Bonjour Planet Earth: August 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

Do Disney movies deliberately manipulate children?

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Bangladesh airline flight delayed for 10 hours ... because of jammed toilets!!!

A Biman Bangladesh airlines flight from Dhaka to London was delayed by nearly 10 hours - because all five of the plane's toilets were blocked.

The airline said staff took two hours to fix the problem, which had been caused by passengers trying to flush away paper cups and other rubbish.

The plane's departure was then further delayed to fit in with a night flight ban at Heathrow airport.More...

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Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka sentenced to 20 years jail...

The high court in Sri Lanka has sentenced a prominent Tamil journalist to 20 years in prison after convicting him under anti-terrorism laws.

JS Tissainayagam was found guilty of "causing communal disharmony".

Mr Tissainayagam was arrested in 2008 and charged with inciting violence in articles in his magazine, the North Eastern Monthly, which is now closed.

He was also accused of receiving funds from the Tamil Tigers rebels. He denied supporting violence. More...

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"She loves you" is all-time best selling Beatles track! Oh yeah...

It was only the band’s second number one, issued as Beatlemania was in its infancy, but newly compiled figures show She Loves You to be the biggest-selling Fab Four track released in the UK.

The 1963 single topped a chart of the act’s greatest sales tallies pushing its follow-up, I Want To Hold Your Hand, into second spot.

The Official Chart Company — which puts together the weekly Top 40 — has trawled its records to pull together an all-time bestseller list of the band’s singles, including the many re-releases over the years. More...

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Dalit woman gives birth by roadside after doctors refuse to attend to her...

Taking serious note of a Dalit woman delivering on the road after being turned away by doctors at the Kamalganj community health centre, the district magistrate has suspended two doctors and recommended dismissal of three midwives. District Magistrate K Dhanlaxmi last night suspended the centre in-charge, Dr.

Vikas Chauhan and Dr. Sunil Verma besides recommending dismissal of Neelam Gautam, Suman Chauhan and Reena, all midwives.

On Friday last, Ramnivas Balmiki of Isapur village had brought his wife for delivery to the centre but the doctors there referred her to the district hospital citing shortage of blood following which the woman had delivered on the road. The DM also issued a warning to the deputy CMO and all departmental officials against recurrence of such incidents.

Source

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The man who ordered a church to be bulldozed, with 2000 Rwandans inside...

Fifteen years after Rwanda's genocide, a businessman went on trial Monday for allegedly ordering bulldozers to demolish a church where 2,000 Tutsis had sought shelter and watching as they were crushed by the collapsing structure or hunted down by armed gangs.

More than half a million members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and moderates from the Hutu majority were slaughtered during the 100-day Rwandan genocide in 1994, and justice is still being meted out. More...

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Victim of black persecution, white South African granted ayslum in Canada...

A white South African has been granted refugee status in Canada after an immigration board ruled he faced persecution from black people if he returned to his native country.

Brandon Huntley, 31, originally from Cape Town, said he was attacked seven times, including three stabbings, by black South Africans during muggings and robberies before he moved to Canada.

He claimed he was called a "white dog" and a "settler" by black people in a reference to South Africa's colonial and apartheid past. More...

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Arabie Saoudite : Les confessions dangereuses d'un jeune saoudien sur sa vie sexuelle...

Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32 ans, divorcé et père de quatre enfants, aurait mieux fait de tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler. Depuis le 7 août, ce Saoudien employé de Saudi Airlines est derrière les verrous. Motif : participant, le 15 juillet, à Ligne rouge, une émission de la chaîne libanaise par satellite LBC, il a raconté par le menu détail sa vie sexuelle. Une confession (livrée depuis sa propre chambre à coucher) que les très chastes autorités de Riyad, où le programme a notamment été diffusé, n’ont pas du tout goûtée. Outre l’arrestation de l’impudent, elles ont ordonné, les 9 et 10 août, la fermeture des bureaux de LBC à Djeddah ainsi que dans la capitale saoudienne. Suite...

