 26, 2008

Pit-bull mord garçon; garçon mord pit-bull!!!


Un petit Brésilien âgé de 11 ans a mordu un pit-bull qui l'attaquait, ce qui a fait fuir le chien. 

Le petit Gabriel da Silva jouait dans le jardin quand le pit-bull de la famille l'a attaqué. Pour se défendre, il a mordu le chien dans le cou et celui-ci s'est enfui. Le garçon a une dent cassée et quelques blessures à un bras. Le chien a été capturé par les pompiers et restera en captivité pendant dix jours. La famille, originaire de Belo Horizonte, dans l'Etat de Minais Gerais, aura alors le choix de récupérer le chien ou de le faire euthanasier, ce qui devrait être le cas. Selon la grand-mère du petit Gabriel, le chien était dans la famille depuis son plus jeune âge et n'avait jamais attaqué personne.

Source

Voir aussi: Voici Singing Lou, le chien qui chante!!!

Et ceci: Faith, le chien qui marche debout. Wow!

Frenchman to wed dead sweetheart...

I want to be able to tell the world that she is my wife and no one else, says Jean-Louis Ronzier. The 68-year-old sculptor will be saying “yes” to the woman he has loved for more than 20 years, Martine Cazenave, a dancer who called herself Alma Navailles. She died four years ago.

She was 52 when she died, in September 2004, just two months before the date fixed for the wedding. It’s thus a posthumous marriage that will take place at Lamontélarié in the small commune of Tarn, in France.

In order to keep his death-bed promise to his lover, Ronzier had to fight for three years with local officials in order to get his marriage recognized as legal. But even if I had to wait for ten years, I would have done it, he says. In my place, she would have done the same thing. I think she would be proud of me, he says. I love her still and other women don’t interest me.

A cocktail will be served after the ceremony.

Source (in french)

See also: Man spends 15 years putting together love letters his wife tore up...

And this: Dear Prudence, am I in love? Sweet stuff...

And this: A Love Story...

The Kinks lazing on a Sunny Afternoon...

Ladies, don't damage your breasts; get the right bra...

Millions of women are damaging their breasts by wearing ill-fitting bras, according to a new study.

Scientists say most bras do not give enough support to prevent irreparable and painful stretching of ligaments during exercise.

Up to 95 per cent of women are thought to be at risk - mostly because they are ignorant or embarrassed about their true bra size, researchers say.

The findings come from treadmill tests carried out on 100 women by Portsmouth University sports scientist Dr Joanna Scurr.

She found that breasts typically move up to 21 cm - or eight inches - and jiggle around in every direction while a women is running. However, most bras are designed to limit just vertical movement. 

Dr Scurr - who has tested 50 bra designs on hundreds of women over the last three years - believes the speed at which breasts move could be the key to preventing breast pain and damage to fragile ligaments.  More...

See also: Angry mums stage breast-feeding sit-in at McDonald's!!! 

And this: A bat finds refuge ... in a teenager's bra!!!

And this: Maxi Mounds: world's largest fake breasts!!! Oh boy!

And this: Sophie Marceau and ... oops!!!

WTF! They throw babies from roofs in India!!

Some jerk put a dog into a washing machine ... and turned it on...

A Yorkshire terrier was found dead in a washing machine Wednesday, the day after one of its owners hosted a party at a Nantucket home, police said.

Police believe the 8-year-old dog, estimated to weigh about 15 pounds, died when it was placed in a front-end washing machine and the machine was turned on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, said Detective Lieutenant Jerry Adams of Nantucket police.

He said a daughter of the family that owns the house on Cliff Road, where the party took place, called police at 2:50 p.m. Wednesday and said she found the dog in the machine.

Adams said police have no suspects and have not determined a motive.

The dog died "as a result of being placed in the washing machine," Adams said. More...

See also: Whitman: I think I could turn and live with animals...

And this: Beijing Olympics: live goldfish in key rings!!

And this: The fate of Australien sheep that end up in Oman...

Philippe Petit, the Man on Wire, who danced between the Twin Towers...


On the morning of Aug. 7, 1974, after months of preparation and years of dreaming, a French daredevil named Philippe Petit stepped into the sky above Lower Manhattan. For almost 45 minutes he ambled back and forth on a metal cable strung between the towers of the World Trade Center, a feat of tightrope walking that, according to a New York Police Department sergeant who recounted Petit's act of physical poetry in dry press conference prose, would more aptly be described as dancing.

For many years after, Petit's stunt was a cherished footnote in the annals of New York history. The destruction of the twin towers in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, revived the memory of that earlier, aesthetic assault on the buildings, which is now the subject of "Man on Wire," James Marsh's thorough, understated and altogether enthralling documentary. The film is being released this summer in Britain and the United States and in the Netherlands in February. Wisely, Marsh, who based his film on a book Petit published in 2002, never alludes to Sept. 11. That would have been both distracting and redundant, since it's impossible, while watching a movie so intimate in its attention to the towers, not to be haunted by thoughts of their fate.

But it is also worth recalling that the Trade Center inspired more love posthumously than while it stood. Petit was an exception. A zealous, daring wire walker - the French word "funambule" is more lyrical - he conceived a passion for the structures even before they were built. More...

See also: The Monkey and the Goat...

The Tamil Hindu community's Thaipusam festival...


Thaipusam (Tamil: தைப்பூசம்) (or Thai Poosam Kavady) is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). Pusam refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates both the birthday of Lord Murugan (also Subramaniam), the youngest son of Shiva and Parvati, and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (lance) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

Devotees prepare for the celebration by cleansing themselves through prayer and fasting. Kavadi-bearers have to perform elaborate ceremonies at the time of assuming the kavadi and at the time of offering it to Lord Murugan. The kavadi-bearer observes celibacy and take only pure, Satvik food, once a day, while continuously thinking of God.

On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.

The simplest kavadi is a semi circular decorated canopy supported by a wooden rod that is carried on the shoulders, to the temple. In addition, some have a little spear through their tongue, or a spear through the cheeks. The spear pierced through his tongue or cheeks reminds him constantly of Lord Murugan. It also prevents him from speaking and gives great power of endurance. Other types of kavadi involve hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or more recently a tractor, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit.

The most spectacular practice is the vel kavadi, essentially a portable altar up to two meters tall, decorated with peacock feathers and attached to the devotee through 108 vels pierced into the skin on the chest and back. Fire walking and flagellation may also be practiced. It is claimed that devotees are able to enter a trance, feel no pain, do not bleed from their wounds and have no scars left behind. However, some of the more extreme masochistic practices have been criticized as dangerous and contrary to the spirit and intention of Hinduism. Wikipedia

See also: Superb photos on this site...

