Black And Orange Day? Meet the New Wording For A Toronto Kids Halloween

The Toronto District School Board is making sure that no one can bellyache about Halloween being offensive to those religious groups out to end any possible association with school and a religious holiday.

Tomorrow in many of the city schools kids will be having fun on “Black and Orange Day.”

The TDSB has already taken measures into it’s own hands making sure that tomorrow’s fun filled holiday spirit will not infringe on anyone’s beliefs. While to many it may sound a bit silly it makes a bit of sense. Every year schools have to deal with the C-word in December.

The school board has outlined six reasons why Halloween had to be changed for this school term.

1. “Halloween is a religious day of significance for Wiccans and therefore should be treated respectfully.”

Now mind you there are no numbers of how many kids in Toronto are of the Wiccan faith but it’s best to be ultra Politically Correct these days.

2. “Peer and social/media consumer pressures target all children and their families as consumers of costumes, makeup, food products, etc. Many students and their families can feel this socio-economic marginalization keenly.”

That’s right, Junior and Missy don’t want to break the bank getting gussed up as a witch or goblin this year during school hours. After all they are very concerned with their parent’s bank accounts.

3. “The images and icons associated with consumer-oriented Halloween can come into conflict with some students’ and their families’ religious beliefs.”

Dressing up can be an affront to some one. We mustn’t rock the boat focks. And blood and gore is just not kosher anymore.

Just don’t tell that to the lines of kids going to see this year’s version of Saw.

4. “The food products that are marketed heavily during the Halloween period can come into conflict with students’ and their families’ dietary habits.”

Candies are bad. Peanuts may be in them. Dentists abhor them. It’s just good dietary sense to ban sweet things.

Just don’t go to the teacher’s lounge and take away their chocolates. It could get ugly.

5. “Some students have had first-hand traumatic experiences of violence that make talking about death, ghosts, etc., extremely alienating.”

Kids can’t tell the difference between pretend and reality. After all in this age of American Idol, Paris Hilton’s BFF and The Hills reality can be a bit of pretend.

6. “Many recently arrived students in our schools share no background cultural knowledge of trick-or-treating or the commercialization of death as ‘fun.’”

Let’s not culture shock the kiddies with a fun activity.

So kids get dressed up tomorrow for your school’s “Black and Orange Day.” You may not understand the reasoning but don’t worry you can still go door to door to nab candy in the evening.

Canadian Blood Services Urging Blood Donors To Give The Gift Of Life

Canadians are being asked to roll up their sleeves and donate blood. Some hospitals have had to delay treatments or postpone elective surgeries because the national blood inventory as fallen.

On Wednesday Canadian Blood Services started to urge donors to come forward and give the gift of life.

The service said on Tuesday there is currently only a two day reserve for the most common blood types.

Yahoo News reports:

It may surprise Canadians to know that even in good times, we only carry four to six days supply of blood to meet the entire country’s needs, ” said Dr. Graham Sher, CEO of Canadian Blood Services.

“Right now, for the most critical blood types, we are hovering around a two-day supply. This puts the blood system, and Canadians who depend on it, in a vulnerable position. Simply put, we need more donors now.”

About half of those who can donate blood do in Canada. This year though those donors have not been active with only one in 60 rolling up their sleeves.

There are many reasons why eligible people should donate if they can. From the Canadian Blood Services here are some reasons to roll up your sleeves.

* 1 in 2 Canadians say that they or a family member has required blood
* 1 in 2 Canadians can give blood
* 1 in 60 actually has given blood in the past year
* There are 400,000 active blood donors in Canada
* Over 90,000 donors are required each and every month to keep up with hospital demand
* In the last three years, hospital demand is up 3.3 per cent
* Donors can give every 56 days
* A cancer patient can require up to eight units of blood weekly
* A liver transplant may need up to 50 units of blood

If you are over 17 and under 71 you can donate. You must weigh at least 50 kg.(110 pounds). You can give blood every 56 days. You should be in good health and not ill at the time of donation. You will be tested prior to giving blood to make sure your hemoglobin is okay.

If you have had a recent body piercing (including ears) or a tattoo you must wait 6 months to donate.

If you would like to schedule an appointment or have more information call 1 888 2 DONATE.

Farts Appear To Do A Body Good

Next time you let loose with some gas know that it’s a healthy act even if others around you back away. The aroma of a fart comes from hydrogen sulfide and it’s helping rid the body of bacteria.

Researchers have found that the cells lining mice’s blood vessels make the gas and that the normal release of it lowers blood pressure. Those researchers believe that principle is the same in humans.

LiveScience reports:

“Now that we know hydrogen sulfide’s role in regulating blood pressure, it may be possible to design drug therapies that enhance its formation as an alternative to the current methods of treatment for hypertension,” said Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., a co-author of the study detailed in the Oct. 24th issue of the journal Science.

Using normal mice and mice missing a gene for an enzyme known as CSE the researchers found that the mice without the gene depleted the gas through their cardiovascular system.

The mice were then subjected to higher blood pressure which was comparable to what would be serious high blood pressure in humans. The scientists then had the mice respond to a chemical called methacholine that relaxes normal blood vessels. Those mice missing CSE hardly relaxed. This proved to the researchers that hydrogen sulfide is a contender for keeping blood pressure regulated.

The research could provide scientists to new treatments in the future for diabetes and neurodegenerative disease.

The research is being funded by U.S. Public Health Service and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as well as a Research Scientist Award.

Losing It All Just Because One Becomes Sick

You’ve got a chronic illness, should you go to the doctor or pay your mortgage? That is the question facing many in the United States. The Commonwealth Fund says that 41 percent of working-age adults are struggling with medical debts.

That is 72 million United States citizens.

When a medical crisis happens many families have to seek bankruptcy in order to stay above water. Yahoo’s Health Day reports:

“The way people get in trouble is they have substantial debt they’re managing, they’re paying mortgages and paying off credit card balances, but they’re managing. Then a shock occurs,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-author of a medical bankruptcy paper from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project. “In bankruptcy, in about half of those cases, that shock is a medical shock.”

“The shock often takes the form of higher bills. It can also take the form of higher bills and loss of work because you’re sick,” added Woolhandler, who is an advocate of national health insurance.

Those who have a chronic illness have the hardest time. With deductibles above what most families can afford many find they can quickly be swimming in credit card debt to cover their bills. When those debts mount up they are forced to declare bankruptcy.

Larry and Donna Smith are one such couple that fell through the cracks as they watched their deductable rise. They have six children and employer-sponsored health insurance. In the late 1990’s they started watching their co-pays and deductibles rising.

“While we were both well, we could absorb that creep,” said Donna, formerly a newspaper editor and now a community organizer for the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee in Chicago.

Donna got uterine cancer and Larry came down with artery disease. At that point paying medical bills became a juggling act that failed in the end. They were forced to ask family for money just to get by. That need damaged relationships and humiliated the family. At one point Donna had to hack her engagement ring.

In the end it was a $600 dermatologist bill that took them over the edge and into bankrupcy court. They had to sell their home. During all this chaos they were still insured.

The family is now renting in Chicago.

“I don’t know if we have enough working years left to buy a house,” Donna said. “That’s pretty heavy punishment for having gotten sick.”

They are not alone. In fact so many are riding the trials and tribulations of medical debt Mike Leavitt, head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated during a recent news conference:

“If we had any idea how many mortgages were foreclosed because people were crowded out by medical issues … Health-care costs are at the heart of many of the things happening.”

Superbug Staph Getting Even Harder To Treat

Drug-resistant staph bacteria is getting harder to treat. What once was a simple problem to solve is now causing more serious illnesses than ever before.

The staph germs that are in common community settings are gaining the term “superbug” and it’s healthy people who are at risk. These germs used to be easier to treat than the more dangerous staph found in hospitals and nursing homes.

The culprit is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a common bacteria that many people carry on their skin or in their noses infecting others while having no symptoms. Most of the time MRSA causes skin infections and although it can be serious it is treatable. The problems arise when the bacteria gets into the bloodsteam, lungs or organs. On Monday at a Washington infectious diseases conference doctors reported pneumonia, sinus infections and even “flesh-eating” wounds due to MRSA are on the rise.

20,000 deaths a year are caused by the staph bacteria. 95,000 people will have to be treated for serious infections from it.

MRSA is generally resistant to penicillin drugs. 10 percent of staph infections are also becoming immune to clindamycin, tetracycline, Bactrim or other antibiotics.

Illegal Immigrants Are Returning Home As The US Economy Falls

The economic crisis is hitting more than just American citizens in the United States; illegal immigrants are finding that the land of opportunity is not what it used to be. Fewer are crossing the border and more are leaving to return home on their own.

The numbers are changing. Fewer people are taking a chance crossing the border illegally. The change hasn’t to do with better fences, more guards or stiffer requirements. The change is that there are no jobs waiting for those who take the chance at a better life living as a ghost in the United States.

Border Patrol has seen a decrease of 12 percent along the Mexican border. Those who are here are sending less money back to their families. Those who are staying here in the states have already established roots and know even in these hard times their job prospects are still better in the US than at home.

The flow across the border generally perks during the holiday season. This year though that flow has been larger says Border Patrol. Mexico City’s municipal government predicts between 20,000 to 30,000 immigrants above the normal amount of illegal immigrants will return to Mexico unable to find work in the States.

There are still an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. so the numbers returning are not a huge change. Still those numbers are large enough to show that the land of opportunity is not the field of dreams that it once was.

ACLU Requests Information About Internal Deployment

The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding information about reports that the military has been deployed to help with civil unrest and crowd control within the United States.

This action could jeopardize separation between civilian and military government.

The ACLU says that the American public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed according to an information request that was filed on October 21.

The ACLU’s web site reports:

“The military’s deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered,” said Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “What is the unit’s mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to deploy the unit rather than rely on civilian agencies and personnel and the National Guard? Given the magnitude of the issues at stake, it is imperative that the American people know the truth about this new and unprecedented intrusion of the military in domestic affairs.”

As I reported on September 25, 2008 the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team is being deployed to the United States on a permanent mission.

The ACLU cites the same report that was released by the Army Times. The military unit has been deployed for active duty under Northern Command. Northern Command was established in 2002 to assist federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. This is the first time that an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment.

Inside the United States border civilian authorities have controlled and directed internal affairs in the past.

The ACLU reports:

“This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority, and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law,” said Mike German, ACLU national security policy counsel and former FBI Agent. “Our Founding Fathers understood the threat that a standing army could pose to American liberty. While future generations recognized the need for a strong military to defend against increasingly capable foreign threats, they also passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people. The erosion of these protections should concern every American.”

After 9/11 the Department of Defense has expanded its role in domestic law enforcement and the different intelligence operations that monitior activity within the United States. This includes the use of wiretapping civilians. The ACLU has repeatedly expressed concerns about such actions. The use of active military troops has heightened this concern.

Doing Something In The Midst Of Helplessness

One of the things I do for our family is to care for them when someone is sick. That has changed, I can’t really do any of the everyday nursing of Henry while he lies asleep in his ICU bed. The mountains of wires, machines, etc. makes it hard to even lean in to kiss his cheek. But now I am able to do something. The unit’s physio therapist noticed that I am often massaging his legs and hand. (one hand and arm are a maze of wires making it impossible to massage) Yesterday she came over and showed me the best ways to work on his legs and arm. It’s not much I know but it’s something that I can do that is active.

My mother was in ICU 17 years ago for over 6 weeks. I don’t remember feeling as helpless. She had cancer and we knew that it was bad. We had an idea of what was going to happen.

I didn’t know how big a difference I would feel that this time it’s my husband, my partner, the man that I talk to everyday about stupid ideas, who I giggle with every night before sleeping. We’re supposed to grow old in our rocking chairs watching our great grandchildren. I cling to those talks. I know they may be altered dreams but they help me go on each day.

Neighbours are talking about how they look to our courtyard expecting to see Henry and I sitting for that last quick chat every morning after the kids have gone to school, right before our work days start. We act like teenagers in love. We’re that couple that people comment about on the streetcar because we glow together.

Sleeping is hard. I miss his snore. He sounds like a freight train when he gets it going. It soothes me to sleep. Crazy I know, it wakes others up. I am an odd duck.

Henry I miss you. When you wake up though I will talk to you for hours about codes and Chilly Willy and the insanity of people that do crazy things. All you have to do is wake up.

A Change of Direction

My posts are generally news but for the next while I will also be writing about our journey in my husband’s heart attack. One week ago today he was fallen by a heart attack on the way to work. He’s still in a medically induced coma. It will be a slow, tedious process but as a family we are strong. With three kids still at home and one very sick man I am exhausted much of the time. Scared, angry, frustrated, worried………..all mixed into elation with each grain of sand that is positive. I am not willing at this point to not be positive on the final outcome. I know in my brain what the negatives could be but my heart and my soul will only cling to the positives. We laugh, we smile, we cry. Life moves forward.