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Un jeune français aveugle chante dans un train...

Blind Frenchman singing in a train...

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Comment la Suisse a baissé culotte devant Kadhafi...

Pourquoi le président de la Confédération s'est-il emparé du dossier libyen, pourquoi s'est-il excusé jeudi dernier à Tripoli ? Retour sur un coup de poker qui ravive les tensions au sein du Conseil fédéral.

Hans-Rudolf Merz ne montre aucun signe de surprise ou de déception en descendant les marches de l'avion du Conseil fédéral en ce jeudi 20 août. Rien, pas même une moue dubitative ou un mouvement de recul. Le président de la Confédération vient pourtant d'apprendre que le colonel Kadhafi ne le recevra pas en personne, comme les Libyens le lui ont promis le jour précédent, au moment où ils l'ont invité à Tripoli. Suite...

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20 ans de prison pour un journaliste au Sri Lanka pour "soutien au terrorisme"

Un journaliste tamoul a été condamné lundi à 20 ans de prison par la haute cour du Sri Lanka pour avoir "soutenu" le terrorisme.

J.S. Tissainayagam, 45 ans, journaliste au journal sri lankais Sunday Times et éditeur d'un site internet, Outreachsl.com, consacré à la population tamoule, a été reconnu coupable d'incitation à la "haine raciale" et de "soutien au terrorisme", selon une source judiciaire. Suite...

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Quels sont les intérêts économiques derrière cette grippe porcine dont on nous rabat les oreilles ?

1 million de personnes par an meurent dans le monde de la MALARIA, qui pourrait être prévenue avec un simple moustiquaire.

Les journaux n´en parlent pas!

2 millions d´enfants par an meurent dans le monde de la DIARRHÉE, alors que l´on pourrait l'éviter avec un banal sérum pour 0€25 la dose.

Les journaux n´en parlent pas!

10 millions de personnes par an meurent de la ROUGEOLE, PNEUMONIES et INFIRMITÉS, que l´on pourraient les guérir avec de simples vaccins.

Les journaux n´en parlent pas! Suite...

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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Jaycee, Elisabeth, Natascha, the women the world forgot...

For 18 years Jaycee Lee Dugard lived mostly under canvas. Like campers everywhere she saw the sun come up through the folds of her tent, heard the birds, the hum of traffic, the screech of the local cats, perhaps smelt cooking from houses close by, and then watched the sun disappear beyond the fence that set the boundaries of her home.

The photographs of Ms Dugard’s backyard jail may spin the illusion that her imprisonment, though dreadful, was better than the lot of the entombed Austrians — the schoolgirl Natascha Kampusch (who freed herself in 2006 after eight years underground) and Elisabeth Fritzl, held in a dungeon for almost a quarter of a century. But the tent-world of Ms Dugard may have been an even greater mental torture than that faced by the Austrian cellar children. More...

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Gary Puckett and the Union Gap: Young girl...

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Children being crippled by uranium waste in India as authorities impose silence and threaten health workers...

Their heads are too large or too small, their limbs too short or too bent. For some, their brains never grew, speech never came and their lives are likely to be cut short: these are the children it appears that India would rather the world did not see, the victims of a scandal with potential implications far beyond the country's borders.

Some sit mutely, staring into space, lost in a world of their own; others cry out, rocking backwards and forwards. Few have any real control over their own bodies. Their anxious parents fret over them, murmuring soft words of encouragement, hoping for some sort of miracle that will free them from a nightmare.

(...)

Dr Pritpal Singh, who runs the Faridkot clinic, said the numbers of children affected by the pollution had risen dramatically in the past six or seven years. But he added that the Indian authorities appeared determined to bury the scandal. "They can't just detoxify these kids, they have to detoxify the whole Punjab. That is the reason for their reluctance," he said. "They threatened us and said if we didn't stop commenting on what's happening, they would close our clinic. Full story...

