Bonjour Planet Earth

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Privacy chiefs keep a wary eye on Facebook...

Over the past six years, social networking has been the Internet's stand-out phenomenon, linking up more than one billion people eager to exchange videos, pictures or last-minute birthday wishes.

The sites, led by Facebook with more than 400 million users, rely in large part on people's willingness to share a wealth of personal information with an ever-expanding network of "friends," either ones they actually know and see from time to time, or those they have met virtually through the Internet.

Members' eagerness to add contacts has given the sites a powerful global reach, attracting users from 7 to 70 years old, from skateboarders to investment bankers, and with them a deep and potentially rich vein of targeted advertising revenue.

But at the same time it has concentrated vast amounts of data -- telephone numbers and addresses, people's simple likes and dislikes -- on the servers of a small number of companies. More...

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Ryanair will refuse passenger compensation for volcanic ash airline fiasco...

A controversial budget airline boss last night told thousands of angry passengers that he would go to court rather than refund their bills from the volcano crisis.

Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said he would defy European law which obliges carriers to pay the hotel, food and phone costs of those whose flights are cancelled.

Ryanair, which made profits of £348million last year, says it cannot afford to compensate passengers - and will place a cap on the amount it hands to anyone caught in the chaos of the past week.

In a withering attack on the no-fly zone imposed across Europe due to the Icelandic ash cloud, he said: 'Why exactly are the airlines expected to be reimbursing people's hotels, meals and everything else when the governments are the ones who made a balls of this?

'This is a great opportunity to expose this.' More...

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Squirrel defends dead comrade's body...

Un écureuil défend le corps d'un camarade mort…

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'Sex Swami' Nithyananda arrested...

Controversial self-styled godman Nityananda Swami, who was absconding for over a month in the wake of an alleged sex scandal, was today arrested in Solan in Himachal Pradesh.

Nithyananda and four of his associates were arrested from a house in Mamlig village under Akri police station area in Solan District in a joint operation by policemen from Bangalore and Himachal Pradesh, Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Amar Singh Rathore said.

He said Nityananda, who is believed to have been living in the Solan village for the last one month, and his associates have been taken to Arki police station. More...

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YouTube taking down Hitler "Downfall" parodies...

YouTube has recently begun removing videos that feature content from Constantin Films' 2004 film, Der Untergang ("Downfall"), despite the fact that many of these videos are parodies and thus constitute fair use of the material.

The Downfall, or Hitler-parody, meme has been, arguably, a viral spat of publicity for Constantin Films in the past few years. The meme takes a now-infamous scene from the movie (the scene in which Hitler reacts to the news that Germany is about to lose the war) and puts satirical subtitles over the action (the movie is in German). Hitler parodies have been made for everything from "Hitler finds out Tony Romo dumped Jessica Simpson," to "Hitler is Fired from Whataburger," to, more recently, "Hitler Responds to the iPad." More...

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

French soccer players and under-age prostitutes...

The sex scandal involving Franck Ribery that has tainted France's international football team has deepened after two more player's names were dragged into an underage prostitution investigation.

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema, linked to a £40 million transfer to Manchester United, and Hatem Ben Arfa, the 23-year old Marseille striker, are both expected to be questioned as "witnesses" in the probe, according to an unnamed judicial source.

Mr Ribery, 27, and Sidney Govou, 30, have already been summoned before an examining judge following allegations that the Café Zaman, a nightclub on the Champs-Elysées, employed underage prostitutes. More...

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The deliberate dumbing down of America...

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17 Indian youths on death row in UAE allege torture was used to extract murder confession...

Seeking justice, 17 Indian youth on the death row in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have alleged before human rights activists from India that they have been framed in the murder case of a Pakistani national after being tortured.

Representatives of a Punjab-based NGO, Lawyers For Human Rights International (LFHRI) who recently returned after meeting the 17 Indians sentenced to death in Sharjah, on Tuesday alleged here that the youth were tortured and were not being given proper legal aid.

A two-member team of LFHRI had visited Dubai and Sharjah April 13-14 and met the prisoners and also held a meeting with lawyers who are fighting their case. More...

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Dead body lay under sofa for 10 years!!!

A body lay undiscovered under a sofa in a sheltered flat in Bristol for nearly 10 years, an inquest has heard.

The dead man, Denis Pring, 73, had been living with city council tenant Alan Derrick, who has learning difficulties.