Today I had a milkshake with a friend. Talking about forks and laughing. That’s the best medicine to keep strong and going on.

H20ooohh Indoor Family Waterpark Is Bringing Summer To Wintry Poconos

It may get cold and snowy in Pennsylvania but come Halloween those in Lake Harmony’s H20ooohh Indoor Family Waterpark will be able to beach it inside while Jack Frost is hanging around.

A new indoor water park is opening at the Split Rock Resort and Golf Club. H20ooohh Indoor Family Waterpark cost $19 million to build. It will feature hot tubs, three large slides, a wave pool, a tree house and a FlowRider. There is even a water area set aside just for the diaper set. A food court and tiki bar complete the family themed park.

To enjoy a summery break in the middle of winter the park will set you back $40 for general admission and $35 for the kiddies (those under 42 inches). Children under the age of two are free. If you wait until after 4 p.m. the prices are reduced by $8. Towels are not provided.

The park will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

There will also be packages for the resort that include lodging and waterpark admission. The cost will begin at $100.50 midweek and $133 on the weekends. That is the lowest costs and there is a two-night minimum stay.

AP Reports Shows Palin Had The State Pay Children’s Expenses While Governor of Alaska

An AP report shows that Sarah Palin charged Alaska for her children’s travel. The state funded travel expenses when the children were not invited and records show that expense reports were amended after the fact to say they were on official business.

The charges include air travel and hotel stays for Palin’s three daughters to watch a snowmobile race that Todd Palin was in and a trip to New York. The New York trip was for a five-hour conference yet Bristol stayed with her mother for five days and four nights at a luxury hotel.

The total cost of the trips was $21,012 for the girls. That was for 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since Palin took office in December 2006. There are also some hotel room charges for the girls.

Palin justified the expenses by saying that her daughters were invited to the events. When organizers were questioned though it was found that the children showed up uninvited.

The Associated Press report also shows that three weeks prior to being named as McCain’s running mate Palin ordered changes to expense reports that had been previously filed that involved her children’s travel.

The report also showed that Palin shewed the reports to make it seem that her daughters were more involved in some events than was fact.

At times the children also flew with their mother on a state plane. Those flights did not increase the cost of travel.

At this time the state of Alaska is reviewing almost $17,000 of per diem payments to Palin for the time she spent at her own home in Wasalla.

Former Alaskan mayor Tony Knowles says that he never charged the state for his children’s travel expenses. AP quotes the former governor:

“There was no valid reason for the children to be along on state business,” said Knowles, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. “I cannot recall any instance during my eight years as governor where it would have been appropriate to claim they performed state business.”

UNICEF Worker Gunned Down on Streets in Somalia

A Somali aid worker was killed by gunman on Sunday. Muktar Mohammed
Hassan, a worker for UNICEF is the second aid worker to be assassinated
in the Horn of Africa in two days.

Muktar Mohammed Hassan was ambushed by three men as he walked through Hudar. He was killed on the spot.

Two days ago a U.N. worker was murdered as he left a mosque in the town of Merka.

In the capital Mogadishu fighting has escalated. Insurgents are targeting local people working with foreign aid agencies.

Nearly 10,000 civilians have died aas a result of the fighting in
Somalia. Aid workers are saying that the area is the worst humanitarian
crisis in the world. More than a million people have had to flee their
homes.

Yahoo reports:

Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, speaking in
Mogadishu on Sunday, said his government needed international
assistance to stem the menace of piracy off the Somali coast.

“We know that seven warships from NATO are already in the Somali
coast, we welcome them … We ask for the international community’s
help to end piracy problems,” Nur told reporters.

Hawaii Ends Universal Health Care For Children

Just months after launching universal child health care Hawaii is shutting down the program. The reason? Budget cuts have eliminated the funding that the program requires.

Families that dropped their private coverage for the program will be eligible for the subsidized plan.

Yahoo reports:

“People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,” said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. “I don’t believe that was the intent of the program.”

There are 2,000 children who would no longer have health coverage as of November 1 had Hawaii Medical Service Association, the private partner, not decided to extend the coverage until the end of the year.

“We’re very disappointed in the state’s decision, and it came as a complete surprise to us,” said Jennifer Diesman, a spokeswoman for HMSA, the state’s largest health care provider. “We believe the program is working, and given Hawaii’s economic uncertainty, we don’t think now is the time to cut all funding for this kind of program.”

The program was approved by state lawmakers in 2007 to ensure each child would have basic medical care. It was aimed at children from birth to the age of 18 whose parents didn’t have health insurance. The program cost the state about $50,000 a month or a mere $25.50 per child.

The universal health care program cost the families only $7 per office visit. Many of those no longer with insurance are not eligible for Medicaid.

These children also could sign up for the HMSA Children’s Plan, which costs about $55 a month.

“Most of them won’t be eligible for Medicaid, and that’s why they were enrolled in Keiki Care,” Diesman said. “It’s the gap group that we’re trying to ensure has coverage.”

Medical Emergency: What To Do To Be A Hero

If you’re on a streetcar or at a restaurant and someone collapses do you know what to do? Your actions could mean life and death for that person.

Always know the first plan of action is to call 911 for emergency assistance. If you are on public transportation yell to the driver and they will make that call.

In the case of cardiac arrest begin C-P-R immediately. Signs that cardiac arrest is the problem are no pulse, no blood pressure, unconsciousness, not breathing or gasping for breath.

If a person has had a stroke they may still be breathing but unresponive. Stay with the person until medical help arrives.

If a person is having a seizure they are generally reponsive to shaking. Roll the person to their side. DO NOT please anything in their mouth. Seizures generally strike the young and many who have seizure disorders will have a medical alert braclet.

The most important thing you can do is to act. Your actions could be the one thing that saves a person’s life.

I know that the fast reactions of a streetcar teenage angel is what saved the life of my husband, Henry. He was on a Toronto streetcar last Wednesday when he had a heart attack. We still don’t know the name of the girl who was sitting behind him but her actions is why he is still alive. She saw him slump over and alerted the bus driver. A doctor was on the streetcar and started CPR immediately.

Please if you see someone collapse don’t think someone else will act, be the hero. A family will be forever in your debt.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wins Second Conservative Minority

The Conservatives Stephen Harper will remain in power as the votes pour in Canada. The win comes with a minority government, leaving Harper with what he was hoping to fix when he called for this election five weeks ago.

The government is still in the same situation it was in when this election was called. Quebec proved to dash Harper’s hopes for a majority government.

Once a Grit stronghold, Ontario proved a hard sell for the Liberals. The Liberals also didn’t fare well in Central Canada.

In Nova Scotia the Green party Leader Elizabeth May lose her riding. Yahoo quotes May:

“We ran an exuberant, a joyful and a positive campaign,” said the Green party leader.

“And if the kids five years up could have voted, I would have won by a landslide.”

The Liberals faced a huge defeat as the final tallies are coming in. By midnight the Tories had won in 144 ridings out of a possible 308. The Liberals lost about 20 ridings falls to just 75 spots. The Bloc Quebecois has 48 seats and the NDP has 38 seats.

Jack Layton won his riding in Toronto. He is quoted on CTV:

No party has a mandate to implement an agenda without agreement from the other parties,” Layton said. “I believe the people of Canada have called upon all parties to put aside the acrimony that arises in campaigns, and to come together in the public interest. So we’re going to do exactly that.”

With only a 37-day campaign this election had one of the shortest possible campaign periods allowable by Canadian law.

In the end Harper will sleep tonight at 22 Sussex Drive with much the same government that he ran Monday morning.

“It’s difficult to see … how the prime minister comes back to the people of Canada, at the end, of the day and says this election was worth something,” former Liberal cabinet minister Brian Tobin told CTV News

Today is Election Day in Canada, Come Prepared in Ontario

Today is the day Canadians go to the polls. Like everything else in life there are rules. Here are the rules for Ontario’s voting public.

In Ontario each polling station will be opened for 12 hours. This rule is fairly new. The polls open at 9:30 a.m. and close at 9:30 p.m.

All Canadians over the age of 18 are allowed to vote. If you’ve lived outside of Canada for less than five years in a row you are also allowed to vote. As long as a ballot arrives in Ottawa by 6pm soldiers searching overseas will have their votes counted.

The homeless have a voice too, they had to register in advance though by proving who they are and where they are staying. If they have failed to do so on Election Day they need someone who is an elector vouch for them.

Prisoners are allowed to vote in a federal election.

You can’t just show up empty handed at your polling station Tuesday. Bring your voter card that should have come in the mail a few weeks ago. You also need to have your ID with you. If you have a government ID which as your driver’s licence or health card (the newer one with a photo on it) you’re in the clear.

If you don’t have a government form of identification please bring two of the following:

*
Health Card
*
Social Insurance Number Card
*
Birth Certificate
*
Driver’s Licence
*
Canadian Passport
*
Certificate of Canadian Citizenship or Citizenship Card
*
Credit/Debit Card with your name on it
*
Veterans Affairs Canada Health Card
*
Employee Card issued by employer
*
Old Age Security Identification Card
*
Public Transportation Card
*
Student ID Card
*
Library Card
*
Hospital Card

Secondary proof of ID include:

*
Credit Card Statement
*
Bank Statement
*
Utility Bill (residential telephone, cable TV, public utility bill like hydro, gas or water)
*
Local Property Tax Assessment
*
School, College or University Report Card or Transcript
*
Residential Lease, Residential Mortgage Statement or Agreement
*
Canada Child Tax Benefit Statement
*
Income Tax Assessment Notice
*
Insurance Policy
*
Government Cheque or Government Cheque Stub with your name on it
*
Statement of Employment Insurance Benefits Paid
*
Canada Pension Plan Statement of Contributions
*
Vehicle Ownership
*
Vehicle Insurance

If you didn’t get your voter card or you lost yours you can still vote. City News reports:

You can be vouched for by an elector whose name appears on the list of electors in the same polling division and who has an acceptable piece or pieces of identification. Both will be required to make a sworn statement. An elector cannot vouch for more than one person, and the person who has been vouched for cannot vouch for another elector.”

You can have up to 3 hours off work without being docked to vote. This rule only is in effect for those who won’t have three hours prior to work or from the time they begin their shift to ending it to get to a polling office. In other words unless you’re on a 10 hour or 12 hour shift you should be able to vote with no problems.

If you feel that no one is qualified in your riding to take office you are allowed to protest your vote. To do so one must go to your local polling station, ask for the document and officially decline your ballot at that time. This is the only way a protested vote will be counted, not bothering to vote at all does not make a statement.

You may not eat your ballot. Destroying your ballot is against the law. So is ripping it up or defacing it.

Lenders Are Having To Keep their Foreclosed Homes In Shape In California

In California the for sale signs and abandoned homes are a common site. Those homes are also in need of a little bit of cleaning. Dead grass and murky pools can breed fire and disease. The cities are starting to hold the banks responsible for that upkeep.

In July the state senate passed a bill allowing cities to fine owners of neglected foreclosed properties up to $1,000 a day.

Some cities have had a difficult time figuring out who to charge on these properties. In Fresno city officials are working on an ordinance that will make it easier to oversee and authorise those fines.

The city has 2,600 foreclosed homes making lenders the owners. Those banks so eager to evict those unable to keep up with payments are will soon be getting the bill to maintain pools and yards that they own.

In Selma the fines could reach up to $1,000 a day. Those lenders that don’t feel up to doing the work will have to pay the city. Selma is hiring workers to clean the properties and putting liens on homes where lenders aren’t paying up. After a 14 day notice that a property is in disrepair then the city will act.

Gay Couples Rush To The Altar In California Hoping To Outrun Proposition 8

Gay couples from California are rushing to wed before Election Day. The rush to the altar is because of an initiative aimed at banning same-sex marriages due to be voted on in November.

That rush is causing for lines at city clerk offices. With Proposition 8 gaining momentum and appointments for marriage licenses slowed because of the rush some gay couples fear they will not be allowed to be married once Election Day passes by.

There are only three states in the U.S. that allow same-sex marriages; California, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

California passed laws that have allowed same-sex marriages in June. Since that time 11,000 couples have wed.

Massachusetts has allowed same-sex marriages since May 2004. There have been 10,400 marriages in the state since that time.

Being Marcia Wasn’t A Barrel Of Monkeys, Maureen McCormick Pens Her Memoir

She may have been the beloved Marcia Brady but Maureen McCormick’s real life has been nothing like a fun loving sitcom. McCormick has just penned her memoir about the dark side of being Marcia.

On Tuesday bookstores will be selling “Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.” Readers will get the backstage view of a life out of control.

McCormick was 14 when she landed the role that would make her a household name. She starred as the oldest daughter, Marcia Brady on “The Brady Bunch.” The show ran from 1969 to 1974. Marcia Brady was the ‘perfect’ teenager, beautiful, smart and wholesome. Maureen McCormick’s private life was a whole different story.