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Ted Kennedy got away with what most of us wouldn't have...

In all the obits published and specials aired this week, Chappaquiddick gets a few paragraphs, a few minutes, a tidy recapping of the events of July 19, 1969: The married Ted Kennedy, driving late at night with young campaign aide Mary Jo Kopechne, pitches off a bridge and into the water below. He escapes; she drowns. He does not report the accident for 10 hours. He pleads guilty and gets a suspended sentence, two months in jail.
In most of these narratives, Chappaquiddick is told as Ted's tragedy, the thing that kept him from ever becoming president. And in these narratives, he is chastened, goes on to make amends through a life of public service, advocating for the disadvantaged and the downtrodden -- and, especially, women. No one's perfect, right? More...
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Somerset Maugham, puppy-throwing and teenage boys on the French Riviera...

A new biography details how Maugham, who also spied for Britain, lavished attention on his gay lovers at the expense of his wife and child.

Maugham was one of the most successful writers of the 20th century and chronicled the declining years of the British Empire in books such as Of Human Bondage as well as working as a spy in Moscow during the Russian revolution, helping inspire Ian Flemming, creator of James Bond.

(...)

Liza Maugham, later Lady Glendevon, who died in 1998, recorded her thoughts about her father with a view to writing a memoir which never materialised.

They remained hidden until transcripts were tracked down to the south of France by Selina Hastings, who has written Maugham’s first authorised biography. Full story...

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Canadian's Lennon peace film (I met the walrus) nabs Emmy...

Canadian Jerry Levitan has collected yet another accolade for his short animated film I Met The Walrus, garnering a Daytime Emmy.

The Torontonian's six-minute film, using pen and ink-style animation, features audio of John Lennon ruminating on global conflict and the need for peace.

"I am stunned that the kindness John Lennon extended to me as a child reverberates to this day around the world," said Levitan in a message to CBCNews.ca on Sunday. More...

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Muammar Gadaffi’s son moving to Britain...

SAIF GADAFFI, the son of the Libyan ruler, is moving his burgeoning media empire to London as he seeks to capitalise on blossoming trade ties with Britain.

Gadaffi, who escorted Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the freed Lockerbie bomber, from Scotland to Tripoli, has bought a £10m home in Hampstead, north London.

Staff at Gadaffi’s television news company, Al Mutawassit, are moving to the UK — with the first broadcast planned this week — and their boss is expected to follow. Ultimately, it aims to rival Al-Jazeera, the leading Arab news channel, with the launch of a website and newspaper. More...

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British gorillas shown photos of their future French lover!!!

Three female gorillas at London Zoo are waiting for their new French lover -- and were given a sneak preview of the Gallic stud coming their way this week.

Mjukuu, 10, Effie, 16, and Zaire, 34, were left bereft after their silverback mate Bobby died in December.

But the wait is almost over, as 12-year-old stud Yeboah, from La Boissiere Du Dore zoo in western France is due to join them in the next few months in the British capital. More...

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When thousands of British children were abused in Australia...

Thousands of British children who suffered abuse in Australian institutions after being sent there by UK authorities are to receive an official apology, it emerged today.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will publicly say sorry after his government said their treatment in care homes was ‘unacceptable’.

Up to 10,000 youngsters, including orphans and children forcibly taken from unmarried mothers and impoverished families, were sent to Australia between 1922 and 1967.

With the encouragement of organisations like the Salvation Army and Barnardos they were sent as migrants to boost the country’s population with “good white stock”. More...

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Who cares about Darfur?

Qui s’inquiète pour Darfour…

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Woman in India kills 6 children to acquire occult powers...

A woman soothsayer allegedly fed pesticide-mixed food to six children in her Pazhaiya Udaiyampatti hamlet in Salem of Tamil Nadu over the last one-and-a-half years to gain occult powers and become a popular 'godwoman'.