And this: The Chinese Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand...



Who's blowing up India?

At least 15 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after a series of explosions struck the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, officials have said. 

More than a dozen blasts are reported to have hit residential areas, crowded markets, a train station and a bus in Gujarat state's commercial capital. 

It is thought the explosions were caused by crudely-made devices hidden in boxes and on bicycles. 

On Friday a series of similar blasts hit the southern city of Bangalore. More...

See also: India:80 killed, 150 wounded in Jaipur blasts

And this: Jaipur's "bicycle terrorists" send an e-mail...

Iraq: the dirty war that is made to look clean...

The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the Internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war.

Zoriah Miller, the photographer who took images of marines killed in a June 26 suicide attack and posted them on his Web site, was subsequently forbidden to work in Marine Corps-controlled areas of the country. Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the Marine commander in Iraq, is now seeking to have Mr. Miller barred from all United States military facilities throughout the world. Mr. Miller has since left Iraq.

If the conflict in Vietnam was notable for open access given to journalists — too much, many critics said, as the war played out nightly in bloody newscasts — the Iraq war may mark an opposite extreme: after five years and more than 4,000 American combat deaths, searches and interviews turned up fewer than a half-dozen graphic photographs of dead American soldiers. More...

See also: When American bombs drop on wedding parties...

And this: The cost of the war in Iraq...

And this: When dead American soldiers are treated no better than dogs...

Italy has started fingerprinting the Roma gypsies: what's coming next?

It was the week's most shocking picture: gipsy girls dead on a beach ignored by sunbathers... Now there is more chilling evidence of how Italy's brutal crackdown on the Roma has sick echoes of the country's fascist past.

She looks like any teenager the world over. Wearing a denim skirt, pink designer T-shirt, and with long hair tied back from her face, Samantha is a child who would make any parent proud.

Yet just a few days ago, this bubbly 14-year-old found herself taking part in an excercise that would seem unthinkable in a modern, civilised European country.

She was ordered to line up at the local community hall near her home in Naples, Italy, and dab her right forefinger in black ink before placing it on a government census form. More...

See also: Italy: first they came for the gypsies, now they are coming for everyone else...

And this: Italy: heading towards a new kind of fascism?

Mick Jagger is 65! Here's Honky Tonk Women...


The Swiss/Libyan crisis, and a look at the Gaddafi brothers...

Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Libya were in crisis yesterday after Libya vowed "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" in retaliation for the Swiss authorities putting Hannibal, the youngest son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in jail for two days. 

Libya announced it would halt fuel supplies to Switzerland and bar the country's ships from its ports in protest at what it called the "fabricated" and "illegitimate" charges against one of Col Gaddafi's seven sons. 

Hannibal Gaddafi, 30, who has a record of run-ins with police across Europe, was arrested and jailed on 15 July after staff at the luxury Geneva hotel where he was staying alerted police to violent rows in his suite. Mr Gaddafi and his wife, Aline, who is nine months' pregnant, were arrested and charged with maltreating their domestic staff. He was held in custody and later released on bail; she was taken to hospital when she complained of feeling unwell. More...

See also: The crisis between Libya and Switzerland worsens....

And this: Hannibal Gaddafi: Libya imposes oil embargo on Switzerland...


Jean-Louis va dire oui à Alma… décédée il y a quatre ans...

«JE VEUX pouvoir dire aux yeux du monde : c’est elle ma femme et personne d’autre ! » répète le futur marié, la voix brisée par l’émotion. Aujourd’hui à 14 h 30, Jean-Louis Ronzier, dit Servin, un peintre-sculpteur de 68 ans, dira oui à la femme qu’il aime depuis plus de vingt ans. Martine Cazenave était danseuse et se faisait appeler Alma Navailles.

Elle est morte à l’âge de 52 ans en septembre 2004, deux mois avant la date fixée pour la noce. C’est donc un mariage posthume qui sera célébré dans la mairie de Lamontélarié, petite commune du Tarn.

Pour parvenir à tenir la promesse de l’épouser qu’il lui avait faite sur son lit de mort , Jean-Louis Ronzier a dû batailler pendant plus de trois ans. « Des années de calvaire administratif, résume-t-il. Mais si cela avait dû durer dix ans, j’aurais tenu. » Pour couper court à ceux qui verraient dans cette union autre chose qu’un « mariage d’amour », Jean-Louis Ronzier précise que ce mariage à titre posthume n’aura aucune conséquence financière, la succession de sa compagne ayant déjà été réglée. Suite...

Voir aussi: Mariage annulé faute de virginité!!

Et ceci: La Suisse et le mariage forcé... 

Danone va lancer un yaourt "budget!"


Un «éco-pack» de six yaourts aromatisés au prix de 1 euro environ… ce sera la nouveauté Danone de la rentrée. Ce produit économique, aux antipodes des Activia et autres Danacol qui sont au cœur de la stratégie du groupe, vient répondre aux enjeux d'une conjoncture dégradée et d'une consommation de plus en plus attentive aux prix. Danone doit «couvrir le spectre entier du pouvoir d'achat», déclare Franck Riboud au Figaro. Avec son nouveau yaourt, il compte manifestement se positionner face aux marques distributeurs qui gagnent des points dans les linéaires ces derniers mois.  Suite...

Voir aussi: Coop et Migros augmentent les prix de certains produits laitiers...

Et ceci:  Le véritable prix du lait est un secret bien gardé...

Friday, July 25, 2008

Baby bikinis create uproar in Sweden...


When is it too early for girls to try on their bikini? Not soon enough thought Swedish clothing firm Ellos. Massive protests have forced the firm to think again.

Massive protests against clothing firm Ellos and its two-piece bikini for girls as young as two months old, resulted in the firm withdrawing the items and apologizing for its error.

"Ellos is a family company. We do not want anyone taking offence from our assortment," said Per-Olf Gustafsson of Ellos to Aftonbladet.

"We have erred in this case and we will do our best to ensure that there is no repeat." 

Many of the outraged critics of Ellos' bikini were concerned that the item contributes to the sexualisation of small children's bodies and that the company has a responsibility for the gender roles that children grow up with. 

The Local spoke to Karin Hansson of the Forum for feminist parents (Foff) and asked if this isn't all a bit of a storm in a tea cup.

"Previously I would have thought that this was outrageous, but now I don't really know how I feel. The children are part of the adult world and the adult world is sexualized. They have to learn to deal with this too."

The Local: Do companies have a special responsibility for the gender education of children?

"Companies are also citizens. The responsibility is a democratic one and we all share it. The whole society."

The Local: So how can that democratic responsibility be taken?