The inquest heard Mr Derrick did not want to tell the authorities that Mr Pring had died because he was worried he would be evicted. More...

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Airport chaos is more about fear than volcanic ash...

Whatever the risks posed by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, it seems clear that the shutting down of much of Europe’s air space is not just about the threat posed by clouds of ash to flying passengers. We live in an era where problems of uncertainty and risk are continually amplified, and where our fearful imaginations can make these problems seem like existential threats. Consequently, unexpected natural events are rarely treated simply as unexpected natural events – instead they are swiftly dramatised and transformed into ‘threats to human survival’. More...

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Two little Malaysian kids in love...

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Al-Qaeda chief In Iraq: captured, killed, never actually existed, re-captured, now killed again!!!

U.S. and Iraqi officials have today announced that two “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” leaders have been killed in an air strike carried out by American troops. A major flaw in the story that seems to have been overlooked, is that both of the men have already been reported captured and killed on several occasions, with U.S. officials also having previously declared one of them a “fictional character” that was invented by the other!

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Bizarrely, the Reuters piece quotes the Iraqi prime minister pinpointing the location of the raid as “a house in Thar-Thar, a rural area 50 miles west of Baghdad that is regarded as a hotbed of Qaeda activity”, however, the Washington Post report quotes U.S. officials saying the raid occurred “a few miles southwest of Tikrit”. If you look at a map of Iraq, those two descriptions do not entirely add up, unless you consider “a few miles” to be over 100. Certainly a more specific location could have been given.

However, that is perhaps the least of the problems surrounding this story. Full story...

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Monday, April 19, 2010

After Adelaide's "Pornographic pizza", here comes Victoria's locust pizza!!!

As locusts swarm across Australia, folks are finding a way to get back at the insects that devour crops – eat ‘em!

One café in Mildura, northern Victoria state, is offering locusts as a crunchy topping for pizza, CNN affiliate ABC news reports.

The idea for the dish came from the mayor of the town of 60,000, Glen Milne, according to ABC. The politician rounded up locusts in a garbage bag in the town’s center. More...

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Foetuses 'found dumped' in India...

Authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat say they have recovered more than a dozen human foetuses from a rubbish bin in the city of Ahmedabad.

They suspect the foetuses could have been dumped by local abortion clinics which have been conducting illegal sex determination tests.

The unborn babies' bodies have been sent for post-mortem examinations. More...

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Dogs frolicking in the snow!!! Cool...

Des chiens heureux dans la neige...

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Most Americans don't trust the government...

America's "Great Compromiser" Henry Clay called government "the great trust," but most Americans today have little faith in Washington's ability to deal with the nation's problems.

Public confidence in government is at one of the lowest points in a half century, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center. Nearly eight in 10 Americans say they don't trust the federal government and have little faith it can solve America's ills, the survey found.

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"The government's been lying to people for years. Politicians make promises to get elected, and when they get elected, they don't follow through," says Cindy Wanto, 57, a registered Democrat from Nemacolin, Pa., who joined several thousand for a rally in Washington on April 15 -- the tax filing deadline. "There's too much government in my business. It was a problem before Obama, but he's certainly not helping fix it." Full story...

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Microsoft debuts 'fix it' program...

Microsoft has launched "Fix It" software that keeps an eye on a PC and automatically repairs common faults.

The software basically adds the automatic diagnostics system in Windows 7 to older versions of Microsoft's operating system.

The software, currently available as a trial or beta version, is intended for users of Windows XP and Vista.

The package also tries to anticipate how security updates will affect a PC before they are installed. More...

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Une Malaisienne demande au flics d'arrêter le fantôme de son frère!!!

Une Malaisienne a demandé l'aide de la police pour détenir l '«esprit» de son frère mort qui n'arrêtait pas de l'embêter , selon l'agence China Press.

Son frère est mort il y a quelques années, dit la femme de Kuching en Malaisie.

La femme, d'une cinquante d'années, a déclaré à la police qu'elle a toujours vu son «frère» se faufiler dans sa maison à minuit et a demandé que la police l'arrête.

La femme a seulement quitté le poste de police après que les autorités lui ont expliqué qu'ils ne pouvaient pas détenir un «esprit» et qu'elle demande de l'aide des organismes religieux.

Source (en anglais)

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Les bananes sont dangereuses!!!

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Bloqué par le nuage de cendres, ils se marient via Skype...