The woman, Perumayi (35), and her husband Palanimuthu were arrested on Friday evening after post-mortem report of a three-year-old girl, Priyadarshini, who died on April 26 this year confirmed that she had died of pesticide poisoning. More...

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After the US and India, France now goes after tax suspects in Swiss banks...

France has received a list of 3,000 French taxpayers with bank accounts in Switzerland as part of a double taxation agreement signed between the two countries last week, according to a report in a French newspaper Sunday.

French Budget Minister Eric Woerth was quoted in the weekly Journal du Dimanche as saying the accounts contained some euro3 billion ($4.3 billion), "some of which is very likely linked to tax evasion."
Woerth called on the account holders to come forward and bring their tax affairs in order by the end of the year. He ruled out an amnesty for tax evaders. "That would be an indefensible injustice," he said according to the interview published on the paper's Web site. Full story...

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Séjour tous frais compris pour un ''hôtel à insectes''

Voici une initiative inédite et insolite que vient de lancer le Conseil général des Hauts-de-Seine. Soucieux de préserver les espèces animales présentes dans les parcs et jardins des Hauts-de-Seine, celui-ci a installé un « hôtel à insectes » dans le « Jardin des découvertes », situé dans le parc de l’île Saint Germain, à Issy-les-Moulineaux. Nul maître d’hôtel, ni réceptionniste, mais une maisonnette de quatre étages, destinée à accueillir les prédateurs naturels des ennemis des jardiniers que sont les pucerons, limaces et autres chenilles. Suite...

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Google Street View dans le collimateur de l'armée Suisse...

"Cet examen durera quelques semaines, il s'agit de voir tout cela de très près avec des experts", a indiqué dimanche à l'ATS Martin Bühler, porte-parole du département fédéral de la défense (DDPS). Il confirmait une information du journal "Sonntag".

Il s'agit notamment de voir si des infrastructures et des locaux militaires apparaissent sur Street View, et s'il sont classifiés ou non. Le fait de pouvoir zoomer sur les bâtiments et dans les véhicules peut également poser un problème de protection des données. Suite...

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Gloria Mika, protectrice du Gabon...

Le processus de transition démocratique bât de l'aile au Gabon. Des opposants stigmatisent une fraude organisée selon eux par les héritiers de l'ancien président Omar Bongo, décédé en juin dernier. Gloria Mika, une jeune gabonaise, lance un réseau de veille citoyen pour contrôler la transparence du scrutin et obtenir son report. Suite...

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3.000 contribuables français en Suisse dans le collimateur de Bercy...

"Nous avons récupéré les noms de 3.000 contribuables détenteurs de comptes dans les banques suisses dont une partie correspond très probablement à de l'évasion fiscale", explique Eric Woerth, ministre du budget, dans les colonnes du Journal du Dimanche. "Ces comptes sont ouverts dans trois banques et représentent des avoirs à hauteur de 3 milliards d'euros."

Eric Woerth explique que c'est la première fois que la France obtient, pas le biais de déclarations d'établissements bancaires et sans contrepartie financière, "ce type d'informations, précises, avec les noms, les numéros de comptes et les montants en dépôt. C'est exceptionnel". Suite...

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Mountazar al-Zeidi (le lanceur de chaussures de Bush) libre le 14 septembre...

Mountazar al-Zeidi, le journaliste irakien qui avait lancé sans l'atteindre en décembre dernier ses chaussures au visage de George W. Bush, va bénéficier d'une libération anticipée le 14 septembre pour bonne conduite, a annoncé samedi son avocat.

Le journaliste avait été condamné le 12 mars à Bagdad à trois ans de prison pour agression contre un dirigeant étranger, peine ramenée par la suite à un an d'emprisonnement en raison de son absence d'antécédents judiciaires.

