Quotes of the Week “We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers…” “What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.” “It is well that war is so terrible -- lest we should grow too fond of it.” - General Robert E. Lee

Iran warns it could strike Israel as nuclear tensions mount Published: Wednesday September 19, 2007 Iran warned on Wednesday that it could bomb Israel if it was attacked by the Jewish state, as the international war of words over the Islamic republic's nuclear drive escalated further. The declaration by Iran's deputy air force commander Mohammad Alavi was immediately denounced by the United States, Israel's staunchest ally, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build an atomic bomb. "We have come up with a plan that in the event of possible foolishness by this regime, Iranian bombers can carry out an attack in retaliation against Israeli soil," Alavi said, quoted by the Fars news agency. "In addition to our missiles, whose range covers the whole soil of this regime, we can attack them with our fighter jets and respond to any attack -- an unlikely event -- with an air attack on their soil. "This plan is not an empty threat." Israel said it was taking "very seriously" the threat. "Unfortunately we hear all too often bellicose, extreme and hateful statements out of the Iranian leadership," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.

France warning of war with Iran Mr Kouchner has sounded the alarm over Iran's nuclear program. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says the world should prepare for war over Iran's nuclear program. "We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Mr Kouchner said in an interview on French TV and radio. He was speaking ahead of a visit to Russia on Monday, during which Iran is likely to feature prominently. Iran's nuclear program will also be one of the main issues for the UN nuclear watchdog's annual conference, starting in Vienna on Monday. Iran denies it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and says it only wants nuclear power to generate electricity for civilian purposes. But it has repeatedly rejected UN demands to give up the enrichment of uranium, which the US and other Western states fear is being diverted to a nuclear weapons project. BBC

Sunday, September 16, 2007 Fans melt down Led Zeppelin ticket site An estimated 60 million people have registered at an online lottery for Led Zeppelin tickets, according to sources. The legendary rock powerhouse is reuniting for a single charity show in London on November 26th and a special web site was set up where fans could register for a chance to buy some of the 20,000 tickets available. The site, AhmetTribute.com, struggled to keep up with the demand and reportedly crashed several times after receiving 180 million hits in just 3 days. Due to this massive demand the registration deadline has been extended from September 17th to September 19th. Tickets will cost 125 British pounds each (about $250 US or 180 Euros). The lottery was set up partially to discourage scalpers from obtaining tickets to the show. Promoters warned that tickets repurchased through sites like eBay or other unauthorized sources would be cancelled. Original Zeppelin members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones will be joined on drums for the show by Jason Bonham, son of late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. The show at London's O2 Arena (formerly known as the Millenium Dome) will be a tribute to late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. Proceeds will go to the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fun

Public to decide fate of 756th home run ball The man who bought Barry Bonds's 756th home run ball for more than $750,000 is letting the public decide its final resting place. Fashion designer Marc Ecko is allowing Internet users to vote to either give the ball to the Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk before sending it to the Cooperstown (N.Y.) museum or place it in a rocket ship and launch it into space. "We all have opinions about this ball," Ecko said in a statement Monday. "Some feel it is a piece of history that belongs in the Hall of Fame. "Others believe it is the embodiment of a cheating culture -- not just in baseball, but in professional sports generally. "I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it and allow the public to decide." Bonds hit the historic homer at San Francisco's AT&T Park on August 7, passing Hall of Famer Hank Aaron as major league baseball's all-time leader. Matt Murphy, 21, from Queens, New York, emerged with the ball from the outfield seats and put it up for auction, which Ecko won with a bid of $752,467. Bonds, a 43-year-old outfielder with the San Francisco Giants, is suspected of using steroids during his career. Many feel the home run record, arguably the most cherished in all of U.S. sport, is tainted because of his alleged use of drugs. The public can go to http://www.vote756.com for the vote, which ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on September 25.