"I wish everyone would stop buying these clothes. But it is not easy finding anything else. You could go to some alternative store in Stockholm maybe but which parents have the time and can afford that?"

The offending item was a two-piece pink bikini in a 1950s pin-up style designed to enhance the bust. 

Per-Olof Gustavsson declined to comment on just when he considers the suitable age to start with bikini tops for girls.

Source

See also: Angry mums stage breast-feeding sit-in at McDonald's!!!

And this: Castrillo de Murcia, Corpus Christi and jumping over babies...

And this: WTF! Infants thrown off roofs to thank God!!! WTF!!

Pitbull bites boy; boy bites back pitbull!!!


An 11-year old boy is in Brazil's media spotlight after sinking his teeth into the neck of a dog that attacked him. Local newspapers reported on Thursday that Gabriel Almeida was playing in his uncle's backyard in the city of Belo Horizonte when a pit bull named Tita lunged at him and bit him in the left arm.

Almeida grabbed the dog by the neck and bit back — biting so hard that he lost a canine tooth.

Almeida tells the O Globo newspaper: "It is better to lose a tooth than one's life."

Stonemasons working nearby chased the dog away before it could attack again.

The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper said the boy received four stitches at a local hospital while the dog was taken to a pound and may be killed.

Source

See also: Singing Lou, the dog that sings!!!

And this: Dog just can't resist soldier! Hilarious!

Indian monkey god, Hanuman, sent to Obama...


A group of Indians have sent a small statue of the revered Indian monkey god to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a good luck charm ahead of the November polls.

The group decided to despatch the idol after reading reports that Obama carried a good luck "monkey king charm with him all the time in his pocket," said Brij Mohan Bhama, an Indian fan of Obama.

The two-foot, 15-kilogramme (33-pound) brass idol "has been gifted to Obama because I believe he will be good for India if he becomes the next president," Bhama told AFP Friday.

The monkey god, Hanuman, is revered by Hindus who also regard monkeys as descendants of the deity.

Source

See also: Some say that Obama is a Muslim, but others claim that he's a devotee of Hanuman, the monkey-god!!!

And this: Monkey god Hanuman now chairman of a business school!!!

Amstetten: Elisabeth Fritzl tells her mother to get out...

Incest cellar victim Elisabeth Fritzl has ordered her mother Rosemarie out of the villa they have been sharing at a psychiatric clinic.

Elisabeth, 42, is furious that three of the children born to her during her captivity in the cellar keep referring to Rosemarie, 69, as 'mother', Austrian media report.

The three were taken away from Elisabeth by her father Josef - her depraved captor - and brought up above ground by him and Rosemarie.

Elisabeth is also dealing with the huge issue of Rosemarie's passiveness during her own childhood. She says brutal Fritzl began abusing her when she was just 11 years old.

Everything came to a head at the weekend in the 200 square metre villa that the family are now sharing - Elisabeth, Rosemarie, her three cellar offspring and the three 'upstairs' children.

She ordered her mother to leave. With no money, cut off from her family and with her 74-year-old husband in jail awaiting charges that will certainly see him imprisoned for life, Rosemarie is said to be shattered.  More...

See also: Amstetten: Elisabeth Fritzl questioned about her ordeal...

And this: Rosemarie Fritzl visits husband's dungeon in Amstetten...

Manchester United to woo fans in India...


Football has opened its eyes wide to the benefits of world travel since a member of Ron Atkinson's West Bromwich squad stood with his team-mates at the Great Wall of China in the 1970s and said dismissively: 'Once you've seen one wall, you've seen them all.'

Manchester United, however, have long since been prepared to break fresh ground and push the boundaries that bit further.

A recap of United's recent summer tour destinations reads like a travel log that Alan Whicker may have put together.

Australia, America, China, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa and, by Sunday, Nigeria will all have been ticked off the travel itinerary in the last 10 years. And United are now preparing to add one of the few untapped territories to their roster - India.

United chief executive David Gill said last night: 'India is certainly interesting.

'We've been approached to go there and we are looking at some soccer school opportunities. We would not rule out going. It's a very wealthy country and is definitely worth looking at.' More...

See also: Manchester City turn to "feng shui" to boost up their results!!!

And this: Man.Utd: Kings of England, Kings of Europe!!!

La Libye et la Suisse: la crise s'intensifie...

Tripoli poursuit sur la voie des représailles après l'arrestation d'Hannibal Kadhafi à Genève. Les deux Helvètes détenus en Libye ont été inculpés et les pétroliers libyens ont annoncé avoir arrêté de livrer à la Suisse.

Encore prudent hier, Berne parle jeudi ouvertement de «crise» pour qualifier l'état de ses relations avec Tripoli. La tension entre les deux pays est encore montée d'un cran, alors que la Libye a durci ses mesures de rétorsion.

En garde à vue depuis samedi, les deux ressortissants suisses ont ainsi été inculpés au motif d'infractions sur l'immigration et le séjour, a annoncé le Département fédéral des affaires étrangères (DFAE).

«Ils sont traités comme des immigrants illégaux» et détenus dans des conditions «très dures», a dénoncé le porte-parole du DFAE Jean-Philippe Jeannerat devant la presse à Berne. Les deux Suisses ont été transférés en prison. La durée de leur détention a été portée à 20 jours.  Suite...

Voir aussi: L’affaire Hannibal Gaddafi : La Libye cesse de livrer du pétrole à la Suisse...

Et ceci: L’affaire Hannibal Gaddafi : la Libye se fâche contre la Suisse…


The crisis between Libya and Switzerland worsens....

Switzerland's foreign ministry has voiced concern at the detainment of two Swiss nationals in "alarming conditions" in Libya.

The pair were held as Libya rolled out a retaliatory response to the arrest of Moammar Gaddafi's son Hannibal in Geneva on July 15, including the alleged suspension of oil supplies to Switzerland on Thursday.

The Swiss nationals, one of whom is an employee of Swedish-Swiss firm ABB, have been formally arrested and charged with immigration offences, ministry spokesman Jean-Philippe Jeannerat said on Thursday.

They had been held in "unacceptable and very alarming" conditions since being detained on Saturday and the Swiss government had serious doubts about the Libyan allegations against the pair, Jeannerat added. 

They are currently being kept in a small cell along with 20 other detainees.  More...

See also: Hannibal Gaddafi: Libya imposes oil embargo on Switzerland...

And this: Swiss press attack Gaddafi's "revenge" and criticize his regime...

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Is Bongo Ondimba, president of Gabon, milking his country?


A mansion worth £15m in one of Paris’s most elegant districts has become the latest of 33 luxury properties bought in France by President Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, the world’s longest-serving leader, and his family, it was alleged last week. 