Sean Murtagh, 24 ans, originaire de Londres, et Natalie, Australienne de 30 ans, étaient censés atterrir en Angleterre pour s'unir pour la vie, dimanche. Le couple s'était marié lors d'une cérémonie civile à Brisbane en Australie, il y a trois semaines et avait prévu une fête humaniste avec leur famille et amis au Royaume-Uni ce week-end.

Si les parents de Sean et la mère de Natalie ont réussi à relier Brisbane-Londres à temps, les jeunes mariés sont restés bloqués à Dubaï sur le trajet du retour, à cause du nuage de poussières du volcan islandais. Plutôt que d'annuler la cérémonie, le couple a décidé d'utiliser Skype pour se marier devant leurs proches. Suite...

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Nuage de cendres. Les compagnies aériennes s'en prennent aux gouvernements...

L'association des compagnies aériennes mondiales (IATA) a demandé une ouverture, au moins partielle, de l'espace aérien, en critiquant durement la façon dont la crise due aux cendres a été gérée par les autorités.

«Nous sommes assez avancés dans cette crise pour exprimer notre insatisfaction sur la façon dont les gouvernements l'ont gérée», a estimé le directeur de l'Association internationale du transport aérien, Giovanni Bisignani. Il a réclamé des «décisions qui soient fondées sur des situations réelles», alors que la fermeture d'une partie de l'espace aérien européen représente un manque à gagner de plus de 200 millions de dollars par jour pour les compagnies aériennes. Suite...

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School cameras in Beijng linked to central police staion. Security or Big Brother?

Surveillance camera systems at primary and middle schools in Beijing will soon be integrated into the city's overall security monitoring platform, police said.

Li Zhiming, department chief of Beijing public security bureau, said all 1,807 primary and middle schools in Beijing have already been covered with the surveillance camera system and the bureau is coordinating with education authorities to bring it into the city's overall security monitoring platform.

Furthermore, greater numbers of police will join security guards at the schools and another 1,253 kindergartens to divert traffic and maintain order during school hours, Li said. More...

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Climategate: a scandal that won’t go away...

If you were faced with by far the biggest bill of your life, would you not want to be confident that there was a very good reason why you should pay it? That is why we need to know just how far we can trust the science behind the official view that the world is threatened with catastrophe by global warming – because the measures proposed by our politicians to avert this supposed disaster threaten to transform our way of life out of recognition and to land us with easily the biggest bill in history. (The Climate Change Act alone, says the Government, will cost us all £18 billion every year until 2050.) More...

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Palestine? Where's Palestine on the map?

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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Australian cookbook in hot water over 'ground black people' typo!!!

An Australian publisher has been forced to reprint thousands of cookery books after a pasta recipe calling for "salt and freshly ground black people" prompted outrage.

Bob Sessions, Penguin Group Australia's head of publishing, acknowledged the proofreader for the Pasta Bible should have picked up the error, but said it was nothing more than a "silly mistake."

The "Pasta Bible" recipe for spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto was supposed to call for black pepper. More...

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Muslim Egyptian girl acid attacked for converting to Christianity...

Dina el-Gowhary, the 15-year-old Egyptian Muslim-born girl who converted to Christianity, was subjected to an acid attack, the latest in a string of failed attempts by Muslim fanatics against her and her father, 57-year-old Peter Athanasius (Maher el-Gowhary), who converted to Christianity 35 years ago. Several Fatwa's were issued calling for the "spilling of his blood," which makes their lives in constant danger in the face of the reactionaries and advocates for the enforcement of Islamic apostasy laws, which call for the death of a convert.

Dina said that three weeks ago as she ventured out from their hiding place in Alexandria with her father to get some bottled water, her jacket was set on fire due to acid being thrown at her. "My father quickly took my jacket off before the fire reached my arms. Ever since then I am terrorized to go out in the street, with or without my father." More...

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Volcanic ash flight ban being questioned...

Europe's airlines and airports have called for an immediate reassessment of flight restrictions imposed because of volcanic ash from Iceland.

Two bodies that represent most of Europe's airlines and airports say they question the extent of the flight restrictions currently imposed.

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The two airline bodies, ACI Europe & AEA, said: "The eruption of the Icelandic volcano is not an unprecedented event and the procedures applied in other parts of the world for volcanic eruptions do not appear to require the kind of restrictions that are presently being imposed in Europe." More...