She lived with her parents and four older siblings. According to McCormick her father was abusive to their mother and cheated on her.

Yahoo quotes McCormick:

“As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world,” she writes in the book, published by William Morrow. “Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady. … No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me even as I lent my voice to the chorus of Bradys singing, `It’s a Sunshine Day.’”

After the party of being a Brady ended McCormick took up a party girl life. She filled her days with drug addiction making a future acting career waste away.

The memoir will take readers on a drug hazed journey of dating superstars, partying with the rich and drugged to the interventions, rehab and finally sobriety.

“I’ll always be struck by how much a part of people’s lives Marcia is and always will be. But now I’m not bothered by the connection. It took most of my life, countless mistakes and decades of pain and suffering to reach this point of equanimity and acceptance,” she says.

Levi Johnston Speaks

Levi Johnston is going to be a teenage father in the coming months. The young man from Alaska isn’t worrying about providing for his new family though, he’s enjoying the campaign trail with soon to be mother-in-law Sarah Palin when he’s not working.

Johnston has been told to hush up by the McCain-Palin campaign advisers. He may have a mind of his own seeing how he agreed to talk to MSNBC.

Since learning that his girlfriend Bristol Palin was pregnant young Levi has dropped out of high school to take a job. He is an apprentice electrician in the North Slope oil fields.

Johnston wanted to set some records straight. First off the MySpace page that states: “I’m a … redneck.” and “I don’t want kids.” According to the young man his friends are the ones that created the page a few years ago.

Bristol has been his girlfriend since grade nine. They had always planned to get married.

MSNBC quotes Johnston:

“We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid,” he said. “That was the plan from the start.”

The marriage will take place next summer.

Bristol is the one who asked young Levi to go to the Republican National Convention according to Levi.

“At first, I was nervous,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘Whatever.’”

Johnston isn’t an expert on politics. He says he’s rooting for John McCain and future mother-in-law Sarah Palin though.

“I just hope she wins,” he said. “She’s my future mother-in-law. She better win.”

Jack Layton Is For P2P Networks

Just as Canadians don’t relish the idea of two-tiered health care, they don’t favour a two-tiered Internet. That is the claim of NDP leader Jack Layton.

With many ISPs leaning towards monitoring and regulating usage and bandwidth of their customers P2P networking is a hot topic this election year.

The ISPs say that monitoring and giving tiers will bring a better online experience. It will also pad their coffers, so whose online experience will improve.

Tom’s Hardware quotes Jack Layton:

“There’s the politics behind the net, for example. We’ve got these big corporations that are moving in to threaten net neutrality

Now I think this is very, very dangerous and we have put the whole issue of net neutrality right into the heart of our campaign platform and I’d urge you to visit ndp.ca to see what we’re saying about it.”

Pride Flags Filled Vancouver Streets For Sunday Rally Against Hate Crime Violence

Vancouver’s West Side was filled with people marching hand in hand waving rainbow flags to show support for Jordan Smith, 27, who was beaten last month in what is being called a gay bashing.

The Join Hands for Justice rally to denounce violence against gays, lesbians, the transgendered and bisexual.started at English Bay ending at the spot where it is alledged that 20-year-old Michael Kandola and four others beat Smith for handing hands with another man.

Smith was hit so hard that he was knocked unconscious. His mouth is still wired shut repairing his jaw broken in three places.

The moderator of the rally Jim Deva asked police chief Jim Chu to hold the rally. Chu agreed and asked to be able to speak at it. Chu walks in Pride Parades every year to show his support for the community.

Chu said that the police department is for changes in legislation that would make it easier for judges to cite hate crimes when they consider sentencing for these type of offences.

CTV reports:

Chu said that the gay and lesbian community has his assurance that “we will continue to take your safety seriously.”

“This city values human dignity,” said Chu. “There are a few who commit hate crimes and they will end.”

Obama Gains More Newspapers Endorsements

If winning the endorsement of leading newspapers in any indication Barack Obama is doing very well. This weekend the senator has picked up nine newspaper endorsements, including four in swing states.

John McCain hasn’t appeared to have gotten one this weekend.

The Wisconsin State Journal backed Bush in 2004 has changed political parties this time around. John McCain was called ‘the incredible shrinking man” by the St. Louis daily.

The Blade in Toledo, the Dayton Daily News, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Tennessean of Nashville, the Wisconsin State Journal, the Fresno Bee, Contra Costa Times and The Sun of San Bernardino have all placed their backing on Obama as of this weekend.

article imageOpinion: Honour And The Man Who Will Be President

The past few weeks of campaigning has seen ugliness in the U.S. Crowds whipped into frenzies that to an outside observer could border on mob mentality. Those views may be the final straw for voters. Honour or mob mentality could decide the election.

That mob mentality has been shown in one campaign over the other. Swing voters may use that type of scene to decide who to vote for and chances are it’s not for the one who’s crowds scream out for the death of the opponent.

John McCain knows that the frenzied crowd scene is not honourable. Mark Salter, McCain’s long-serving chief of staff, has let the insiders of the campaign know that their boss would prefer to lose in honour than have a campaign out his his character.

Enter in a young Sarah Palin and that honourable defeat may be out the door. She doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘lose.’ She has a chance to be on the inside workings of Washington and that quest is one that she’s willing to take on at any cost. Honour be damned.

Times Online reports:

A leading Republican consultant said: “A lot of conservatives are grumbling about what a poor job McCain is doing. They are rolling their eyes and saying, ‘Yes, a miracle could happen, but at this rate it is all over’.

“Sarah Palin is no fool. She sees the same thing and wants to salvage what she can. She is positioning herself for the future. Her best days could be in front of her. She wants to look as though she was the fighter, the person with the spunk who was out there taking it to the Democrats.”

If the election was a Hollywood boxing match perhaps the constant character assassinations would be fitting. It’s not though, using a smear campaign rarely works when it comes to getting the more intelligent vote. People who want more than the ‘pretty boy’ want to know where the candidates stand on issues and how they will change things based on a solid foundation. Those voters won’t come around and vote in the group stroking a wildfire.

Times Online reports:

John Weaver, a former senior McCain adviser who left the campaign when it almost imploded in the summer of last year, questioned the purpose of the attacks.

“People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, that the differences with Senator Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared with Senator McCain,” he said.

“And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive.”

Now it’s true that Obama can give a nice right hook into the character of McCain at times. He also appears to be in control. He doesn’t have to act like a pit bull on crack to get his point across. He doesn’t have to do damage control with the one he choose to be his number two. Biden at times puts a foot in his own mouth but it’s not causing riotous behaviours.

And back we come to honour. If those who comment on articles are an indication of how the world sees this election one comment stands out to me.

From the comments on an article on Times Online:

It’s interesting to see how McCain and Palin are ruining the US’ reputation abroad, by centering their campaign on xenophobia. Obama has run a respectful campaign, with few attacks on McCain, although he has his fair share of scandals. As an American, I think only Obama is worthy of the White House.

RY, NYC, USA

Honour. It’s the one thing a person can hope to take to their grave. In the end it’s not about money, power or prestige that is remembered. It’s also something one should hope can come into the workings of government.

Shouldn’t the President of the United States be an honourable man?

Opinion: Will Obama Be Assassinated If Elected?

When looking back Presidents in the United States who brought big changes to government, Lincoln and Kennedy, what is remembered is they were assassinated. Barack Obama would no doubt bring a change to the government. Would he make it four years?

As the gap widens between Obama and McCain so has the incidents of death threats against Obama.

On Thursday a man at a McCain rally yelled out “Kill Obama”. In London Mr Egwuatu was wearing an Obama T-shirt was shot three times in the street.

The Daily Nation reports:

Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst, said, ‘‘The venom in his voice was frightening. He was telling me that he was going to kill me. I couldn‘t believe it was happening — and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying, ‘I‘ve got something for you,‘ and ‘I‘m going to kill you.”

The shocked Mr Egwuatu added, ‘‘Obama inspires me, his educational track record alone is quite unbelievable… I did not think for one minute it (the T-shirt) could stir up such powerful feelings of hatred and I never said a word to him.”

The Secret Service men at the rally didn’t hear the statement. It was only after an article appeared in the Washington Post did they start investigating the matter.

According to the Daily Nation:

“The Secret Service did not hear any threatening statements directed at targets under its protection and no threatening statements were reported to us by law enforcement or citizens at the event,” Mr Wiley said.

McCain and Palin are increasing the fire with shouts of “terrorist” and “treason” during their rallies. In Pennsylvania Republican leader Bill Platt warmed up the crowd several times referring to the Obama as “Barack Hussein Obama.” In a nation that fears any connection to the Middle East it’s a sure way to bring in a level of hatred.

Senator Joe Biden is disgusted by the other side’s tactics.

News.Com.Au reports:

Democratic running mate Joe Biden has repudiated Mrs Palin’s “ugly inferences” and personal attacks as “beyond disappointing”.

“They’re trying to take the low road to the highest office in the land,” he said.

“This is volatile stuff and . . . I just thought we were kind of beyond this place.”

Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, has been arrested for making a threat against Obama’s life in Miami. Late July the man is accused of referring to Obama with a racial name and threatening to kill the man.

The Telegraph reports:

According to a Secret Service affidavit, Geisel made the threat against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee during a training class for bail bondsmen in Miami in late July.

A fellow class member said Geisel allegedly referred to Mr Obama with a racial epithet and said, “If he gets elected, I’ll assassinate him myself.”

Another classmate said Geisel also threatened George W Bush, saying he hated him and “wanted to put a bullet in the president’s head,” according to the Secret Service

Geisel was found carrying a loaded 9mm handgun, knives, dozens of rounds of ammunition including armour-piercing types, body armour, military-style fatigues and a machete.

Obama has the same protection as President Bush does at this point. The Secret Service travel with him. They have to with all the threats that swirl around. From the colour of his skin to the rumours that he was born to a Muslim father, Obama’s a moving target. Take away the fact that his father, a man he meet once in his life, was an atheist, the rumours are enough to show the altered mentality of a few. Those claims also rile up those of the Islam faith. For a man to be a Christian after born into a Muslim family is a crime far worse than being just your standard issue infidel.

The National Post reports:

“All of the claims about Senator Obama’s faith and education raised in the Insight Magazine story and repeated on Fox News are false. Senator Obama was raised in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and mother. Obama’s stepfather worked for a U.S. oil company, and sent his stepson to two years of Catholic school, as well as two years of public school.”
“To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago. Furthermore, the Indonesian school Obama attended in Jakarta is a public school that is not and never has been a Madrassa.”

Each time those claim arise though it’s putting another bull’s eye on the man.

As the election grows closer more threats are certain to arise. If Obama wins the threats will not go away. He’s different. New doesn’t always survive. Ask Lincoln. Ask Kennedy.

This election more than any other in recent times may well depend on which Vice President is the best qualified to become President.

So who do you choose- Biden or Palin?

Peace Loving Sisters Are Branded Terrorists In Maryland

Sister Carol Gilbert and Sister Ardeth Platte are nuns who protest war and stand for peace. They are also labeled as terrorists in Maryland.

The Sisters have been practicing their faith for decades with a focus on world peace. That focus has seen them spend time in jail earlier this decade.

In 2002 the two sisters and another nun broke into a military base pouring blood on a nuclear missile silo in protest. The sisters also painted bloody crosses on the silo.

That act bought them time in the Big House. Sister Carol was sent up for 30 months while Sister Ardeth got a 41 month term. In 2005 when she was released from federal prison Sister Carol told the Baltimore Sun that she used her time as a meditation.

The time they spent in prison also put them on the national database as terrorists. They are on an extensive Maryland surveillance effort of antiwar protesters along with 53 other people.

The activists believe that surveillance effort goes further than the borders of Maryland.

The nuns aren’t the only religious members being watched in Maryland. Quakers, known for the peace stance, have also been part of those being watched. The Baltimore police teamed up with the National Security Agency in 2003 and 2004 to spy on Quakers.

A member of Code Pink, Nancy Kricorian, is also in the database. She has never lived nor protested in Maryland.

Lawyers for the sisters want their records purged. The police are willing to show those on the lists their files and have them purged but have denied them and their attorneys access to the hard copies.

The Washington Times reports:

“The fact there was a record with their name is the reason we’re in this situation that were in,” said state police spokesman Greg Shipley. “We’re certainly not going to perpetuate the problem by creating more records and handing them out.”

That’s not good enough for the sisters. They want the hard copies and won’t review their records until they have them

“Democracy is built on these elements on being able to speak out to speak what we believe is truth,” Sister Carol said.

Opinion: Inside The World Credit Crisis, How Long Before The Camel’s Back Breaks

How far away is the U.S. from taking the economical crisis to a panic level in the streets? As Wall Street tumbles further, the rhetoric from the candidates gets more hostile and Bush promising everything is A-Okay. But people are stressing more.