According to files seen by The Sunday Times, a French judicial investigation has discovered that Bongo, 72, and his relatives also bought a fleet of limousines, including a £308,823 Maybach for his wife, Edith, 44. Payment for some of the cars was taken directly from the treasury of Gabon, a country rich in oil. 

Bongo, who started his career as a postal worker, has ruled for 40 years and has become one of wealthiest leaders in the world while 30% of his people eke out a living on less than 50p a day. More...

See also: Darfur and the Janjaweed: when will the madness end?

And this: Zimbabwe currency becoming ridiculous...

Love and sex in Beijing!! Wow!

Google launches Knol as rival to Wikipedia...

Google has launched an online encyclopaedia to take on Wikipedia. 

Knol, which stands for unit of knowledge, allows internet users to write articles on their own areas of expertise. 

The world's largest search engine is hoping that "knols" will be written on every conceivable topic ranging from gardening and pottery to Byzantine art and neo-classical literature.

The free service will inevitably draw comparisons with Wikipedia but Google says it differs from it in many ways. 

Unlike Wikipedia, which allows visitors to edit its pages, people will not be able to make changes or contribute to a person's knol without their permission. 

Knols written on the same subject will also remain separate and compete for the attention of visitors, who will be able to give online feedback. Pictures of authors will also be displayed on their knol web pages. 

Udi Manber, Google's vice president of engineering, said: "We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content. 

"Books have authors' names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors; but somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted." 

Contributors will be able to make money from the service by allowing adverts which relate to their articles to appear on their pages. 

Juergen Galler, Google's director of product management said: "The internet is huge, but still a lot of expert knowledge remains untapped." 

"Knol provides a way for people to share their expertise with others - and get credit for their contribution."

The service is part of a growing drive by Google to expand beyond simple search and into other areas such as desk top publishing and mobile phones. 

But taking on Wikipedia is no mean feat. With 116 million global users a month - a third of the internet population - it consistently ranks among the most visited websites in the world. 

Anyone wanting to write a knol should go to knol.google.com.

Source

See also: Wikipedia and the Police Chief! Hilarious!

And this: Wikipedia and the images of Mohammed...

And this: Chickipedia?

10cc and I'm not in love...


Darfur and the Janjaweed: when will the madness end?

The village seemed to be strangely quiet, almost as if it were holding its breath, awaiting something. I was discussing supplies we needed for the clinic when I heard a distant commotion. There were faint cries and the pounding of running feet. I wondered, fearfully, if it was an attack. 

Suddenly, I caught sight of a crowd of people surging out of the marketplace. Among them were figures carrying heavy burdens in their arms. As the crowd drew closer, I realised what they were carrying: it was the girls from the village school. 

I could see heads lolling and beige nyangours, long dresses that are standard girls’ school uniform, flapping in the breeze. As the crowd enveloped me, I realised that the nyangours were ripped and dirtied, and streaked with blood. 

The cries were all around me now, confusing and deafening. “Beasts . . . attacked the school . . . monsters . . . the devil himself . . . children . . . raped . . . ruined . . . The Janjaweed! The Janjaweed!”  More...

See also: A country without the State? A look at Somalia and the Xeer...

And this: WTF! Albinos are being murdered in Tanzania...

And this: What's going on in South Africa?


L’actrice Leysi Suarez et dans la sellette pour avoir utilisé le drapeau péruvien comme selle…


L’actrice péruvienne, qui est aussi chanteuse et danseuse du groupe Alma Bella, a accepté l’invitation du magazine D’Farandula. Elle s’est faite photographier dévêtue alors qu’elle montait à cheval sur le drapeau péruvien. La jeune portait un chapeau de cow-boy et de long cheveux noir qui couvraient ses seins. Leysi voulait faire honneur à sa patrie à l’occasion de l’anniversaire de l’indépendance le 28 juillet prochain. 

Mais l’initiative n’a pas tardé à susciter une vive polémique. Même le parlement s’y est mis. La députée Zenaida Uribe a fait savoir que l’actrice n’avait pas respecté l’article 344 du code pénal. «Je n’ai pas vu les photos en question a-t-elle dit, mais le seule fait de poser à cheval sur un symbole patriotique est contraire à cet article». 

Le président de la Commission Publique et Instruction du Parlement, Pedro Santos a annoncé qu’il portera plainte contre Leysi. Ce dernier a estimé que les photos étaient «de mauvais goût». 

L'actrice risque désormais d'écoper de deux mois de prison pour son idée de poser nue à cheval, assis sur le drapeau national.

Source

Voir aussi:Il faut sauver la Belgique!!! A vous de jouer, les femmes!!!

Can alcohol replace petrol as fuel? If so, why don't we know about it?

There's a secret history regarding alcohol that you won't hear on the six o'clock news:

Cars and everything else running on internal combustion engines can run on alcohol at least as well as they can run on gasoline. Indeed, engines were built back in 1870 that could run using either alcohol or gasoline.

A New York Times article from 1908 (and here) enthusiastically states:

"Autoists Discuss Alcohol As Fuel; Great Future Ahead For Use In Commercial Wagons, Says Prof. Lucke. Tests With Motor Truck E.R. Hewitt Tells Engineers Of His Results With Gasoline And Alcohol In Same Engine"

Henry Ford said that alcohol was "a cleaner, nicer, better fuel for automobiles than gasoline" (James Brough, The Ford Dynasty: An American Story, p. 118, and cited in "Ford - The Men and the Machine", p. 365). The Model T Ford had a knob right on the dashboard to adjust the fuel-air mixture for either alcohol or gas.

Alcohol does not corrode or shorten the lifespan of modern cars, and an inexpensive adjustment to regular cars will make them run smoothly and inexpensively on alcohol.

So if alcohol can provide a cheaper and better fuel than alcohol, why doesn't anyone talk about it today?  More...

See also: Hannibal Gaddafi: Libya imposes oil embargo on Switzerland...

And this: California alone uses as much gasoline as the whole of China!!!

WTF! CCTV Cameras being installed in cinemas...

The cameras, which cost £30,000 each, have been installed at several Odeon cinemas across the country, allowing the audience in each screen to be monitored by staff in the foyer. 

They have been installed at nine cinemas in major cities, including Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London, and the company plans to install them in all newly built cinemas. 

Human rights groups and cinema-goers have expressed their concerns at the introduction of cameras to yet another area of life, with some declaring them an invasion into the audience's privacy. More...

See also: 'Big Brother' government costs U.K. £20billion...

And this: Surveillance cameras a huge waste of money...

And this: Airline passengers: here comes the EMD "safety" bracelet!!!

Peruvian model Leysi Suarez in trouble for using country's flag as a saddle...