Moutazar al-Zeidi, dont le geste est devenu un moyen de protestation populaire dans le monde entier, va être remis en liberté avec trois mois d'avance. "Nous avons été officiellement informés de la décision du tribunal", a déclaré à l'Associated Press l'avocat du journaliste, Karim al-Shujairi. "Sa libération sera une victoire pour la presse irakienne libre et honorable", a-t-il ajouté. Suite...

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Dude applies to become a cop, arrested for child porn!!!

David Seaton Teller wanted to become a cop. Now he’s charged with possession of child pornography.

Teller, 24, of Fernandina Beach was arrested Wednesday by detectives with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office after he had applied to be a police recruit with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. His questionnaire included comments about peeking at and touching a young boy’s genitals in Jacksonville.

During follow-up questions, information was obtained about child pornography possibly still on Teller’s computer. Authorities seized the computer, and officials with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement determined there were numerous images of naked children in provocative poses and kids engaged in explicit sexual activities on the computer.

Source

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One third of Hong Kong teens willing to be prostitutes...

One in three Hong Kong teenagers would consider selling sex for money as the trend of so-called "compensated dating" sweeps the city, a survey found Sunday. Of nearly 600 youngsters aged 12 to 20 questioned in the wealthy city of 7 million, 34 per cent said they would consider offering compensated dating, a euphemism for prostitution, as a full-time job.

Sixty per cent of those who said they would consider compensated dating said they would do it mainly to earn quick cash, while 23 per cent said they would do it for their own sexual gratification.
The survey by the Hong Kong Christian Service came despite a grisly case in July in which a 24-year-old man was jailed for life for murdering a 16-year-old girl he met over the internet. More...
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Health Ranger and Don't inject me (swine flu song)

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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Kashmiri Muslims perform funeral of Hindu man...

In a unique display of communal harmony, Muslims neighbours here performed the last rites of a Hindu man who stayed back when most of the Pandit families fled during the early 1990s when Islamist insurgency erupted in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bhola Nath Kachroo of Srinagar, who was living with his wife and a daughter here, died Friday after an illness and had nobody to perform his funeral.

The family was devastated when Kachroo, who his neighbour said was "very old", passed away. There was no other Pandit family nearby to help them.

But, Muslims in the area helped the family in performing the last rites of Kachroo. More...

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Secret letters reveal Labour’s Libyan deal: oil for al-Megrahi...

DURING the past year a small ship bristling with computers and seismic equipment has been crisscrossing the Gulf of Sidra, in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast. Its mission: to help to find BP’s next offshore oilfields.

The company’s search for oil off Libya and in a 20,000-mile area in the west of the country potentially offers as much as £15 billion in new revenue. But less than two years ago it was feared that the deal could founder — and the reason was wrangling over Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the jailed Lockerbie bomber.

BP was finally given the go-ahead six weeks after a volte-face by the British government to include Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya under which prisoners could serve out sentences in their home countries. Jack Straw, the justice secretary, revealed this decision in a letter to his Scottish counterpart. He cited “wider negotiations” and the “overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom”. More...

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The teen , the paedophile, the burglars and the laptop...

AN INNOCENT schoolgirl has bravely relived her terrifying sex ordeal at the hands of a skinhead internet pervert who groomed her on Bebo.

Plucky Charmaine Bolton, just 15, cringes as she describes the webcam image that haunts her - a fat, naked skinhead on a sofa looking directly at her performing a sex act.

But with the support of her parents she has waived her anonymity - determined to warn other teenagers of the danger of making friends with strangers on networking sites.

Charmaine, who began self-harming after her ordeal, says: "It makes me feel sick and silly to think what he did. I want other youngsters to read what happened to me so they don't fall into the same trap." More...

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Eddie Brickell and Circle

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No love for the Roma in Hungary...

On the far side of railway tracks, on the outskirts of the city of Ozd, in northern Hungary, is what must be one of the most deprived villages in Europe.

Home to around 400 Roma or Gypsy people, corralled on the edge of town, is what is essentially a slum.