How much more stress will cause the camel’s back to snap?

Let’s face it folks the situation in the United States is getting pretty scary. When political rallies have the crowds screaming for the death of the other candidate the powder keg is about to explode.

This morning George Bush is telling Americans to remain “confident” in spite of the fact the entire world is now in a credit crisis.

“Fellow citizens: We can solve this crisis — and we will,” he promised in an eight-minute speech in the White House Rose Garden. “The American people can be confident in our economic future.”

Yahoo reports both of the candidates echoing the same statement:

“Now is not the time for fear or panic, but for all of us to come together with resolve and determination that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis,” Obama, an Illinois senator, said in a statement issued last night.

“We have to get this economy turned around and we have to get it turned around immediately,” McCain, a senator from Arizona, said at a campaign event yesterday in Wisconsin.

As the stock exchanges around the world slide lower and lower finance ministers and central bankers from United States, Germany, Japan, France, Britain, Italy and Canada are meeting.

They hope to calm the stormy waters and the people they represent who are fearing the worse.

Yahoo reports:

Marc Chandler, analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman, said despite the grim outlook, the G7 still has some options to help calm the storm.

“We are hesitant to spread rumors, but there is increasing speculation that the G7 meeting could take another major step and that is to guarantee all interbank lending,” he said.

“This talk is having a demonstrable impact on the interest rate markets. It is difficult to evaluate the likelihood, but it is important to note that officials generally recognize that current measures are not yet sufficient to turn the corner of the crisis.”

If something doesn’t change soon the world as we know it is a goner. What will replace it is the likes of science fiction novels. Martial law, riots in the streets, children in developed countries begging for a piece of bread.

Welcome to the 21st Century.

Google Goggles May Help You Avoid Drunken Emails

Google has come up with a way to help those who helped themselves to the bottom rethink emails. Still in the testing phase Google Goggles may save your bum in the morning.

We’ve all had a night out and thought about writing that email that we’d never send sober. With Google Goggles you have a better chance at writing your thoughts out and not paying the cost in the morning.

Using simple math problems the tool gives you a short time to prove that you’re on the ball, so to speak. If you can’t solve the problems in time you can’t mail.

You can activate Mail Goggles if you’re a Gmail user by clicking Settings at the top of a GMail page and then going to the Labs section.

Sky News reports:

Writing on a Google blog, Mr Perlow said: “Sometimes I send messages I shouldn’t send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together.

“When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you’re really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you’re in the right state of mind?”

The tool is only on late at night and on the weekends, those times when you’re most likely to spill your heart with a little extra booze boosting your mood.

Opinion: What are the Chances McCain Will Avoid Health Problems Over a Four-Year Term?

John McCain has had four bouts of malignant melanomas since 1993. This isn’t the ’safe’ skin cancer, melanomas kill. The last round of cancer was the ‘easy’ squamous cell carcinoma. Will he last four years? Can the US survive if he doesn’t?

I know that sounds rather blunt but this man is running for President of the United States. If he kicks the bucket then Sarah Palin, the joke darling of SNL, will be cute as a button in the Oval Office and incompetent as heck.

McCain’s health is on the minds of many. 47 percent in a recent CNN poll were concerned that he would not finish a four-year term in good health.

In July 2008 McCain had a skin biopsy as a precaution. That’s this year. While it appears that the biopsy didn’t reveal cancer it highlights the fact that McCain is prone to the disease.

As a federal employee he would have the best health care known to man but if the cancer returned would that be enough? During his 2000 bout with the disease, the cancer had penetrated the skin more than the first bout in 1993. The melanoma that was removed in 2000 was a Stage IIa. It’s on the lower end of, for lack of a better word, bad cancers. With each stage from 1 to 4 there is an increased likelihood of additional cancer and death. Stage IIa in melanoma gives the odds for a survival rate 10 years after diagnosis is about 65 percent. Each year survived ups the odds of beating it.

The actual report of the tumor removed is reported on Alternet.Org:

“It was 2 centimeters across, 0.22 centimeters deep, and not ulcerated, which gives him a 66 percent survival rate over ten years. Melanoma is a particularly aggressive cancer. Mainly because skin is the largest organ in the body it can spread to the lungs, liver and the brain… Most of the occurrences will occur right away. I am reassured by the fact that it has been eight years now and there hasn’t been a reemergence of that melanoma.”

There is a question though by other doctors not on McCain’s case about that staging. The extensive surgery points to a Stage III melanoma.

Not all doctors though will agree on this staging question. If the staging was indeed a StageIII cancer the odds of McCain making it to see another election are fairly low. Alternet quotes Ronald Bronow, former chief of dermatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles:

“As a dermatologist, if I hear about a stage three melanoma, I say ‘My God this guy is walking on nails here,” said Bronow. “There is that much difference between a stage 2 and a stage 3.”

As the New York Times reports:

“It was not out of line,” said one of the experts, Dr. Richard L. Shapiro, a melanoma surgeon at New York University. Dr. Shapiro added that he would feel more comfortable in making a judgment if he saw a full pathology report.

“It was a complex problem,” he said, “that was handled very skillfully by a team of experts.”

In the United States each year about 50,000 people will be diagnosed with melanomas. This type of cancer accounts for three-quarters of all skin cancer deaths.

The LA Times reports:

About 14% to 18% of melanoma patients have a second, unrelated tumor later, Justice said. “If [McCain] has had four, he’ll probably have a fifth,” he said. “But there is a superb chance it will be curable” because it will most likely be caught early.

If McCain wins the election let’s hope he is as healthy as he says he is. If not Palin is in control, and not the cute SNL one. The real life lipstick hockey mom who looks out to Russia from her window as foreign policy will be in charge of the Oval Office.

Good luck, John.

Dalai Lama Has Been Admitted To Hospital In India

The Dalai Lama has been hospitalized in New Delhi just days after he was cleared by doctors to travel. He was admitted for “further consultations with doctors.”

It is unclear when the Tibetan spiritual leader was admitted to the hospital. He had been ill last month requiring cancellation of several planned trips. The diagnosis at that time was exhaustion.

The 73-year-old Dalai Lama has been resting since his last hospital stay. On Tuesday he had been examined by doctors just days ago gaining medical clearance to travel again.

Tumble,Tumble, Tumble Down Goes The Dow

In the final hour Thursday the Dow tumbled down over 675 points. It is now in the lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was thinking about cutting its rating on General Motors Corp.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index also slide down more than 7 percent.

Just a year ago the Dow closed at a record high. It is now 39 percent down, that’s a total of 5,585 points down.

Today’s sloop was due to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services putting GM and its finance affiliate GMAC LLC under review. The rating of GM may be cut because of weak United States car sales.

Yahoo reports:

“The story is getting to be like that movie Groundhog Day,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. He pointed to the still-frozen credit markets, and Libor, the bank-to-bank lending rate that remains stubbornly high despite the Fed’s recent rate cut.

“Until that starts coming down, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone getting excited about stocks,” Hogan said. “Everything we’re seeing his historic. The problem is historic, the solutions are historic, and unfortunately, the sell-off is historic. It’s not the kind of history you want to be making.”

Opinion: Maybe I Am A Little Bitter Here, Time For A Spa Week

The AIG bigwigs have their nice little bailout package wrapped up and tied with a pretty little taxpayer ribbon so what do they decide to do? Why vacation of course, it’s been a tough time of it lately.

With $85 billion of the feds money sorting out the troubles that AIG had the executives thought that it was a great time to fly to the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. How quaint. The rooms only carry a price tag of $1,000 a night. That $1,000 could help a family of four have a home for a month and some bills paid. Sorry was that my bitterness seeping in?

The final resort tally came up to over $440,000. Broken down that’s $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 in spa charges. Those stressed out guys needed a bunch of pedicures and manicures. And hey it’s A-okay since the American taxpayer is footing the bill.

Say Sally Lou when was the last time you could afford a cheap spa treatment? I guess you’re not corrupt enough to laugh all the way to the bank.

ABC News reports:

“They’re getting their pedicures and their manicures and the American people are paying for that,” said Cong. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).

“This unbridled greed,” said Cong. Mark Souder (R-IN), “it’s an insensitivity to how people are spending our dollars.”

Now America we need to feel for our good buddy Robert Willumstad. You know, the CEO who cried from June to September, 2008 about how AIG was a victim.

Tell it to me Brother!

“Through the first week of September we were confident AIG could weather the crisis,” Willumstad testified. He said the federal government offered its $85 million bail out on the afternoon it prepared for bankruptcy. Willumstad said the Federal Reserve demanded he resign, and will turn down his AIG retirement package of several million dollars.

I was thinking, since all Americans are in effect a victim of these greedy manipulators, that a resort week would feel good about now. Wouldn’t it be nice to go off for a week of sun and fun and send the bill to each and every one of the CEOs that just stabbed the taxpayer in the back?

Sheriff Dart of Chicago Is Standing Up For Renters Living In Foreclosured Properties

Chicago’s homeowners may have a friend in Sheriff Tom Dart. The sheriff announced Wednesday that his deputies will not be evicting anymore people from their foreclosed homes. He’s tired of throwing renters out on the street who have done nothing wrong.

MSNBC reports:

“We will no longer be a party to something that’s so unjust,” a visibly angry Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at a news conference.

“We have to be sure that when we are doing this — and we are destroying some people’s lives — we better be darned sure we’re talking about the right people,” Dart said.

It is Dart’s belief that he is the first sheriff to stop throwing people out on the streets by not participating in foreclosure evictions. Rick Sharga, senior vice president of the Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, Inc., also believes that Chicago’s sheriff is right.

If the banks want Dart’s men to make someone homeless from now on they have to prove that the ones residing in a home are the actual owners and not a renter buying their monthly lease fee.

According to Illinois law renters have 120 days from the time a residence they are living in is foreclosure before being evicted. That law has often been ignored.

To often a renter who has been paying their rent has gone off to work in the morning only to return home finding their belongings on the curb and the locks changed. Often renters don’t even know that the home they are living in is in foreclosure.

An attorney asked a Cook County judge to hold Dart in contempt of court after refusing to allow his deputies to evict tenants unaware of their landlord’s financial problems. The judge refused. After speaking with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office Dart thinks he is standing on firm legal ground.

“My job as sheriff is to follow court orders, absolutely,” he said. “But I’m also in charge of making sure justice is being done here and it is clear that justice is not being done here.”

Foreclosures are skyrocketing in Cook County. In 2006 there were 1,771 foreclosure evictions. This year could top 4,500.

Sharga said that there are over 1 million United States homes in foreclosure.

For each of those homes are thousands of renters residing in them, paying their monthly rent and unaware that tomorrow they could be homeless.

Dart said nonpayment of rent evictions will stay go on with his department.

“You are talking about a lot of people in rental situations living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “To think they are sitting on a pool of money for an up-front deposit, security deposit, is foolishness.”

Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23 Were Arrested In Syria

Two American journalists that had been listed by the U.S. Embassy as missing have been located. They were arrested in Syria when they crossed the border with the help of smugglers.

The pair were detained when they crossed the border into Syria. They will be handed over the the U.S. Embassy after “necessary measures” have taken place.

The U.S. Embassy in Damascus has confirmed that two Americans are being held by the Syrian police. The embassy is in the process of confirming the names of those Americans.

Chmela and Luck have been working for the Jordan Times. They were due back in Amman on Saturday. As reported earlier the pair had been listed as missing after Luck’s mother called the embassy concerned her had not used his credit card.

Another Week, Another Song John McCain Is Asked To Quit Using

John McCain’s campaign is being asked yet again to quit using a song they are playing without permission. The Foo Fighters have asked McCain to stop using “My Hero.”

The campaign says it respects copyright laws and has obtained and paid for licenses from performing right organizations. They have the right to play millions of songs, according to spokesman Brian Rogers.

That hasn’t stopped a number of artists from complaining when they hear the campaign use their music. The Foo Fighters is the latest band to request a song to be pulled from the campaign. John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne have also sent McCain a strong message that they don’t want their art to be used in connection to his campaign. Browne has filed a lawsuit.

Yahoo reports on the Foo Fighters who heard their song being played while watching a news report:

“The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential,” the band said in a statement. “To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”

Barack Obama has also been asked by Sam Moore not to use the song “Soul Man.”

Dow Drops Even Lower After The Feds Start Stepping In

The Dow has slide even further down as the federal government and the world’s central banks cut rates. After the Feds cut the half point there was a slight surge in trade.

Wall Street is being hammered by the economical crisis that is hitting the world. The Dow Jones Industrials fell almost 200 more points by the close of trading Wednesday. The loss today wasn’t as hard as Monday or Tuesday’s falls but it keeps the Dow under 10,000. At the end of trading Wednesday the Dow is at 9,256.

The falling stocks were hoped to make a turn-around when the government cut the half-point.

Investors are pleased with the cut but it may not be enough to to banks back to their old lending pace.