A naked model photographed using Peru's flag as a saddle while mounted on a horse will face charges that could put her in jail for up to four years for offending patriotic symbols, the country's defense minister said on Wednesday.

The suggestive shot of Leysi Suarez, whose main job is dancing for the band Alma Bella, or Beautiful Soul, was splashed on the cover of DFarandula magazine and has caused a political uproar as Peru prepares to celebrate the 187th anniversary of its independence from Spain on Monday.

"These are patriotic symbols that demand total respect, and using them improperly requires punishment," Defense Minister Antero Flores told reporters. "This is an offense."

Flores has ordered a public prosecutor to take up the case and file charges.

Suarez said it was patriotic to pose for the photo.

"I haven't committed a crime. I love Peru and show it with my body and soul," the dancer said on RPP radio.

Mario Amoretti, a well-known lawyer, said it depends in part on how Peru's red-and-white flag was used.

"It's one thing to cover your body with the flag, but quite another thing to be naked and using it as a horse's saddle," he said.

Source

See also: The man whose face is a flag!!!

And this: "Free Tibet" flags made in ... China!!!! Hilarious!

You just don't name a girl Talula does the Hula!!!

A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.

The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."

The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.

Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.

New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.

Source

See also: White Obama supporters take on "Hussein" as their own name...

And this: Russians begin to name their babies after Euro 08 Russian footballers!!

How a "robot" restaurant in China fooled its customers!! Hilarious!


The mystery of how a Chinese couple seemingly managed to run a busy restaurant 21 hours a day has been solved.

The restaurant, in Yiwu, is actually run by two couples - and both the men and the women are identical twins.

The couples also both have young sons who are also virtually identical, reports the Today Morning Post.

Locals had nicknamed the eatery the "robot couple restaurant" as they couldn't understand how the same couple seemed to be on duty from 6am through to 3am.

However, a journalist from Today Morning Post interviewed the restaurant owner and found out the truth.

It turned out that the twin brothers, 32, married a set of twin sisters from the same township three years ago and moved to Yiwu to run the restaurant together.

"Many diners thought we worked too hard and are like robots, but they don't know that we are actually four people," said Mao Zhanghua, 32, the elder brother.

The couples say they are very happy running their restaurant, because it allows them to live together like a big family - and they quite like the robot nickname which they say aptly describes their busy lives.

Source

See also: Abby & Brittany Hensel, the twins with one body. (Must see)

And this: Black and White twins!!!

Is Chinese food the answer to obesity?


Chinese food has a bad reputation in the UK. The rice-heavy meals and fatty meat dishes are thought to lead straight to obesity and heart disease. But properly prepared, says Chinese food expert Lorraine Clissold, the very opposite is true: the Chinese way of eating is healthy and fulfilling, fights illness and prolongs life. She also insists, in her book Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories, that a real Chinese diet won't make you fat, and that the rising levels of obesity observable in China are in fact caused by sugary, overprocessed Western food. Here are some of her Chinese dietary secrets – and the verdict of two Western nutrition experts, Patrick Holford and Ian Marber.  More...

See also: WTF! Toddlers who dislike spicy food 'racist...'

And this: Lonely Planet's 10 best cities for food...

A country without the State? A look at Somalia and the Xeer...

Were there such a category, Somalia would hold a place in Guinness World Records as the country with the longest absence of a functioning central government. When the Somalis dismantled their government in 1991 and returned to their precolonial political status, the expectation was that chaos would result — and that, of course, would be the politically correct thing to expect. 

Imagine if it were otherwise. Imagine any part of the globe not being dominated by a central government and the people there surviving, even prospering. If such were to happen and the idea spread to other parts of Africa or other parts of the world, the mystique of the necessity of the state might be irreparably damaged, and many politicians and bureaucrats might find themselves walking about looking for work.  More...

See also: Peking duck ovens being banned in Europe!! Bravo, nanny State, what's next?

And this: 'Big Brother' government costs U.K. £20billion... 


Hannibal Gaddafi: Libya imposes oil embargo on Switzerland...

Libya has halted all oil exports to Switzerland, the head of the country's state-run shipping company announced on Thursday afternoon.

It is the latest step by the Libyan government in an escalating diplomatic response to the arrest of the Moammar Gaddafi's son Hannibal in Geneva on July 15.

Ali Bilhajj Ahmed, the head of Libya's General National Maritime Transportation Company, said all the country's oil shipments to Switzerland stopped on Wednesday.

All ships carrying Swiss-made goods have also been prohibited from unloading their cargo at Libyan ports, Libyan authorities said in a statement shortly following a staged protest outside the Swiss embassy in Tripoli.

"Tankers will stop carrying oil that has Switzerland as final destination," Ahmed said.

He added that it was the "least they could do" after the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi.

Hannibal and his wife, who were released on bail and have left the country, were charged by a Swiss magistrate with inflicting physical injuries and using threats and force against two of their staff.

Hannibal, whose real name is Motassim Bilal, has a history of violent incidents in Europe.

The Swiss government, which has urged Libya to show restraint, has asked the North African country work "to prevent a crisis between the two countries".


It has sent a delegation to Tripoli and has scheduled a media conference for Thursday afternoon.

Switzerland imports 60,000 barrels a day of oil from Opec member Libya - around 50 per cent of the Swiss crude oil supply.

But Rolf Hartl, managing director of the Swiss Oil Association, predicted an oil boycott would not significantly impact Switzerland.

"We have compulsory stocks which cover Swiss domestic demand for about two-and-a-half months for gasoline, diesel and heating oil and about three months for jet fuel," he told World Radio Switzerland on Wednesday.

"We would have ample time to adjust our supply scheme and to cover the loss of Libyan imports."

Source

See also: Swiss press attack Gaddafi's "revenge" and criticize his regime...

And this: Hannibal Gaddafi: tension between Switzerland and Libya...

78-year-old grandmother chases and catches thief! Bravo, grandma!


Pearline Williamson, whose grandson is 100m runner Simeon Williamson, was out shopping when a young woman ran past her, pulling the purse from her hand. 

Without a thought for her own safety Mrs Williamson sprinted after the woman, believed to be in her early 20s, and managed to catch her. 

The furious pensioner then shook her attacker in front of fellow shoppers in Edmonton, north London. The thief dropped the purse and escaped. 

Mrs Williamson said: "She must have thought I was an easy touch because I'm elderly.

"When she took my purse I had to do something so I ran after her and grabbed her as hard as I could. She said she hadn't taken it at first, so I shook the life out of her until she finally gave it back." 

Olympic hopeful Mr Williamson, 22, said: "It's typical of her as she stands up for everyone else, so it's no surprise she stood up for herself.  More...

See also: Indonesia's penis-lengthening grandma, Mak Erot, has died...