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James Manning talks about the Obama we know...

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Brisbane couple stranded by volcanic ash take vows online!!!

A British-Australian couple's wedding guests have watched them take their vows over the internet after the volcanic ash cloud disrupting European flights left them stranded in Dubai.

Sean Murtagh, 24, from west London, and his new wife Natalie, a 30-year-old Australian, were married at a civil ceremony in Brisbane three weeks ago.

But they also planned a ceremony for family and friends in Ealing, west London.

Flying back from their home in the Queensland capital for the ceremony however, they found themselves stuck when they changed planes in Dubai on Thursday. More...

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Microsoft accused of using slave labour in China...

Showing Chinese sweatshop workers slumped over their desks with exhaustion, it is an image that Microsoft won't want the world to see.

Employed for gruelling 15-hour shifts, in appalling conditions and 86f heat, many fall asleep on their stations during their meagre ten-minute breaks.

For as little as 34p an hour, the men and women work six or seven days a week, making computer mice and web cams for the American multinational computer company. More...

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Saturday, April 17, 2010

Earthquakes caused by ... extramarital sex???!!!

A SENIOR Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported on Saturday.

'Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,' Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi told worshippers at Teheran Friday prayer.
'Calamities are the result of people's deeds,' he was quoted as saying by reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper. 'We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers.' Full story...
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The elephant seal and the young woman...

L'éléphant de mer et la jeune femme...

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12 Filipinos stuck and discriminated against in Frankfurt...

Twelve Filipinos traveling to the United Kingdom on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight (CX275 from Hong Kong to London) have been refused entry into Germany and were held Thursday night at Frankfurt International Airport.

The Filipinos, all holders of UK visas, were en route to London when their flight was diverted to Frankfurt because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland on Wednesday. They landed in Frankfurt at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday (1:30 a.m. Friday in Manila).

Other passengers on the flight were accommodated in hotels by the airline but the Filipinos were kept in the airline lounge and had to sleep on floors and cushions because they lacked Schengen visas, according to passenger Kimberly Lim, 20. More...

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Double whopper "sex package" offer by mother and daughter in Malaysia!!!

A MOTHER-and-daughter team is offering a “sin package” of body massage plus sex services to elite clients such as Datuks and young executives, reported Harian Metro.

The 45-year-old divorcee and her 25-yearold daughter, who were charging their clients between RM300 and RM1,000 for a range of services including body massage in the nude, operated from a two-room luxury condominium in Subang Jaya.

All the clients were screened in advance through phone calls by the women before being given appointments . More...

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Friday, April 16, 2010

7500 online shoppers sold their ... souls???

A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers.

The retailer, British firm GameStation, added the "immortal soul clause" to the contract signed before making any online purchases earlier this month. It states that customers grant the company the right to claim their soul.

"By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions." More...

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The persecution of Maureen Spalek...

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Goldman Sachs charged with fraud...

Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs was charged with fraud last night for allegedly double-crossing its customers.

The move sent shockwaves throughout the financial sector and will reignite calls for further curbs on the banks.

Goldman was accused of colluding with a billionaire trader to launch toxic products that it then sold on to its unsuspecting customers. More...

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Gay professor in India commits suicide after students' sting operation...

A homosexual college professor apparently committed suicide after he was filmed having sex with a rickshaw puller in a sting operation involving students from an Indian Muslim university and a local television channel.

Srinivas Ramchander Siras, professor of modern languages at Aligarh Muslim University, was suspended from his job "on moral grounds" and evicted from his college accommodation after students broke in and filmed him with his partner.

He was expected to return to his job later this month after the Allahabad High Court revoked his suspension and ordered him to be reinstated at a hearing last week. More...

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50,000 Kenyans face eviction to make way for railway line...

An estimated 50,000 people who live alongside Kenya's railway lines could see their homes destroyed after the government railway gave the squatters 30 days to move, prompting residents on Friday to threaten to resist violently.

The government order has received sharp criticism from an international human rights group and from those affected, most of whom are slum dwellers in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The government order does not include a resettlement plan, and residents facing eviction say they don't know where they will go. More...

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Palolem, Goa, India...

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Surveys claim travellers unfazed by airport scanners! Really?

The mainstream media was quick to publicise the findings of a survey that showed widespread public support for the global drive to install 'naked' full-body scanners at airports.