They live in buildings that once provided homes for workers from the nearby steelworks, but conditions are truly dreadful.

Many windows have no glass; tiles are missing from the roofs; some buildings have collapsed altogether.

Just a handful of communal toilets and taps serve the whole community. More...

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Bush shoe-thrower Muntadhar al-Zeidi to be released soon...

An Iraqi journalist imprisoned for hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi’s act of protest during Bush’s last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, as his case became a rallying point for critics who resented the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation.

“Al-Zeidi’s shoes were a suitable farewell for Bush’s deeds in Iraq,” Sunni lawmaker Dhafir al-Ani said in welcoming the early release. “Al-Zeidi’s act expressed the real will and feelings of the Iraqi people. His anger against Bush was the result of the suffering of his countrymen.” More...

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Lockerbie: was Libya's al‑Megrahi the scape-goat in a grave miscarriage of justice?

Abdelbaset Ali al‑Megrahi was released from prison in Scotland and returned to Libya last week.

He was convicted in 2001 of murdering 270 people when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded above the Scottish town of Lockerbie 13 years earlier.

Yet there is a huge amount of evidence to support Megrahi’s contention that he is innocent.

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed on Flight 103, has branded Megrahi’s conviction “one of the gravest miscarriages of justice in history”. More...

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Rape in Iran's prisons: a victim tells her story. Sad...

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World churches leader says Israeli occupation is a “sin against God”

The outgoing general secretary of the World Council of Churches has said that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories should be declared a "sin against God".

"Occupation along with the concomitant humiliation of a whole people for over six decades constitutes not just economic and political crimes but, like anti-Semitism, it is a sin against God," said WCC general secretary the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, in a report on 26 August 2009 to a meeting of the church grouping's main governing body, its central committee.

He noted that at its founding assembly in Amsterdam in 1948, the WCC has declared that anti-Semitism is a "sin against God". Kobia said, "Are we ready to say that occupation is also a sin against God?" More...

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Jesus of Siberia: Russian claims to be the son of God!!!

The beard and long hair are both present and correct.

And with his flowing linen robes and beatific smile he certainly does a fine impression of a holy man.

But to his believers in this remote corner of Siberia, Sergei Torop, a former traffic policeman, is the literal reincarnation of none other than Jesus Christ.

Torop, 48, is the spiritual leader of at least 5,000 devoted followers, among them intellectuals, artists and professionals who flock to worship him in the small isolated village of Petropavlovka - more than 2000 miles from Moscow. More+photos...

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Majority of Americans think swine flu vaccine is deadlier than the virus itelf...

According to a Fox News poll, the majority of respondents think that the swine flu vaccine is deadlier than the actual virus itself, emphasizing the growing momentum in the revolt against government plans to institute mass H1N1 vaccination programs.

Despite attempts on behalf of governments and their lapdog corporate media allies to push the necessity of the H1N1 vaccination, large numbers of the general public along with health workers have made it known that they will refuse to take the shot.

The latest effort on behalf of the establishment to push the vaccine occurred earlier this week when Dr. Nancy Snyderman, billed as chief medical editor at NBC News, stated during an MSNBC panel discussion that people should reject “conspiracy theories” about the vaccine’s safety, trust the government and “get your damn vaccine”. More...

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Brigitte Bardot & Serge Gainsbourg: Je t'aime, moi non plus...

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Séquestrée pendant 18 ans et personne n'était au courant. C'est possible?

En 2006, des voisins avaient alerté les autorités sur la présence de personnes dans le jardin de Phillip Garrido...

C'est un voisin qui l'explique au LA Times.

En 2006, Damon Robinson, qui vit toujours à côté de la maison de Phillip et Nancy Garrido, venait de s'installer dans sa nouvelle maison. Sa compagne d'alors l'appelle sur son lieu de travail et lui dit: "Ils ont des tentes. Il y a des gens qui vivent là. Deux petites filles"...