And this: This grandma is one helluva rocker!!!(video)

And this: 94-year-old grandma being abused by a fat bitch...(video)


Auckland University offers $5000 reward for the arrest of Condoleezza Rice!!!

A $5000 dollar reward is being offered to any Auckland University student who can make a successful citizen's arrest of United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the country this weekend.

Auckland University Student Association (AUSA) president David Do said the arrest would be for her role in "overseeing the illegal invasion and continued occupation" of Iraq.

"It is hard enough living as a student in Auckland these days without having a war criminal coming to town, so we thought we'd give our students a chance to make a dent in their student loans and work for global justice at the same time."

Dr Rice will be in Auckland on July 26, where she will meet with Prime Minister Helen Clark, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Opposition leader John Key.

She will make her first trip to New Zealand after attending a meeting of the Asean Regional Forum this week in Singapore.

Source

See also: Condoleezza Rice: I Am Proud Of The Decision To Invade Iraq

And this: Rice tells India and China to eat less!!!


Dear Washington, this is Canada saying sorry...

Swiss press attack Gaddafi's "revenge" and criticize his regime...

Libyan "revenge" against Switzerland in response to the detention of Hannibal Gaddafi in Geneva last week is in the spotlight of the Swiss press.

The newspapers have taken the opportunity to look at the nature of the Libyan regime – and Moammar Gaddafi's system of government is shown in a bad light.

The Swiss foreign ministry reported on Wednesday that Libya had taken "worrying retaliatory measures", including the closure of Swiss businesses in the country and the detention of two Swiss citizens.

Hannibal and his heavily pregnant wife Aline were detained in a Geneva hotel after two of their servants complained of severe mistreatment.

His sister, Aisha, warned last week that Libya would respond on the principle of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth", as Le Temps of Geneva recalls.  More...

See also: Hannibal Gaddafi: tension between Switzerland and Libya... 

And this: Gaddafi's son, Hannibal, released on bail in Geneva...


L’affaire Hannibal Gaddafi : La Libye cesse de livrer du pétrole à la Suisse...

En représailles à l'inculpation de Hannibal Kadhafi la semaine dernière à Genève, les pétroliers libyens ont annoncé jeudi l'arrêt prochain de leurs livraisons à la Suisse.

Dans un communiqué conjoint, les compagnies nationales libyennes de transport maritime et des ports indiquent aussi qu'elles interdisent désormais l'entrée et le déchargement des navires battant pavillon suisse dans les ports libyens. 

Elles ont en outre menacé la Suisse de «nouvelles mesures» si «elle ne ferme pas dans les prochaines heures le dossier de l'affaire montée de toutes pièces» contre Hannibal Kadhafi et ne présente pas ses excuses.

La Compagnie libyenne de transport maritime, dont Hannibal Kadhafi est officiellement «conseiller», détient un quasi-monopole du transport des produits énergétiques en Libye, avec une flotte de dix navires.

Premier fournisseur de la Suisse, la Libye avait déjà menacé mercredi de stopper ses exportations de brut, selon un responsable des Comités révolutionnaires, épine dorsale du régime de Mouammar Kadhafi.

Des spécialistes du secteur en Suisse ont eux toutefois minimisé l'impact d'une telle mesure. Ils estiment que la Suisse dispose de suffisamment de réserves et d'autres sources d'approvisionnement.  Source

Voir aussi: L’affaire Hannibal Gaddafi : la Libye se fâche contre la Suisse…

Et ceci: Genève: le couple Kadhafi, inculpé, a quitté la Suisse...

Yémen: elle n’a que 10ans, mais elle a déjà été mariée, battue, violée et divorcée…


Dans les couloirs encombrés du tribunal de Sana’a, personne n’avait pris le temps de la remarquer. Cela faisait des heures que la frêle Nojoud Ali, drapée dans un voile noir, patientait, en priant pour qu’une oreille attentive puisse l’écouter. À midi, la foule se dissipa et un juge finit par s’étonner de ce petit bout de femme recroquevillé sur ce banc désormais vide. «Qu’est-ce que tu attends ?», lui demanda-t-il. «Mon divorce !», lui répondit-elle. À 10 ans, Nojoud fait partie de ces milliers de filles yéménites, mariées au plus jeune âge, selon de vieilles traditions tribales qui perdurent essentiellement en province. Mais, fait exceptionnel, c’est la première fois qu’une jeune mariée osa, ce 2 avril 2008, se rebeller contre les traditions en vigueur. Jusqu’à entamer un procès contre son mari, Faez Ali Thamer, trois fois plus âgé qu’elle. Et à le gagner avec brio, grâce à une mobilisation sans précédent de défenseurs des droits de l’homme et de journaux locaux. Une vraie première. «Au début, j’avais honte d’en parler», murmure la petite fille haute comme trois pommes qui a accepté de nous raconter le récit de ses mésaventures. Avant d’enchaîner, cette fois-ci sur un ton plein d’assurance qui dénote une étonnante maturité acquise au cours de son combat de deux mois : «Maintenant, je veux retourner à l’école et je veux étudier pour devenir avocate !»  Suite...

Voir aussi: Premier procès pour excision en Suisse: deux ans avec sursis requis...

Et ceci: Ou sont les filles en Inde? (vidéo en anglais)

The music industry was screwed way BEFORE file-sharing began...

Four Mistakes That Killed the Record Indstry Before File Sharing

Most everyone who follows the record industry knows that it is slowly imploding and most don't care seeing as how its leaders have basically ignored technology and tried to sue people to push their profit margins back in line. But, the demise of the record industry actually began long before technology gave it the final push over the edge. It started in the 80's with the birth of the CD and the swallowing of independent record labels by major corporations to the point that now there are only four majors left.

In each critical moment, record labels had the opportunity to think ahead and look beyond their immediate revenue streams. Like many large corporations, they were unable to do so. As a result, they forgot that music is about people and they continue to ignore that fact at their own peril.

For myself, I believe the record industry - and this includes radio - made four mistakes that preceded their ignorance of technology and lawsuit happy antics of present day.   More...

See also: P2P sharing NOT hurting the music industry...

And this: The music industry abuses us and we're to blame...

And this: The game is up...

Max Mosley gagne son procès contre The News of the World...

Après avoir été confirmé dans ses fonctions au sein de la FIA, Max Mosley a remporté une nouvelle victoire. La Haute Cour de Londres a condamné jeudi le tabloïd News of the World à verser des dommages et intérêts au président de la Fédération internationale de l'automobile (FIA), pour avoir affirmé qu'il avait participé à une séance sado-masochiste à connotation «nazie».