Testicles May Provide Stem Cells

Cells taken from men’s testicles appear to be as versatile as those taken from embryos, researchers announced on Wednesday. The cells can be used for growing personalized replacement tissues.

The study appears in Thursday’s issue of Nature. While the cell research is promising it would only help half of the population. Men would be the only ones who will benefit from the new tissues due to the source.

Embryonic stem cells can be used to grow virtually any tissue in the body. Scientists believe that in time they will be the basis of treatment for spinal cord injuries and diseases like diabetes.

Testicular cells take away the issues of ethics when it comes to stem cell research. Because of the way embryonic stem cells are harvested the fetuses is killed in the process. That is the root that many people
debate the ethical question of where to draw the line because of religious and other beliefs.

Yahoo reports:

“The advantage these cells have in comparison to embryonic stem cells is that there is no ethical problem with these cells and that they are natural,” said study lead author Thomas Skutella, a professor at the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine in Tuebingen, Germany.

Testicular cells aren’t the only ones that are showing promising results for researchers. There has been some progress using ordinary body cells and turning them into stem cells by slipping genes inside of them.

The new findings are exciting but they are no help for women. There is thought that female egg cells could also be used but that again brings an ethics question into play.

The research is still years away from practical use but each new step brings scientists closer to curing and treating diseases that have plagued mankind for centuries.

McCain’s Claim of Obama Voting For Higher Taxes Don’t Add Up

Last night during the Presidential debates, John McCain accused Barrack Obama of voting to raise taxes 94 times. He may want to research that statement a little.

The truth of the matter is Obama has consistently voted to restore higher tax rates for the rich and not for the common man. That policy is consistent with his campaign promises. As president Obama says that he would raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 a year.

Looking over Obama’s voting record in the Senate it’s true some of his votes would have increased taxes for some. What is also true though is seven of his votes would have lowered taxes for many while raising them for either corporations or affluent individuals. Twenty-seven votes were for measures that would not have produced any increase to the taxes at all.

Eleven of those votes would have raised taxes but only for those making more than $1 million. Those votes also were in order to fund programs like Head Start and school nutritional programs. They also were to be used for veteran’s health care.

FactCheck reports:

The majority of the 94 votes – 53 of them, including some mentioned above – were on budget measures, not tax bills, and would not have resulted in any tax change. Four other votes were non-binding motions related to conference report negotiations.

Those votes also include measures to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 while the Republicans tried to keep it at $6.25 and give tax breaks to small businesses.

Judge Wants to Release Chinese Gitmo Detainee into US, White House Says Not So Fast

A ruling by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina that 17 Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay be released into the United States has the White House fuming. The U.S. administration says that the release is contrary to its immigration laws.

“Because the Constitution prohibits indefinite detentions without cause, the continued detention is unlawful,” Urbina said, prompting cheers and applause from local Uighur residents and human rights activists who packed into the courtroom.

The ruling for the 17 detained Chinese prisoners came on Tuesday when a U.S. federal district court requested their release. The detainees have been at Guantanamo Bay for the past seven years. The Uighurs are not to be considered “enemy combatant’s” by the judges ruling.

The 17 would probably face torture if sent back to China because they are considered terrorists. The White House wants to keep them at Guantanamo Bay until another country is willing to take them on.

The detainees come from a region of China that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. Because the ethnic Uighurs could be persecuted immigration laws forbid the United States from returning them to their homeland. They were cleared of their enemy combatant status in 2004, yet four years later they are still held at Gitmo.

China wants them to be returned. Human Events reports:

“China has urged the U.S. to repatriate these Chinese terrorist suspects to China on many occasions. We hope the U.S. will take our position seriously and repatriate these persons to China sooner rather than later,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The issue the White House is dealing with is if a federal judge has the authority to release Guantanamo Bay prisoners into the U.S. if they can not be returned to their homeland. In 2006 Albania took five of the detainees but fear repercussions from China if they take the last 17.

While human rights groups are declaring the judge’s ruling a victory if the White House ignores it the point is moot.

CBS reports:

“How many times does the Bush administration need to be told that detainees are entitled to essential rights? All the remaining detainees in Guantanamo Bay must be either charged and tried or released immediately,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA.

Mother Nature Has Made 2008 A Deadly Year

2008 has been a brutal year so far when it comes to natural disasters. In just the first 6 months over 230,000 people have lost their lives world-wide to Mother Nature’s fury.

Most of those who have been killed by the elements were located in China and Burma.

The earthquake that hit in May 2008 in China claimed the lives of 87,500. Many of the dead were school children who were buried in their educational buildings as the earth shook below them.

The disaster in Burma was even worse with 138,000 dead after Cyclone Nargis hit the poor country.

The flooding in India and the hurricanes that devastated the Caribbean have also added to the world’s death toll.

Those that survive have had to face homelessness, disease and hunger. It is estimated that 130 million people are having to rebuild their lives after a natural disaster happened this year.

Batty Mom Lets 90 Kids Touch Rabid Dead Bat, Now They Get Shots To Stop Rabies

A mother allowing students at an elementary school to touch a dead bat may not get “Good Mom Of The Year” this year. The woman’s actions put 90 children at risk for rabies.

The dead bat had rabies. The woman took the diseased animal to 5 classrooms for a presentation. She then offered each child her touched the diseased animal a sanitary wipe.

Each of those children are now being subjected to six shots of anti-rabies vaccine.

Officials at Stevensville Elementary School have stated that liability insurance will pay $70,000 for the shots. The final tally though for all of the students could easily pass $150,000.

The school has since changed their visitors policy. Now visitors must obtain a pass at the office. Chances are bats and batty mothers will not get a pass.

Iceland May be First Nation to go Bankrupt on Heels of Financial Crisis

Iceland is on the brink of bankruptcy. It may well be the first of many nations that teeter on the edge of global financial meltdown.

Iceland is home to 320,000 people living in an area the size of Kentucky.

Because of their Viking heritages the people of Iceland do things in a big way. That resulted in the world’s highest per capita incomes. Now the population can only watch as their currency is half of its value. Their banks are collapsing and closed. No money is going out and the people are unable to sell their stocks.

Yahoo reports:

The government had earlier announced it had nationalized the bank under emergency laws enacted to deal with the crisis.

“We have been forced to take decisive action to save the country,” Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde said of those sweeping new powers that allow the government to take over companies, limit the authority of boards, and call shareholder meetings.

Europe would see the shock waves if Iceland’s banks completely go under. Bauger, one of Iceland’s largest companies, owns or has stakes in dozens of European retailers. It is the largest private company in Britain.

Last week share trading was suspended at Kaupthing, the largest bank of the nation.

Perhaps Iceland will be back where it was before the 1990’s when it was considered a poor European cousin. The largest four banks now have foreign liabilities in excess of $100 billion. Those debts don’t have a chance considering the gross national product is $14 billion.

Iceland is unique “because the sheer size of its financial sector puts it in a vulnerable situation, and its currency has always been seen as a high risk and high yield,” said Venla Sipila, a senior economist at Global Insight in London.

This is one nation though that can’t blame the banks for having toxic debts. The banks were well-capitalized.

“I believe it is absolutely wrong to say these banks were reckless,” Richard Portes of the London Business School said. “Quite the contrary. They were hugely unlucky.”

Los Angeles Family Dead After Father Snaps From Financial Crisis

Monday Los Angeles police entered the beige house on Como Lane to find a family laying dead, victims of a father caught up in the financial crisis.

Friends had called the police after not being able to get in touch with the dead that laid behind the walls at Como Lane.

Police found the father, 45-year-old Karthik Rajaram, still clinging to the gun that took his family’s life.

Laying in their own beds Rajaram’s wife, three sons and mother-in-law were gunned down by the man who once worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Police found two suicide notes and a last will. They were able to piece together the last places that the unemployed Rajaram had worked including PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures. He had been unemployed for several months losing almost all that he had worked so hard for.

Yahoo reports:

“This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair,” Deputy Chief Michel Moore said. “It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times.”

In both suicide letters that were found the man planned his own death, the only difference between the two notes was whether or not to kill his family with him. He choose to end all of their lives believing it was more honourable.

When wife Subasri, 39, failed to show up for a ride to work a neighbour called the police. There they found Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in her first floor bedroom. The trail of bodies continued on the second floor with Subasri in her bed and 19-year-old Krishna in his bed. the third floor held 12-year-old Ganesha dead on his floor and his 7-year-old brother, Arjun laying in his bed. Laying close to his youngest sons laid their father, his gun still holding the gun.

Ed Winter, coroner’s assistant chief, said the victims has been shot multiple times between Saturday and early Monday morning.

There are no records with mental health workers in Los Angeles County that show mental disabilities concerning Rajaram, but there were signs.

Co-workers at PricewaterhouseCoopers say the man was fired in 2005 after he displayed erratic behaviour.

In 2006 the family sold a home in Northridge for a huge profit. They did not own the home they died in.

Yahoo reports:

“The market was going down and he wanted to get out before the bottom dropped out,” Northridge neighbor Sue Karns told the newspaper. “I talked to him last December and he said, ‘I feel I did a good thing by selling when I did.’”

The family was from India. It is believed they had legal status in the United States.

The Newest Living Goddess Was Appointed On Tuesday In Nepal

Matani Shakya, 3, of Nepal is the newest living goddess. The toddler was approved by priests and President Ram Baran Yadav in a centuries-old tradition on Tuesday.

The ceremony has ties to Nepal’s monarchy which was abolished this past May.

Matani Shakya was carried from her parent’s home to the ancient palatial temple in Katmandu, Nepal. She is now considered a “kumari” or living goddess. The child will remain at the palace until she reaches puberty. At that time she will lose her divine status.

Little Matani will be worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists as an incarnation of the Hindu deity Taleju.

The “kumari” is selected from a group of 2 to 4-year-old girls who are part of the Sharya goldsmith caste. Judges check their horoscopes and the children for physical imperfections. The living princess must have perfect hair, eyes, teeth and skin with no scars. The child can not be afraid of the dark. The final test involves the little girl to spend a night alone with only the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes to keep her company. If the child shows no fear she is then deemed a living goddess.

Matani will wear red as long as she lives at the palace. Her hair will be pinned in topknots and a third eye will be painted on her forehead.

Those who worship the kumari touch the girl’s feet with their forehead. This is the highest sign of respect for Nepal’s Hindus. The living goddess is wheeled about in a chariot pulled by devotees during religious festivals.

Once the kumari is named she is sent to live in almost complete isolation in the temple. Only when the onset of menstruation takes place will she be allowed to return to her family. At that time a new kumari will be named.

The practice has come under attack by international and Nepalese laws on child rights.

Once a girl has reached puberty they are thrust back into a life they have little memory of. Because of Nepalese folklore believing that men who wed a former living goddess will die young, few former kumari marry. With little prospect for marriage most of the girls face a life of hardship and poverty.

New York Dommes Hope To Unionize With DomPAC

With the recent upheavals in the economic world a group of New York ladies have decided to group together and form a political-action committee and union. Meet the dommes of N.Y. who aren’t used to being spanked and rather not have to be punished.

The lovely dominatrixes have been having a rough time of it lately in New York. First they have had to deal with a series of local prostitution raids and now with Wall Street acting up their paddled clients are having a hard time paying for their pleasurable pain.

The New York Post reports:

“It’s never been worse. Business is down 70 percent,” said Mistress Johanna, owner of Chelsea’s Le Salon DeSade. “We’ve had all these busts, and now the economy is out of control. The uncertainty is torturing us.”

Last Thursday 10 dominatrixes at DeSade were dressed to thrill with no one to pay homage to them. Only two clients ventured into their place of business. That has become the norm on Dungeon Alley, the heart of S&M New York.

The lovely latex clad ladies say not only is the stock market to blame. Recent raids at Rapture NYC, Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber and Avalon have some high profile clients in hiding.

The NY Times quotes lawyer John Campbell who is representing a dozen or so of those facing charges:

“This isn’t like the escort industry, where there’s a lot of illegality and everyone knows it,” said Campbell, who also represents escort agencies. “In the BDSM [bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism] industry, virtually everyone was operating under the belief that what they were doing was legal.”

Two weeks ago the dominatrixes took matters into their own hands. They are setting up an informal union to represent their interests. Mistress Johanna, owner of Chelsea’s Le Salon DeSade, has an unnamed business partner who is laying out the legal groundwork to start DomPAC. DomPAC will lobby lawmakers to rewrite prostitution laws to protect BDSM practices. Dommes hope that in the future they will be able to have 401(k)s, health insurance and other benefits that workers are used to.

“Ultimately, this is about America . . . This is about having the right to express yourself in the lifestyle of your choice,” Mistress Johanna’s business partner said.

Iran Claims That It Forced Western Plane To Land After It Entered Iranian Airspace

Iran is saying that it was forced to down a Western aircraft that entered into its airspace accidentally. After questioning the passengers the plane was allow to continue to Afghanistan.