Articles such as Sky News: UK Holidaymakers Back Use Of Full-Body Scanners and Agence France-Presse: Opinion poll: US anti-terror too lax, uncritically repeated the report's findings without questioning the reliability of the survey or mentioning the conflict of interests held by those in the security industry who stand to profit from rolling out these dangerous machines.

There is one glaring omission from these and the many media reports that published 'news' articles based on the Unisys press release. That is who Unisys is, their connections with government, military, Homeland security, the Transportation Services Authority (TSA) and how they profit from airport security technologies. The failure of the mainstream media to report the true source and motives behind this survey is a clear example of how they lie by omitting the most important facts. More...

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British woman banned from all pubs and drinking joints!!!

A 20-year-old woman is thought to be the first person to be banned from all licensed premises in England and Wales.

Laura Hall, from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, cannot enter a pub, club, off-licence, or drink alcohol in a public place for two years.

West Mercia Police said it applied for a "Drinking Banning Order" (DBO) after she was repeatedly arrested for drunken behaviour.

The order, introduced last year, was issued by Kidderminster magistrates. More...

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Cabby in Singapore filmed maid bathing!!! (Cabbies in Singapore can afford to have maids?)

A MAID came across an unlabelled compact disc in her Pasir Ris flat and was shocked to discover on viewing it that someone had planted a video camera in the kitchen toilet.

The next day, she checked and found a pinhole camera hidden in the water heater.

She called the police and her employer, Ramshah Mustafa, admitted to installing it to peep at her bathing. More...

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Nike wants to evict homeless from Tokyo park...

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Padded bikinis for children? WTF!

Budget clothes store Primark has pulled children's padded bikini tops from its stores after fierce criticism they 'sexualised' young girls.

The store apologised for any offence caused from the sale of the item and said it would be donating any profits made from those already sold to a children's charity.

The uproar was sparked by an article on the frontpage of The Sun this morning which deemed the swimwear a 'paedo bikini'. David Cameron called the £4 item "disgraceful", while a children's charity criticised the store for "premature sexualisation" of girls as young as seven-years-old. More...

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Malaysian woman wants police to detain brother's ghost!!!

A WOMAN has sought help of police to detain the “spirit” of her dead brother, which she claimed has been disturbing her, China Press reported.

Her brother died years ago, said the woman from Kuching.

The woman, in her 50s, told the police that she always saw her “brother” sneaking into her house at midnight and requested that the police detain “him”.

The woman only left the police station after the authorities explained to her that they could not detain a “spirit” and urged her to seek help from religious bodies.

Source

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Italian minister admits he's a file-sharing pirate!!!

An Italian minister has stirred up controversy by not only criticizing the efforts of the French to disconnect file-sharers from the Internet, but by also admitting he’s a pirate himself. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, a musician in a band, believes the solution to online file-sharing lies in a compromise, where music is paid for by advertisers and sponsors

“Introducing heavy penalties such as those in France to disconnect people from the Internet is wrong and does not work,” Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said recently as he openly criticized the French 3-strikes ’solution’ to illicit file-sharing. He says the answer lies with a more creative approach.

“A proposal I have made for some time without being heard is the creation of a great national site where people can legally download music for free,” says Maroni. He believes the cost of such a service could be met by advertisers and sponsors. More...

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British authors Hitchens and Dawkins call for Pope's arrest...

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India has more mobile phones than toilets!!!

As the country’s wealth continues to grow, almost half the population have a hand-held device but less than a third have access to proper sanitation.

The lack of flushing toilets has led to continuing problems of water-borne illness and millions of deaths, according to UN experts who published a nine-point prescription for achieving the world’s Millennium Development Goal for sanitation by 2015.

Their report on India, the world’s second most populous country, shows 600 million people – 54 per cent of the population – defecated in the open in 2008, causing a health disaster. More...

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US government finally admits most piracy statistics are bullshit...

We've all seen the studies trumpeting massive losses to the US economy from piracy. One famous figure, used literally for decades by rightsholders and the government, said that 750,000 jobs and up to $250 billion a year could be lost in the US economy thanks to IP infringement. A couple years ago, we thoroughly debunked that figure. For years, Business Software Alliance reports on software piracy assumed that each illicit copy was a lost sale. And the MPAA's own commissioned study on movie piracy turned out to overstate collegiate downloading by a factor of three.

Can we trust any of these claims about piracy? More...

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