Le groupe de presse News Group Newspapers devra verser 60 000 livres (76 000 euros) au patron de la F1. L'hebdomadaire dominical News of the World, plus fort tirage de la presse britannique, avait diffusé le 30 mars des photos et des vidéos d'ébats sado-masochistes entre Mosley et cinq jeunes prostituées, certaines habillées en prisonniers. Le journal avait qualifié cette séance d'«orgie nazie», rappelant au passage que le père de M. Mosley fut un ancien responsable du mouvement fasciste britannique des années 30.

Le président de la FIA avait réfuté que cette séance ait eu une quelconque connotation nazie. Il avait poursuivi le groupe de presse News Group Newspapers pour violation de la vie privée. Le journal a pour sa part plaidé que la diffusion de la vidéo était dans l'intérêt du public.   Source

Voir aussi: Sexe, pouvoir et vidéo, et le cas Max Mosley...

Et ceci: Max Mosley and the Nazi orgy...

Max Mosley wins "nazi" orgy case...


World motorsport boss Max Mosley has won a legal action against a Sunday newspaper over claims an orgy he took part in had Nazi overtones.

The High Court ruled the News of the World did breach Mr Mosley's privacy, awarding him £60,000 in damages.

The 68-year-old admitted a consensual sadomasochistic sex session with five prostitutes at a London flat in March, but denied that it had a Nazi theme.

The paper's story was based on a secret video from one of the women.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Eady did not make the unprecedented award of punitive - rather than compensatory - damages that had been sought by Mr Mosley.

He says his life has been devastated by the News of the World story and the posting of secretly-filmed footage of the sex session on its website.

He told the court that the publicity had been "totally devastating" for his wife of 48 years, and he could think of "nothing more undignified or humiliating" for his two sons to experience.

The paper's editor, Colin Myler, had told the court that he believed the story was one of "legitimate public interest and one that I believe was legitimately published".

He also said: "We felt that what we saw, what we witnessed, was on balance a fair and reasonable interpretation of Nazi-style role-play."

Mr Mosley is president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the governing body for sports such as Formula 1.

His father was the 1930s Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.

Source

See also: Max Mosley: 'My life of kinky sex is private...

And this: Max Mosley sex video will remain on the Web...

And this: Max Mosley and the Nazi orgy...

L’Etat français à la jeunesse française : ne buvez pas trop !!


Le Credit Suisse s'en sort mieux que l'UBS...

Les investisseurs ont réservé un accueil enthousiaste aux résultats du Credit Suisse. Dans les premiers échanges à la Bourse suisse, l'action du no 2 bancaire helvétique s'envolait de 8,42%! La deuxième banque suisse a dégagé au second trimestre un bénéfice net de 1,215 milliard de francs, contre 3,189 milliards au terme de la même période de l'an passé. Une performance qui a dépassé les attentes des analystes: ils tablaient en moyenne sur un résultat net de 735 millions. 

Surtout, le Credit Suisse n'a pas dû effectuer de gros amortissements en lien avec la crise du crédit au deuxième semestre. Les dépréciations nettes ont plafonné à un total de 22 millions de francs. L'absence d'importants correctifs de valeurs a ainsi permis à la division de la banque d'affaires Investment Banking, la plus touchée par la crise du subprime aux Etats-Unis, de renouer avec les profits. Après une lourde perte de 3,46 milliards de francs entre janvier et mars, elle a dégagé un bénéfice avant impôts de 281 millions. 

Reste que la performance s'inscrit en net repli par rapport au bénéfice avant impôts record de plus de 2,5 milliards de francs affiché un an auparavant par Investment Banking. Le résultat, tout comme celui du groupe, a dépassé les attentes des analystes qui tablaient en moyenne sur une perte de 258 millions pour cette division.  Source

Voir aussi: L'économie américaine est au bord du krach? 

Et ceci: Raiffeisen: le malheur des grandes banques fait le bonheur...

Et ceci: La vieille dame et la banque…

Checking travellers at airports: security or humiliation?

When travelers go to the airport, they know what kind of security to expect: luggage searches, metal detectors and shoe inspections. 

It's all part of our post 9-11 reality enforced by the Transportation Security Adminstration. But as CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports, thousands of travelers have complained that some of these screenings can become abusive and even x-rated. 

For arguing with a TSA agent, Robin Kassner wound up being slammed to the floor. She's filed a lawsuit. 

"I kept begging them over and over again get off of me ... and they wouldn't stop," Kassner said. 

And it wasn't enough for another woman to show TSA agents nipple rings that set off a metal detector. The agents forced her to take them out. 

Mandi Hamlin said, "I had to get pliers and pull it apart."  More...

See also: WTF!Bush flies into Heathrow, pisses off 40,000 passengers!!!

And this: Airports install scanners that see through clothes...

France's 35-hour work week is scrapped...

France's parliament has passed a law which effectively ends the country's compulsory 35-hour working week. 

The new law will allow companies to strike individual deals with unions on working hours and overtime. 

Since coming into office last year, President Nicolas Sarkozy has blamed the 35-hour week for damaging France's economic competitiveness. 

Introduced 10 years ago by the then Socialist government, polls show most French still support the 35-hour week. 

The new measures are expected to come into force at the end of August. 

"Companies will at last be able to operate a management policy based on a secure legal framework, it's a remarkable advance for the economy," said Daniele Giazzi of the governing UMP party. 

Having been approved earlier this month by the National Assembly - France's lower house of parliament - the measures passed a vote in the Senate - the upper house - late on Wednesday. 

The bill was supported by the Senate's centre-right majority but opposed by the opposition Socialists. 

The Senate also adopted other key measures reforming rules on strikes and unemployment benefits.   Source

See also: Poll: 78% of U.S. workers feel burned out...

And this: Karoshi, or how the Japanese work themselves to death...

And this: The world's hardest working countries. Insane!! 

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Creedence Clearwater Revival and "Proud Mary"

World's oldest Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, to go online...


A “unique treasure” of Biblical history is to be made available online for the first time through a collaborative project between the British Library and three other major international institutions.

The Codex Sinaiticus, considered to be the world’s most important Biblical manuscript, dates from the fourth century and is thought to be the earliest, most complete Christian bible. 

The manuscript is, however, split up and housed in four different locations - London, Sinai, St Petersburg and Leipzig. This means that pages from one book of the bible manuscript might be housed in two or more different repositories. 

The initial website launch on July 24 2008 will mean that 25 per cent of the manuscript’s 800 extant pages and over 40 fragments will be available online. This will be the first time that some pages have been seen together in one place for centuries. 

As well as images of the actual pages, the website will have a transcription of the manuscript’s contents along with all corrections added throughout its long history. The site will also include many interactive features, allowing scholars and enthusiasts alike to perform research and access the manuscript’s features.  More...