Al-Alam, the official television station in Iran, quoted an unnamed senior Iranian military official as to saying that the plane belonged to a relief agency in either Britain or Hungry. The plane was forced to land on Sunday. After one day of questions the plane left Monday to finish its trip.

Yahoo reports:

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, “We’re looking into the various and conflicting reports coming from the Iranian `news’ agencies, but do not have any information at this time that would lead us to believe they are correct.”

According to Iran the plane “lost its way.” Passengers on board were questioned, including American military personnel. The first reports were that the plane was American.

U.S. military, the American Embassy and the British Embassy in Afghanistan say that they have no information that a plane was actually forced to land in Iran.

The Fars news agency says that the plane was carrying five military officials and three civilians from Turkey to Afghanistan when it “unintentionally” entered Iranian airspace. When that happened Iranian fighter pilots guided the plane, thought to be a Falcon, to an Iranian airport.

Google’s Cerf Thinks Television Will Be On The Way Out By 2012

Are we in the last days of television? That’s what the vice president of Google, Vince Cerf believes. The computer guru thinks in the near future, as early as 2012, we will bypass the old television for computer media.
The Daily Mail reports:

Cerf, who is now the vice-president of Google, said: “Around 85 per cent of all video we watch is pre-recorded, so you can set your system to download it all the time.

“You’re still going to need live broadcasts for certain things – like news, sporting events and emergencies.

“But increasingly it is going to be almost like the iPod, where you download content to look at later.”

While the UK is yet to have TV on demand it does have that feature with many television station web sites. The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have all spent a tonne of money to allow viewers to catch their favorite shows online.

Some critics are warning though that as more and more people weave their way through the Web the Internet will crack under the pressure.

In the next four years it is thought that people will go from watching short clips online to more hour-ling programs. Broadband companies say this will in effect cause “traffic jams” costing millions of pounds to sort out. If they are right the ones holding the wallet out will be those using the services.

Mr. Cerf says that this is all a scare tactic remembering 20 years ago when the same thoughts were swirling about if people all over the world started to use the Internet.

He added: “In the intervening 30 years it’s increased a million times over… We’re far from exhausting the capacity.

“It’s an understandable worry when they see huge amounts of information being moved around online.”

Cerf wants to see the Internet reach as many people as possible.

“I want more internet, every one of the six billion people on the planet must be able to connect to the internet – I think they will add things to it that will really benefit us.”

Alaska’s Glaciers Are Melting According To New Book

A new book published by the U.S. Geological Survey reveals that most glaciers in every mountain range and island group in Alaska is retreating, thinning or experiencing stagnation.

While 99 percent of Alaska’s large glaciers are melting a handful are actually growing. “The Glaciers Of Alaska” by USGS research geologist Bruce Molnia examines the state of glaciers at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. It will likely serve as a guide for those studying Alaskan glaciers in the years to come.

Using satellite images, vertical aerial photographs, oblique aerial photographs, and maps Molnia documented the behaviour of glaciers throughout Alaska.

The study concludes with Molnia speculating that we may be at the end of Alaska’s glacier period and in the beginning of a change for marine and continental climates in Alaska.

Molnia has studied Alaskan glaciers for the past 40 years.

eBay Trimming Its Work Force And Buying Up Three Firms At The Same Time

The online auction company eBay is laying off 16,000 of its workers including 1,000 of its permanent employees. Based in San Jose, California the company is also in the works to send $1.35 billion to acquire Bill Me Later, Den Bla Avis and BilBasen.

Most of the layoffs will be in its marketplace division, which has been declining while online commerce has been going at a steady clip.

The layoffs are the first significant cuts in the company’s history.

The company will be doubling down on what it feels are the most promising parts of the business, one of which is online payments. PayPal, acquired in 2002, is expected to grow at 35 percent this year as more companies offer it as a payment option on their Web sites.

The due to buy Bill Me Later is another proposed growth area. EBay is paying $920 million cash and options for the eight-year-old firm located in Timonium, Maryland. The concept of the company is to allow people to get short term 30 day loans to purchase items online. At the end of 30 days the person then buys the bill straight or takes out a loan. Using a person’s birth date and the last 4 numbers of their Social Security number they are able to perform a rapid credit check. Because the address of the person is on the shipping form it is a safer risk.

Last year Amazon.com invested in Bill Me Now. It is not clear if that business relationship will continue after the buy-out.

On Monday eBay stock fell 5.5 percent to $17.89, a five year low.

The New York Times reports:

In an interview, John J. Donahoe, eBay’s chief executive, said the layoffs were the first significant cuts in eBay history, and that he would be communicating via webcast with eBay’s employees around the world to convey the bad news. “We are treating the affected people with the kinds of values you would expect out of eBay,” he said.

“We feel a little like Warren Buffett. We are a strong company, and at times like this we can move to take advantage of the market environment,” he said in an interview.

EBay already owns Kijiji, Gumtree, Marktplaats, LoQuo and mobile.de. and a 25 percent stake in Craigslist.

The Codex Sinaiticus Will Soon Be Online, Now The Question Is Which Bible To Believe

The Bible that people read today is much different from the original transcripts. After July 2009 the Codex Sinaiticus will be online for those who want to read the complete text.

For 1,500 years the Codex Sinaiticus laid in a Sinai monastery undisturbed. In 1844 the monks say it was stolen and spilt between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain.

The different parts of the Codex will be merged together online. Everyone in the world with an Internet connection will be able to read the complete text and a translation.

For those who say that the Bible they are now reading is the word of God they may have some heavy questions. The original text differs from what is on the pages of the King James Bible and other modern versions.

The Codex is the oldest Bible that is still around. It also includes books that were not included in the Authorised Version, the version most Christians are familiar with. It also does not have verses about the Resurrection.

It’s amazing that the Codex is still around. Since at least the 4th century it had been hidden at St Catherine’s Monastery when it was discovered in the early 19th century. It remained intact because of the dry desert air.

There are still 30 Greek Orthodox monks that reside at St Catherine’s. The monastery is a holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The burning bush of Moses is in the area.

Outside of the Vatican, the monastery has the largest library of early manuscripts. There are about 33,000 of the earliest religions printed word there. The monastery is also home to a collection of icons.

The Codex that was preserved in the desert has two extra New Testament book. The Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome and the Epistle of Barbabas. The Epistle tells the death of Jesus in a different light that other Gospels have; that the Jews were the ones that killed the man that is considered by many as the Son of God.

“His blood be upon us,” Barnabas has the Jews cry.

The Codex does not mention the ascension of Jesus into heaven and omits references to the Resurrection. The Archbishop of Canterbury has stated that those are the basis of Christian belief.

The critics will be discussing the text for decades trying to figure out which versions are the true word of God.

The BBC reports:

“It should be regarded as a living text, something constantly changing as generation and generation tries to understand the mind of God,” says David Parker, a Christian working on digitising the Codex.

A Single Connection Downed The Large Hadron Collider

A single bad connection was the cause behind the world’s largest atom smasher to be sidelined. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN was shut down just days after it opened with huge fanfare.

The fault is thought to be a poor soldering job on just one of the 10,000 connections explained Lyn Evans, project leader of Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

That one connection will delay the restarting of the atom smasher until spring. The actual work to repair it will take at least two months. During the winter months the collider is to be shut down because of the electricity costs in winter.

There hasn’t been a visual to the total damage involved because the collider is too cold to be opened. The machine requires extreme cold to take advantage of superconductivity.

Warming to room temperature will take over five weeks. At that time humans can work inside and make the repairs. It will then take another five weeks to chill the machine back down to near absolute zero degrees.

Yahoo reports:

“It was a hard blow for us,” he said. The failure occurred during the final test of the collider — a large tube running around the circumference of a 17-mile circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border at Geneva. All the other seven sections of the tunnel had passed the test.

When the collider is back to business scientists hope to gain even more understanding about the “Big Bang.”

Walking The Walk; Oral Lee Brown Sends Oakland Class To College

Twenty years ago Oral Lee Brown promised a group of first graders in Oakland, California that they would be able to attend college on her dime. This year she fulfilled that promise made on the spur of the moment.

It started outside of the real estate office she owned in east Oakland when a little one asked for some money to buy food. Ms. Brown understood that kind of hunger, she herself had grown up poor in Mississippi. She decided then to adopt the first grade class at Brookfield Elementary School.

In 1987 she promised her ‘babies’ that she would send them to college.

ABC 7 reports:

“It’s the one thing that I can give them that no one can take it away,” says Brown.

Now Oral Lee isn’t the first to offer to send a class to college. She is one of those rare individuals who’s words have a huge personal sacrifice, she was only making $45,000 a year when she promised. She scrimped putting $10,000 into a trust fund for her little ones.

Brown did more than just put money away for the kids. She gave her babies spending money, tutors and love. She created a foundation that held fundraisers to add to her own money gifts. In 1999 her dreams came true, 19 of the original 23 students threw their caps into the air when they graduated from high school.

Some did fall, dropping out. One of Oral Lee’s babies died in those mean streets at the hands of a killer.

Her dream has given her numerous honors including a hero award from the U.S. Secretary of Education. Still in the end it’s seeing those babies achieve their dreams that makes it all worth it. Something she believes that all the ‘babies’ in the United States should be able to do.

“If all a child wants is an education and we in America can’t give it to them, something’s wrong with us,” says Brown.

Walking The Walk; David Loar and Chris Skinner Help Harold In Kansas City

Kansas City police officers David Loar and Chris Skinner meet a homeless man named Harold on New Year’s Eve. Harold was a lucky man to be taken under the wing of the two men.

Loar and Skinner first met the 70-year-old Harold in the underground parking lot of Sears at Antioch Mall.

The pair learned that Harold used to be a trucker who lost his home during a divorce. When he had stayed at a homeless shelter all of his paper identification had been stolen.

First the officers helped the man get back his identification papers. That wasn’t the end of their help though. Loar and Skinner kept an eye out on the elderly man, making regular friendly visits to make sure he was alright.

KMBC reports:

“It was tough those cold nights when we’d check on him, and say, ‘Hey, you need a sandwich?’ or ‘You got plenty to drink? You warm enough?’ And then to go home and climb into our beds and go, ‘Man, I wonder how he’s doing back there,’” Skinner said.

That caring resulted in getting paperwork sorted out so that Harold would have a roof over his head at night. Once an apartment was located the officers used their own money to put him up in a hotel until he could move in.

On Thursday Kansas City gave Loar and Skinner a commendation. They say knowing that Harold is safe at night is more important than being awarded for their caring.

“Our award was Harold has a house and an income and medical benefits, and he’s no long sleeping on the cement at 71 years old,” Loar said.

Harold is now receiving Social Security benefits. The elderly man repaid the officers for their expenses for helping him get his feet back on the ground.

Toronto Woman Trapped Under Streetcar Sunday Night During Nuit Blanche

A woman who had been enjoying Nuit Blanche ended the night in critical condition in hospital. The woman fell under a streetcar at Spadina and College Avenue. The accident happened at 3:40 a.m. Sunday morning.

Reports say that the unidentified woman lost her balance and fell backwards into the path of an approaching streetcar. The streetcar trapped her underneath.

Several people who had been enjoying the art shows in the area ran to assist the woman. They tried to keep her calm and warm until help arrived. Emergency crews used a jack to lift the streetcar off of her.

She was rushed to hospital with severe head trauma.

CTV reports:

“We couldn’t help her, she was way under,” witness Gary Pieters told CTV Toronto. “She was under the streetcar. Like if you looked on the street, you would have seen one of her shoes.”

Opinion: A Night to Remember, Nuit Blanche 2008 Toronto

Art is a vibrant part of life in Toronto. The streets are filled with talent everyday but one night a year that art is the city. Nuit Blanche was a night long celebration Saturday where art and people collide merging into a kaleidoscope of culture.

From the zombies trudging along Yonge Street to the art of Smashin trash in Liberty Village the downtown of Toronto was filled with life last night. The sidewalks were a traffic jam at times, but considering that that traffic jam represented those that love the world of art it was a pleasant diversion.

A friend and I started at the ‘top’, the University of Toronto. And forgive me for not being able to remember it all, six hours late at night, kilometer after kilometer of walking the busy streets tends to make the nearly old a bit forgetful at the best of times.

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We didn’t see much at the University instead opting to walk through Queen’s Park. There we glimpsed a carnival like side show.

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We watched people setting up tripods and chanting, singing and dancing. We saw life.

Perhaps that is the true element of life, art merging with people who are themselves the art that is merged. We as a collective core make this globe colourful, different. We each are part of the landscape that others can look at and see awe.

From Queen’s Park we strolled to College and Yonge where the Zombies were being made up. Everyday people were allowing themselves to be turned into ghouls complete with a signed film rights statement.

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After making our way to Dundas Square we ventured into Eaton’s Centre where a huge blue plastic thingy was hanging overhead.