La jeune femme appelle le 911, le numéro d'urgence aux Etats-Unis pour leur signaler. Les policiers débarquent alors chez celui que l'on accuse d'avoir séquestré et violé Jacee Lee Dugard pendant 18 ans. Suite...

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L’horreur dans un abattoir du groupe Charal...

Ce sont de bien morbides révélations que vient de mettre au grand jour l’association de protection animale L214. S’attendant à essuyer un refus suite à une demande de visite de l’abattoir Charal basé à Metz, un enquêteur du groupe associatif a postulé à une offre d’emploi sur le site d’abattage au titre d’ouvrier abattoir. Une démarche aisée au regard de l’absence de qualification ou d’expérience professionnelle requise. Ainsi, pendant trois semaines, du 8 au 26 septembre 2008, l’enquêteur rendu sur place a pu observer les pratiques en œuvre dans cet abattoir. Suite...

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Kadhafi ne plantera pas sa tente en Amérique...

Il devait s'installer dans une banlieue de New York où résident des parents de victimes de l’attentat de Lockerbie.

Le dirigeant libyen a prévu de participer fin septembre à New York à l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU, pour la première fois depuis 40 ans, et les habitants d’Englewood, 30 000 habitants, craignaient qu’il ne s’installe pendant la durée de son séjour sur un terrain que possède la Libye dans la commune.

"Je suis très heureux que Mouammar Kadhafi ait apparemment renoncé à venir à Engelwood", a affirmé vendredi le parlementaire Steve Rothman, notant que "sa présence aurait posé des problèmes de sécurité pour les habitants d’Englewood et les diplomates libyens". Suite...

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Pakistani kid dancing Hip Hop! Cool...

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A little bit of India ... in Bangkok!!!

Outdoor markets tout sari sales, five-star hotels feature Indian chefs and Thais drop by a temple in the financial district to beseech Hindu gods to send profits their way.

India pops up in unexpected places in the Thai capital with the country's ancient Hindu civilization infusing the Thai language, classical dance and religious architecture.

An estimated 140,000 of the city's 10-plus million residents have roots in modern India, making their presence amply felt in Bangkok's hotels, markets, tailor shops, the gem trade, cricket leagues and contemporary art galleries. More...

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Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnap: How did this crime go undetected for so long?

Jaycee Lee Dugard spent her 18 years in captivity in primitive sheds and tents just yards away from neighbours.

Evil Phillip Garrido and wife Nancy imprisoned the youngster in a secret section of their backyard.

Jaycee endured part of her ordeal locked in a 10ft by 10ft tarpaulin-covered shack that opened only from outside. It was soundproofed to prevent neighbours hearing her cries.

One, Erika Pratt, spotted the secret 140ft by 90ft compound after peering over the fence three years ago. But police did nothing. More...

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In Italy there's a bank ... for cheese!!!

It is a bank, but not as you know it.

Yes, it has electronic security doors. Yes, there are cameras watching every angle. And, Yes, barbed wire surrounds the perimeter.

But in this bank, you do not see any cash or diamonds. Instead, the deposits here have a different kind of value.

So valuable that, just like other banks, it has been robbed. Three times. More...

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The Muppets sing the Beatles' With a little help from my friends...

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Atheists offer to care for Christians' pets after the Rapture!!! Hilarious...

It's a question that all animal-loving Christian evangelicals must address: who will look after their pets on Earth when the Rapture comes and they are taken up to heaven?

Now a group of atheists in the US have come up with a tongue-in-cheek solution, offering to take in the cats and dogs of "saved" believers in return for a small fee.

All the atheists signed up by Eternal Earth-Bound Pets are self-confessed sinners and blasphemers, guaranteeing they will be left behind when the chosen are selected.

The business idea is an irreverent attempt to cash in on the belief – widespread among US Christians – that the pious will be carried up to heaven by God in a sudden swoop, leaving unbelievers to endure the seven-year reign of the anti-Christ on Earth. More...