See also:  Book burning? In the 21st. century?

And this: The Pagan Christ and the Jesus that never existed...

Why are dead birds falling from the sky in Western Australia?


Dead birds are falling from the sky in Australia for the second time in seven months, raising fears of a possible public health threat. 

At least 200 seagulls have been found dead in Perth's popular beachside suburbs of Woodman Point and Henderson this week, baffling local authorities. 

Post-mortem examinations have failed to determine the cause of the birds' deaths. Last December 5,000 birds died in the coastal town of Esperance, 500 km south of Perth, after being poisoned by lead carbonate blowing through the town as it was being exported through Esperance Port. 

The latest incident of dropping birds has led to a major investigation of local industries but government officials admit they are at a loss to know what is killing the gulls. A Department of Health spokesman admitted they could not rule out a risk to public health until the cause of the birds' deaths had been established.  More...

See also: What are dead penguins doing in Brazil?

And this: The Solway Firth Enigma...

Is it possible to win the Tour de France without dope?

Cycling's image is in tatters, and authorities inside and outside the sport are being tougher than ever on doping. Yet it hasn't stopped the drug cheaters at the Tour de France. 

Beyond ethics, it would seem to defy common sense for cyclists to break the rules in the middle of such a crackdown. 

The lure of fame and fortune—embodied in the yellow jersey—are amazingly powerful, of course. But doping and cycling experts also say the cheating goes on because of a general disdain among riders and teams for the drug-testing process. 

There's the wink-wink encouragement of team managers, and no one to help them say "no." Many believe there are plenty of loopholes in the anti-doping rules, and there's a notion that technology is advancing so fast that drug testing can't keep up. 

Some scoff at the potential ill-effects of performance enhancers. Throw in the stresses of training for one of the world's most demanding athletic events, and you've got an atmosphere conducive to cheating. 

"They think they can get away with it," said Dr. Ramsus Damsgaard, a leading Danish doping expert. "Whenever anybody presents them with a new substance, they feel comfortable using it." 

The credibility of cycling's marquee event has once more been tarnished by doping cheats this year: Three riders were kicked out after testing positive for the banned blood booster EPO. Two of those—promising young rider Riccardo Ricco of Italy and Moises Duenas Nevado of Spain—spent a night in jail for police questioning.  More...

See also: Will the Tour de France be free of dope one day?

And this: A dope-free Tour de France this year?

Japanese browser Sleipnir challenges Internet Explorer and Firefox...

A Japanese software company is stepping up international promotion of its Web browser in the hope of carving out a 5% share over the next few years of a market dominated by Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The Sleipnir browser is well-known among Japanese technophiles, many of whom value the high level of customization that the browser allows. At the center of this customization is the ability to select either the Trident or Gecko layout engines for each Web site visited. Trident was developed by Microsoft Corp. and is used in Internet Explorer while Gecko is used in Mozilla's Firefox.

As any user who has changed Web browsers knows, some sites look different or offer different functionality depending on the browser in use. By clicking a small button in the bottom left of the browser and switching between Trident and Gecko, users can choose the best one for the particular site.  More...

See also: Firefox makes big gains in Europe and Oceania...

And this: Browser War: Firefox3 and Safari against IE...

And this: Bye! Bye! Netscape! We'll miss you...

World's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born 30 years ago...


The birth of Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, hit headlines around the globe three decades ago -- but the married mother-of-one wants to keep her 30th birthday Friday low-key by contrast.

Brown -- who lives in Bristol, south-west England, with husband Wesley Mullinder and 18-month-old son Cameron, working as a shipping company administrator -- remains reluctantly in the public eye despite her modest lifestyle.

Although her birth opened the door for millions of infertile couples worldwide to give birth to IVF (in vitro fertilisation) or test tube babies, Brown has no big plans to celebrate the landmark date.

"I'm not really thinking of it as my 30th," she said. "I'm just carrying on as if this is a normal birthday.

"I might go out with my friends or I might have a meal with the family. I'm planning on having a quiet one."

Louise Joy Brown was born on July 25, 1978 at Oldham and District General Hospital in north-west England by Caesarean section, weighing five pounds 12 ounces (2.61 kilograms).

Her parents, Lesley and John, had been trying to have children for nine years but could not because Lesley Brown's fallopian tubes were blocked.

The couple's breakthrough came when they heard about research being carried out by Cambridge University physiologist Robert Edwards and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and signed up with them for fertility treatment.  More...

See also: WTF! 12 babies die from vaccine trials...

And this: Desiring a son, 70-year old Indian woman gives birth to twins...  

Srebrenica: What really happened?

Today’s news headlines announce that Radovan Karadzic has been arrested in Serbia and will stand trial at the UN Tribunal in The Hague on fifteen counts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities, most notably for organizing the siege of Sarajevo and for his role in the massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica (1995).

If you read The Times, the Srebrenica massacre involved "more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys."

If you read the Guardian, the massacre involved "nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys." Elsewhere the Guardian reminds us, "That the Serbian forces under Karadzic's command committed genocide against the Muslims of Srebrenica in July 1995 is an established legal fact."  More...

See also: Radovan Karadzic arrested...

And this: Sri Lanka: Life after 25 years...

And this: Slow death in Gaza...

Hannibal Gaddafi: tension between Switzerland and Libya...

Switzerland on Wednesday charged Libya with taking retaliatory measures against its nationals, a government statement said, a week after Swiss authorities arrested the son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

"A diplomatic delegation left Bern for Tripoli on Wednesday to give explanations to the Libyan authorities" on the arrest of Kadhafi's son, added the Swiss foreign ministry in a statement.

Hannibal Kadhafi, 32, was released on bail by Swiss police last week after being accused of assaulting staff at a Geneva hotel on July 15.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey spoke to her Libyan counterpart Abderrahman Shalgan by telephone on Tuesday and made a "firm protest," whilestressing that she wished to avoid the issue from escalating, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the Libyan authorities on July 17 put "retaliatory measures" in place against Switzerland.

Libya's envoy in Switzerland was recalled and the Libyan authorities suspended the issuing of visas to Swiss citizens, said the ministry.

Air links between Switzerland and Libya have been reduced, two Swiss nationals are in police custody since Saturday and Swiss businesses in Libya have received closure orders, according to the ministry. Bern, meanwhile, has advised Swiss citizens not to travel to Libya.

In Tripoli dozens of Libyans on Wednesday staged a protest outside the Swiss embassy over the alleged "mistreatment" of Kadhafi's son.

The demonstrators, mainly members of Kadhafi's revolutionary committees, also handed a statement to Swiss ambassador Daniel Von Mura