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After a check trip to the cash machine we wandered down to Nathan Phillip Square and watched a LED light show.

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A quick side trip for a soda brought us to Scotia Plaza’s tent. The girls there told us to hit up Commerce Court and Union Station. When told there’s cool art I do as I am told.

Commerce Court’s parkette held a cool video performance piece about how stocks and money and news media work. At least that’s what I took from it. I must admit I agreed with the girls, it was well worth the time to absorb. We took a break sitting at the fountain re-watching the show a few times.

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It was time for the Scream show at Union Station. Alas, the line was too long and it was hitting midnight. We decided to grab a subway train to St. Patrick and hit the fare along McCaul Street. We watched drawings being drawn and posted. Browsing through the simple images we reflected on how even the most basic lines were indeed art. Childish doodles and intense pictorials all had their own value. Another light show viewed and we hit Queen Street.

After watching street art including a group we first viewed at Dundas Square, three photographers taking pictures ala paparazzi except only taking pictures of themselves, ( It was one of the more humorous acts and one you had to be there to understand.) we started for the trendy Queen West area.

There are times though that plans change, by Bathhurst Street we were fading fast and yet wanted to see more, merge more into the night. A quick change of plans brought us to Liberty Village on King West. There the most important message of the night stood. The Wish Tree, a Yoko Ono Project in memory of John Lennon. Wishes were written and attached to the sea of trees. From wishing for a date to world peace, wishes of art filled Torontians waved in the breeze.

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We ended our evening a short span from the sea of wishes to watch Smashin! A performance art bit that had computers and TV’s dropping 25 feet to become a sea of smashed trash art below. It was the perfect ending for us. It was lively, it was colourful and it was just plan out fun. And in the end isn’t that what art is. It brings us to life. It changes the colours we see when we look at the crowd. It is fun.

I hope you enjoyed this disjointed tour. And now I am taking a nap. Art is indeed fun but a six hour non-stop absorbing walk is hard on this lady!

I forgot my camera. All images obtained from the kind folks who have uploaded their personal art to FlickR.

Modesty Patrols Create Fear In Jerusalem

In Israel the modesty patrols have people walking the streets in fear. In the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community these patrols make sure women are dressed properly or chance the pain of a stone hurled at them.

That dress code includes no red blouse or anything unchaste. Offenders have stones threw at them.

The modesty patrol also attacks stores that sell items that can access the Internet.

Recently the patrols have been accused on breaking into the home of a woman and beating her because she was allegedly consorting with men. They have also burnt a store for selling MP4 players.

Philly.com reports:

“These breaches of purity and modesty endanger our community,” said 38-year-old Elchanan Blau, defending the bearded, black-robed zealots. “If it takes fire to get them to stop, then so be it.”

These purity patrols are like Big Brother, with eyes and ears open to report what they believe are crimes to God.

Because of their rules public transportation is grounded on the Jewish Sabbath. Rabbis are in control of all marriages and divorces in Israel.

Not all areas in Israel are affected by the zealots whom the police say are just rogue enforcers carrying out isolated attacks. Many of the attacks are centralized to their own neighbourhoods.

Most of the attacks are against women who are seen talking to men or wearing an item that offends their take on modesty laws.

Yitzhak Polack, a 50-year-old Jerusalem teacher, is one of those who deplore such behavior.

“They are stupid troublemakers who are bringing shame and disgrace on this holy community,” he said.

But the rabbis are afraid to condemn them, says Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, another community member.

“They can’t come out against zealots who champion modesty. Here and there they write against violence, but the militants ultimately set the tone,” he said.

The police do little to stop the vigilante attacks other than offer a little lip service. Rabbis don’t speak out against these patrols because they fear the aftermath.

Because of these vigilantes parts of Jerusalem are a fear zone where all it takes to be attacked is suspicion.

Opinion: Steve Jobs Did Not Have A Heart Attack or Welcome To The Borg

CNN’s iReport of Steve Jobs having a heart attack on Friday was a false report. That false iReport, though, painted a black mark on citizen journalist report cards.

While false stories and facts that don’t always add up are throughout mainstream news, it seems Citizen Journalists are under a tougher microscope.

Tech Crunch quotes the original CNN iReport by SIA:

Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven’t seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it.

The false report had a negative effect on Wall Street with the market taking a dive.

This false story though brings up an important point, without that shiny diploma citizen journalists are judged harsher and a bad apple undermines all.

For the citizen journalist, unfounded stories or absolute false claims can not be tolerated. Professional journalists at times falter into a story built on a pack of lies but they have the backing of their papers and editors.

Let’s be honest — the pros can screw up and the lot will not be judged. Citizen journalism being in the baby steps will be judged over and over. The fact that more people than ever rely on news from CJ sites shows that mainstream journalists have a reason to “fear” the less paid writers. Every story will then be searched for errors to discredit the CJ. Each false story makes it harder for a CJ to be trusted. The public sees the bad apple in the print more often than the citizen that breaks a story. Until Citizen Journalism is commonplace the actions of each value the actions of all.

Welcome to the Borg.

Opinion: 90 Year-Old Addie Polk Shot Herself On Wednesday Instead Of Touching Eviction Orders

When sheriff’s deputies tried to evict Addie Polk from her Akron, Ohio home Wednesday she shot herself twice in the upper body. The 90-year-old woman’s reaction tells more of the financial crisis in the United States than charts and graphs.

Ms. Polk is now at Akron General Medical Center. When she leaves will she have a home?

The news is full of talks about how Wall Street needs a bail out. What about the millions of Addie Polks living the lean times, do they get a $700 billion bailout also?

The simple harsh answer is no. The bailout is for big business being funded by the very ones in the worst shape, the American taxpayer. While banks will argue they are the ones that need this handout, what about the families caught in the crossfire of corruption and mismanagement?

This week a home sold on eBay for $1.75. People are having to abandon their roofs because they can’t pay the banks. when the banks are in trouble then the country starts to get worried though, not when Joe Blow and his family are living in their SUV.

Polk’s story made it to the floor of House today though with U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio telling her tale. A face for lawmakers to focus on while they mulled the bailout.

Polk is just one though. There are thousands more Polks praying that they can survive just one more week with a roof.

Who will bail them out? Can they walk over to their local state representative with their hand out and ask for a couple of thousand to tide them over? Will the government put a nice little care package on their front stoop to help them have food for their children? Of course not.

If Mr. Blow screws up he’ll get a lecture on how he should have handled his money better while the bank grabs the house keys out of his hands.

Somehow it just doesn’t seem quite fair does it?

Kitezh, A Fairytale Village For 30 Russian Orphans

An orphanage in Moscow is trying to make life a fairy tale for their young charges. Kitezh is located 190 miles southwest of Moscow. It houses those that have seen way too many horrors for their tender years.

The International Herald Tribune reports:

“If we can, we try to create the atmosphere of a fairy tale,” said Mikhail Shchurav, who has lived at Kitezh for three years and has an adopted son. “Fairy tales help these kids forget what they’ve been through.”

Kitezh has proved to be a successful alternative to institutional care for orphans. The goal of the village is to change the way Russia takes care of their children and be a model of reform for the child welfare system.

The name Kitezh comes from a mythical Russian city that escaped an army by disappearing. It left only the sould of church bells behind for the invading army to find.

In 1992 a former radio talk-show host, Dmitri Morozov founded Kitezh. He hoped to make a different kind of orphanage. Today there are about six homes built in Russian-folk style, a school, a dining hall and a small Orthodox church.

The 30 or so children that reside there eat, work, study and play together. They live in homes with adoptive parents. Those parents are also trained teachers, psychologists and medical personnel.

The director explained his philosophies with IHT:

“We are trying out the latest methods in psychological therapies: play therapy, art therapy, drama therapy,” Shchurav said. “We even play economic games. No one in Russia has tried what we are doing with these children.”

If the 40 children who have graduated from Kitezh are any indication the home is a success. They have all found good jobs with 60 per cent going on to higher education.

Vasily Burdin is one of those graduates. He was just 4 when his parents died from complications of alcoholism. He says that he was treated well but only after leaving Kitezh did he get an understanding of the world.

“I will proceed with law for my business, for my career,” he said. “But after I have stability, I will do something with music — maybe open my studio. It’s a dream.”

The youngest at the village today is 7-year-old Maxim Tarasenko. He describes his life prior to coming to the village as “very bad.” When he first arrived he was a little fighter. After a year though he has become a sweet little social butterfly.

“My parents were very drunk, and didn’t understand anything,” he said. “They didn’t understand that you’re not allowed to drink only vodka and that you’re not allowed to smoke.”

Still the model of Kitezh is not gaining a hold with other orphanages in Russia. Russia though is promoting adoption to ease the strain placed on orphanages.

“Our experience is not being put to use because it requires that adults receive a significant amount of training,” said Morozov, the founder. It also requires a strict allegiance to the collective that can be at odds with Russia’s new materialistic and individualistic ethos.

100 Teens Challenge The Dress Code In Akron, Ohio By Wearing Hoodies To School

Thirty kids were sent home today from North High School in Akron, Ohio for wearing hoodies. That is in direct violation of Akron’s dress code.

Almost 100 students challenged the dress code by wearing hoodies to class city wide. Some believed that all 100 had been suspended. The actual number was 30 students who were kicked out of school for the day for insubordination.

The kids challenged the new dress code on the first day that the weather was cold enough to wear the hooded sweatshirts.

Akron’s new dress code has children in grades from K-8 clad in polo shirts and slacks. High school kids are allowed to wear jeans and T-shirts but not hoodies.

It`s Getting Loud In The Ocean

As pollution increases our oceans are getting louder to the animals living there. Carbon dioxide levels rising makes the water warmer and more acidic, it also increases the sound volume.

The increase comes from burning fossil fuels. The higher rates of coal and oil being used in the last few decades has put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The oceans have also absorbed a huge amount of that extra carbon dioxide by about 40 per cent.

The acidic the water becomes the more it bubbles. Those bubbles alter the chemistry in the seawater changing the way it sounds as it moves. The sound changes are particularly more affected in the octaves two and a half above middle C according to researcher Keith Hester of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California.

It just so happens that most marine animals fall into that octave range. The underground sound of industry and ships in the water also have those octaves.

It is predicted by 2050 sounds will travel much farther in the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean seems to be the most affected. Hester believes in just over 40 years those sounds could be traveling 70 per cent farther than they are today.

When that happens marine life will have a real idea of what living in New York City sounds like.

Washington State Sets Medical Marijuna Limits

The state of Washington’s Health Department has defined a two-month supply limit of medical marijuana as 24 ounces and up to 15 plants. The limit is to end the decade of confusion of how much is allowed.

Patient advocates criticize the limit as insufficient saying that sick people are at risk at going to jail.

Seattle PI reports

“We looked at what appears to make sense for most of the patients in the state,” said department spokesman Donn Moyer. “There will be some who don’t need as much, and there may be some who need more.”

Oregon has limits set at 24 ounces, 6 mature plants and 18 immature plants. Some California counties allow more marijuana but most of the states that allow medical marijuana have much lower limits. In some cases those states only allow one or two ounces.

Washington decided not to use the mature-immature plant distinction because they don’t want to have police deciding what they think a mature plant is.

Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney who represents patients, noted that only female marijuna plants are usable as medicine. When growing from seed half of the plants will be male. That means to have 15 usable plants a person has to plant 30 which is in violation of the law.

The 24-ounce limit is fine for those who smoke marijuana for medical purposes but those who eat it need more notes Hiatt.

Hiatt is quoted at Seattle PI as saying:

“We all know this is a political decision that doesn’t have anything to do with the reality of patients’ lives.”

The original plan for the Health Department in Washington was to set the limit at 35 ounces and 100 square feet of plant canopy. Governor Chris Gregoire said those numbers were to high. He urged the department to get more input for the final numbers from law enforcement and doctors.

The Health Department did so and the numbers were cut as a result. Law enforcement worried that drug dealers would use the higher limits to hide growing operations.

Health Officials Looking For Passengers On Greyhound Bus Bound For Windsor, Ontario

There is a “moderate” risk that 27 people riding a Greyhound bus in Windsor, Ontario have been exposed to TB. Another passenger on the bus has the disease

The man who carried a Canadian passport was turned away at the border in Michigan. He had previously tested positive in the United States for TB.

The bus passenger, who has only been identified as being between the age of 20 to 45, does not have the most serious form of the disease, multi-drug resistant or extensively-drug-resistant tuberculosis.

While this is not a “panic situation” Health Canada would like to test the 27 people who were on Greyhound excursion No. 0367 leaving from Toronto on Sunday, August 31, 2008. The passengers that are being sought are those who got off the bus in Windsor, Ontario at 5:05 p.m. The 15 people that remained on the bus have already been looked after by public health officials in Ontario and the United States. It is still too early to know if they were infected.

The risk is minimal because the passenger was was not “terribly” symptomatic at the time. He was not hacking nor was he coughing. He is now being treated in quarantine.