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Cows in the Swiss Alps committing suicide???

In the picturesque Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen, the locals are worried.

Dozens of alpine cows appear to be committing suicide by throwing themselves off a cliff near the small village in the Alps.

In the space of just three days, 28 cows and bulls have mysteriously died after they plunged hundreds of metres to rocks below where they were killed instantly.

In each case, local mountain rescue services using a helicopter had to be called in to remove the bodies because of the danger to the local groundwater of pollution. More...

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More on US internment camps...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column questioning why it was necessary for our federal government to be constructing internment camps all over America.

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I felt it was time for someone such as me to publicly broach the subject. Needless to say, the response was overwhelming. Even more interesting is the fact that the web link to the National Guard Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of "Internment/Resettlement Specialist" that I included in my column was removed shortly after the column was published. Was this a coincidence? Full story...

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Swine flu vaccine? Not for us, say its creators...

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Video evidence of Sri Lankan government war crimes...

A video, broadcast on the British-based “Channel 4 News” this week, has provided further first-hand evidence of the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan government and its military forces during the final stages of its crushing of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The video footage, screened on the CNN-affiliate on August 25, shows Sri Lankan soldiers executing naked, bound and blindfolded men in cold blood. The men appear to be Tamils. It is not known whether they were LTTE fighters or civilians.

First, a naked man, his hands bound behind his back, is pushed to the ground. Then a man in military uniform delivers a forceful kick to the back of the prisoner’s head with the heel of his boot. As the prisoner slumps forward, another soldier points his automatic weapon and fires a single shot. The man’s body jolts. “It’s like he jumped,” laughs one of the giggling soldiers. Off-camera, someone can be heard saying in Sinhala, “I think he looked back.” More...

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Friday, August 28, 2009

Thai activist jailed for 18 years for insulting royal family...

A court in Bangkok sentenced the activist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul to 18 years in prison yesterday for insulting the Thai Royal Family, the latest in a flurry of cases that analysts say are inhibiting freedom of speech and stifling political dissent.

Ms Daranee was convicted of three charges of lèse-majesté for remarks that she made in speeches last year criticising the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra, who was then the Prime Minister.

Mr Thaksin, who was convicted in absentia last year of breaching conflict of interest laws and lives abroad to avoid a jail term, remains a polarising figure in Thai politics. More...

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Canada looks at Vitamin D for swine flu protection...

Canada appears to be one of the first countries to literally “see the light.”

Over the course of at least three flu seasons, Canada’s public health agency plans to analyze the impact vitamin D levels have on flu severity and, if they find a correlation between severe flu cases and vitamin D levels, will then decide whether vitamin D can be used to lessen serious cases of seasonal flu. While the study started out focused on seasonal flu, the agency is now adapting the study to the swine flu virus.

This is exactly the type of research that stands to make a real difference in public health, with the unfortunate aspect being that it may take years to bear out.
I highly suggest you don’t wait for their results to come in, as there is already overflowing evidence showing that your vitamin D levels play a role in your likelihood of getting the flu.Full story...
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India's brutal and violent police...

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Un habitant de Bombay arrêté pour s’être marié 14 fois!!!

Un homme a été arrêté par la police à Bombay, la semaine dernière pour avoir illégalement épousé pas moins de 14 femmes, ces trois dernières années, révèle le Times of India.

Cinq plaintes ont été déposées à l'encontre de Tushar Waghmare, chacunes d'elles par différentes épouses de ce dernier, ancien salarié de la compagnie aérienne nationale Air India.

Cet ingénieur de 40 ans s'était créé un profil sur un site de rencontre "matrimonial", comme il en existe de nombreux en Inde, où les mariages arrangés restent la norme. Affirmant avoir divorcé sa femme en 2006, il prenait ainsi contact avec des épouses potentielles et organisait des rendez-vous avec leurs parents dans un des appartements qu'il louait. Suite...

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