During an eight to ten hour flight a person with infectious tuberculosis only poses a risk to those with a few seats to him. With the bus ride lasting just three to five hours the risk of infection are even less.

If you were a passenger on the bus please contact your local public health or call 1-866-532-3161.

The ‘Sarah-Cuda’ Hunting Bow Hits the Market

In honour of Sarah Palin, an Ohio manufacturer has made the “Sarah-Cuda,” a pink camouflage hunting bow for that lady who wants to arrow into game.

Lakota Industries Inc. of Xenia, Ohio announced on Wednesday they have come out with a pink camouflage bow named the “Sarah-Cuda.” The bow is in honour of Alaska governor Sarah Palan and her lifelong passion of hunting.

The bow weighs 3.4 pounds and made for women. It sells for $590.

10 per cent of sales will be donated to the National Association for Down Syndrome. Palin’s youngest child, Trig, has the condition.

Bank Robber Uses Craigslist to Make Clean Get Away

A robber hired several men in Monroe, Washington to be decoys without their knowledge. Using Craigslist the man instructed the men to wear specific clothing and to meet near the Bank of America.

The decoy scheme worked as the robber made a clean get away.

The men were told to meet at 11 a.m. at Monroe’s Bank of America wearing a yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt. For the pay of $28.50 the men thought this was a good deal. The ad was placed last week.
With about a dozen men all dressed the same helped the robber escape.

The real robber sprayed an armored car guard with pepper spray and then grabber his money bag. He ran about 100 yards to a creek that runs into the Skykomish River, stripping as he ran.

King 5 reports:

“He was wearing a dust mask, a particle mask. At first I thought it might be a surgical mask. I still didn’t think anything was wrong, just unusual. Then I noticed he had a pump sprayer,” said Mitch Ruth, who had looked out his office window and noticed the man walking into the bank.

One witness said that the man swam away while another said that he used an inner tube as his get away vehicle.

As King 5 reports:

“We did get an inner tube that was about 200 yards from the place where he entered the water and took that for evidence,” said Debbie Willis, Monroe Police.

The police think that from the creek the robber made it to a nearby boat launch or park where accomplices were waiting to pick him up.

The FBI is now working with Monroe Police to trace the ad. They are asking those who responded to call them.

The locals are a bit amused at the creativity of the robbing ad placer.

“Creative. Not a right way of doing it, but creative,” said Monroe resident Byron Bevard.

“I grew up in LA and I never heard of anything so crazy in my life,” said resident Sarah Vazquez.

The suspect is a man in his 20’s. He is white and between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10. He was last seen in a dark blue shirt, jeans shorts and a mask.

Opinion: Could ‘Obsession – Radical Islam’s War Against the West’ Be Behind Mosque`s Attack?

Last week an attack against a 10-year-old little girl took place in Dayton, Ohio. Others that were with the child were also attacked. This should be front page news. Had it happened at a church it may well have been.

The attack took place at the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton Friday night and is not being deemed a hate crime.

Last Friday was the last of the 10 days of Ramadan. At the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton men were gathered in a prayer room when the children were attacked.

Someone sprayed a chemical directly into the face of a 10-year-old girl on September 26. The girl was watching younger children whose parents were at prayer.

The child noticed two men standing outside the basement window about 9:40 p.m. When the child noticed them they sprayed her with the white can they were holding. The child felt immediate burning on her face and was sick to her stomach. Others in the room also felt the same affects from the chemical.

The mosque was evacuated.

The Dayton Daily reports:

“The men didn’t say anything to her (before she was sprayed),” Chief Richard Biehl said. “There was nothing left at the scene or anything that makes us believe this is a biased crime.”

HAZMAT crews were called to the scene to test for chemicals but they had already dissipated. Hazardous materials team coordinator Denny Bristow said no chemicals were found on the girl.

While the police have not deemed the crime hate related some at the mosque believe otherwise. They believe the attack was the result of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”, the film was mailed to area homes by its producers. 70 area newspapers also had a paid advertisement about the DVD in them.

Mosque board member Tarek Sabagn said that the board is not linking the two incidents.

The police filed the incident report on Monday afternoon. It wasn’t until Tuesday that a detective was assigned to the case.

Huffington Post reports on one of the mothers that was at the scene:

The paramedic said the young one was in shock, and gave her oxygen to help her breathe. The child couldn’t stop sobbing.”

“This didn’t happen in some far away place — but right here in Dayton, and to my friends. Many of the Iraqi refugees were praying together at the Mosque Friday evening. People that I know and love.”

“I am hurt and angry. I tell her this is not America. She tells me this is not Heaven or Hell — there are good and bad people everywhere.”

Had this attack taken place through a church window newspapers across this county would have had it on there front pages. It would have instantly been deemed a hate crime.

This is America. Freedom of religion is part of the network of the foundation of the nation. Not freedom of just one religion. A child should feel safe in their place of worship. Or has this nation changed so much that the safety of a child no longer matters?

Has America changed that much?

Colton Dale Saunders Will Be Buried In His Halloween Costume

Colton Dale will be buried in his favorite Halloween whale costume. His mother will bury her three-year-old son who was killed by his father. She had fought the courts trying to keep her son safe, the courts ordered her to let him visit his father.

Friday Meara McIntosh took her little boy to his father’s home like the courts had ordered her to. Less than two days later the mother was mourning little Colton Dale. His father had murdered the child and killed himself with carbon monoxide fumes from a backyard barbecue brought indoors.

Ms. McIntosh had wanted to make a fresh start in Ottawa. The courts said no, she needed to stay in Alberta so that her estranged husband could visit the child. McIntosh told the courts that he was threatening her and had irrational behavior. The courts didn’t care.

Canada.Com reports:

Are you going to wait until one of us is dead before you open an investigation?” she says she asked RCMP.

For eighteen months the couple battled it out in family court disputing the child custody agreement. The couple had to go to the local RCMP detachment to pass their child back and forth for those visitations.

Two and a half months ago McIntosh thought she finally had the proof that her husband was dangerous. She has a tape-recorded conversation where he admitted harassing her. The police told her that they could arrest her for making false complaints.

The end result is a 27-year-old mother burying her son in his favorite little whale costume.

“He loved it; he’s been wearing it for weeks,” said McIntosh, clutching her son’s favourite egg-sized stuffed purple monkey in her hands for comfort during an interview.

“I grabbed this on the way out the door Sunday so he’d have something to play with on the way home,” she said. “It’s been in my pocket ever since.”

This week mother and child would have been settling in Ottawa had the judge allowed the move.

Instead she buries her son.

Users Are Getting Free Access To Movies Due To Hole In Adobe Software

There’s a black hole in Adobe Systems software security that is allowing users to get free access to record and copy movies and TV shows from Amazon.com.

Just like music piracy this problem lets Adobe users steal from movie studios and television networks.

MSNBC reports:

“It’s a fundamental flaw in the Adobe design. This was designed stupidly,” said Bruce Schneier, a security expert who is also the chief security technology officer at British Telecom.

The problem is that the software doesn’t encrypt online content but only the basic orders for online content. Those orders are the stop and play button that is sent to a viewers video player. It would take a simple security feature to make sure online video feed wasn’t able to be recorded. That feature was dropped though to boost the speed of downloads.

Earlier this month Adobe sent out a bulletin about the best ways to protect users online content. They asked their users to add a feature that verifies the validity of their video player.

Amazon says that the content on their company’s Video On Demand service cannot be pirated using video stream catching software.

Reuters, however was able to use at least one program to record online video from Amazon. The Replay Media Catcher from Applian Technologies was able to capture the frames from the site and other sites that use Adobe’s encryption technology.

Can You Afford McCain’s Health Plan?

How much money can you afford to insure your family’s health? The McCain health plan will cost you more unless you live in Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota or Tennessee. The national average of increased costs is $1,100. That is if you are healthy.

The health plan that McCain has proposed for the American people would replace employer-based health insurance for private insurance. That may sound okay to start with unless you’re one of those with a chronic disease.

Employers don’t charge different premiums based on their age, gender, health status, or health history. Most employer plans offer a choice of plans.

Individual insurers play by a different rule system. They can exclude those with pre-existing conditions outright or charge such high fees that the average family can’t afford to be insured.

When you consider that 56 million non-elderly adults with employer-sponsored insurance has a chronic disease McCain’s health plan could raise the number of Americans who face financial disaster because of medical bills.

Who are at risk under McCain’s plan?

* 21.2 million with hypertension
* 18.5 million with arthritis
* 7.8 million with asthma
* 6.3 million with diabetes
* 5.5 million with cancer
* 4.5 million who experience disruptive anxiety or depression

If employer-sponsored insurance is taken away those Americans may not be able to get new coverage. Research shows that over 70 percent of Americans in poor health found it very difficult or completely impossible to find affordable health insurance.

State by state the proposed plan will rack up higher costs to the American tax payer. That is the ones that will be able to be insured. There will be 56 million hoping that they don’t get sick again because they are no longer able to find coverage.

That’s 21 million who will have unchecked high blood pressure.

18 million who hold back tears as their joints ache.

7 million who struggle to breath.

6 million who will wonder how to get insulin.

5 million who should be getting cancer treatments.

4.5 million who sit at home to depressed to function.

McCain has proposed tax credits for high-risk people but that still will not eliminate the problem. Should those who need health insurance the most be put in this risk group?

Beautiful Music Comes Once More From Violins Abandoned During WWII

Sixteen violins found in Nazi concentration camps and abandoned Jewish communities after WWII are again making music in Jerusalem. Israeli violin maker Ammon Weinstein was behind the repairs of the violins left behind when Jews were taken by the Nazis.

Last evening the strings played again outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. It was the first time that all 16 restored violins joined in perfect unity in public.

The Wednesday night concert began as Weinstein handed each of the restored instruments to the violinist that would be making it sing. The violinist were joined by the Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of Raanana, Israel.

The centerpiece of the event was one of the violins that was owned by 12-year-old Motele, a hero of the war. Montele is said to have hidden his violin in a German compound and used the case to smuggle in explosives that allowed Russian Jewish irregular forces take back their town from the Nazis.

Motele’s violin ended the concert with a 12-year-old playing the Israeli national anthem.

Homosexuals In Iraq Live In Fear Of Death Squads

In Iraq homosexuals have to evade Islamist death squads who have the encouragement of clerics to go on a killing spree. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is one of those clerics giving the order to kill gays in the “most severe way possible”.

Queer Fear – Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq, produced by David Grey for Village Film highlights the horrors that homosexuals face in Iraq. Filmed in 2006 the film is as poignant today. The stories that come out of the gay world in Iraq say that life is still dangerous.

The new constitution in Iraq post Saddam allows for honour killers to be exempt from punishment.

Religious hardliners seek out those thought to be homosexual looking for “proof.”

In Baghdad there are safe houses that harbour those who have to live a lie in order to survive. without these havens in the city those targeted risk an encounter with the morality police.

To report on the issue is difficult. The government denies that there is homosexuality in the country.

Newsweek reports of a judge saying that the “crimes of sodomy” are very rare in his country:

“Most acts of homosexual people are being done in dark corners and, with corruption and paying bribes, they will be kept there for a long time, for it is not on the top of our priorities list, which is occupied by issues of terror, kidnapping and killing,” said the judge, who would not allow his name to be used discussing gays.

There is no protection for homosexuals. The police are often of sects that believe that killing a homosexual is an honourable thing. Families kill their own children to protect their honour.

CNN reports:

“Gay men and lesbians in Iraq face a lot of risks right now, because homosexuality is sometimes interpreted by people in Iraq as being a Western import,” said Scott Portman with the Heartland Alliance, a group that promotes human rights worldwide. “So they can sometimes be targeted by insurgent groups or militias, in part, because of animosity toward the West and, in part, because homosexuality is not well-accepted in Iraqi society.”

Insurance Company Has Yet To Pay Life Insurance Policy To Matilda Rose Ledger

An insurance company is being sued over a $10 million dollar life insurance policy that has yet to be paid out. The lawsuit has been filed on the behalf of a man who died of “accidental causes on January 22, 2008. That man was Heath Ledger.

The beneficiary of the policy is Matilda Rose Ledger, the daughter of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams.

ReliaStar has stated that it is seeking more information about whether Ledger lied on his paperwork. They are also investigating if his death was a suicide.

The attorney for Ledger’s estate John S. LaViolette claims that ReliaStar would have had to have investigated any statements Ledger made in paperwork while he was alive.

ReliaStar is seeking the depositions of the masseuse who found Ledger’s body and of Mary-Kate Olsen. The company also wants to question Ledger’s co-stars, agents and doctors according to William Shernoff, the attorney representing LaViolette and Matilda Rose.

Newsday reports:

“There’s a young girl whose father died who is entitled to this money, and ReliaStar is doing everything it can to avoid paying,” Shernoff said in a news release.