Man refuses 4m lottery win September 19 2007 at 12:08PM A German pensioner who won €2-million / $4M on the lottery refused the cash because he didn't know what to do with it. The 70-year-old man from Hameln, Lower Saxony, went to the headquarters of the German lottery association in Hanover after finding out about his win and told them he did not want the money. He reportedly said: "What would I do with so much money? My wife has already passed away, my parents are dead, I have no children and no other relatives. I don't want it." He said he had only bought the lottery ticket out of a habit because his late wife had been a passionate player. Lottery officials said they were trying to persuade him to keep the money. - Ananova.com

Vietnam bride hell for Maurice September 15, 2007 A LOVELORN pensioner has told how his angelic bride from Vietnam became a "monster" as soon as they got back to the UK. Maurice Baldacchino, 71, met Cucu Co through pals and spent £11,000 on a lavish wedding. But the 32-year-old beauty became a nightmare — like Thai bride Ting Tong Macadangdang from Little Britain, with hubby Dudley Punt. Former merchant seaman Maurice told how she: - KUNG-FU kicked him in the leg where he had a new hip replacement - GAMBLED three nights a week, spending hundreds of pounds a time - OGLED other men and flirted outrageously with them - SHOUTED obscenities at strangers whenever she was in the car. He even claimed she PUSHED him down the stairs — and then vanished when her temporary visa ran out. Vietnamese friends had persuaded divorcee Maurice to fly to Hanoi to meet Cucu. The granddad — who lost his left arm in an industrial accident — said: "When I first met her I got to the airport and we had a one-and-a-half hour drive. Within 20 minutes she looked up and said, ‘I want to kiss you.’ "She did 1,001 things absolutely perfectly, like a beautiful angel. She told me she loved me. I couldn’t believe how strongly I felt about her. He is urging other men looking for a wife in the Far East to think before rushing into a relationship. He said: "I should have listened to my brain, not my heart." [email_address]

Elwood 'Bunky' Bartlett smiles as he talks with reporters after winning the Mega millions jackpot Sunday Sept. 2, 2007 in Nottingham, Md. Bartlett will share the $330 million jackpot with four other winners.

Teacher fights to take gun to class An Oregon high school teacher on Tuesday sued for her right to bring a gun into the classroom for personal protection, clashing with anti-gun advocates fighting for years to rid U.S. schools of weapons. The teacher, who has a legal permit to carry a concealed handgun, filed a lawsuit against the Medford school district in southwestern Oregon to overturn the district's rule that prohibits teachers from bringing a weapon onto school grounds. The standoff between the teacher and the school district has grabbed the attention of both sides of the national gun debate. After a student shot dead 32 people at Virginia Tech University in April, some pro-gun advocates have argued that teachers and perhaps students should be armed to prevent such tragedies in the future. "The right to protect yourself is natural, God-given and should not be taken away," said Kevin Starrett, executive director of the Oregon Firearms Federation, which is paying for the teacher's legal bills. "State law unequivocally allows her to do this," he said.

Meteorite makes villagers ill September 18, 2007 02:00pm VILLAGERS in southern Peru have been struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area. Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was a plane crashing near their remote village, in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia. Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP. Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being taken to hospital, Mr Lopez said. Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene where the meteorite had left a crater 30m wide and 6m deep, said local official Marco Limache. "Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said. NEWS.com.au

Death defying school run A bridge is to be built in a Chinese village where children are forced to cross a raging torrent on a steel cable to get to school. Nearly 500 children, from Maji village in Fugong town, Yunnan province, cross the most dangerous stretch of the Nujiang River each day. They fasten themselves to the cable with a metal carabiner and a rope and slide across the 200 meter wide canyon. The youngest student, A Qia, 4, has to go over by herself each day. The villagers say that usually four-year-old children are taken by their parents, and begin to go by themselves from the age of five. A Pu, five, who was stuck in the middle of the cable for nearly 20 minutes once, said: “I used to dream of having a bridge, but then I learned that my dream was too expensive.” But officials finally agreed to spend £35,000 on a bridge after a TV program was made about the children’s dangerous daily journey. Daily Times

September 11, 2007 Pop-Up, Roof-Mounted Gatling Gun Is Latest in Auto Safety From the street, the GMC Yukons customized by Dillon Aero look like standard-issue SUVs. But behind the tinted windows lurks a fire-spitting dragon: a Dillon Aero M134D Gatling minigun. Designed for VIP escort, the Yukons are outfitted with a roll cage, steel-plate armor and puncture-proof fuel cells and tires. And though weighing around 9000 pounds, the vehicles can exceed speeds of 100 mph (forthcoming supercharged models should be able to go even faster). At the first sign of trouble, the gunner can pop through roof panels mounted on spring-loaded gas shocks, swivel up to 360 degrees, and unleash a withering, 3000-rounds-per-minute barrage. That's 50 different 7.62-mm bullets every second. The two half-moon roof panels act as a shield, and the gun operates off its own 28-volt electrical system, which feeds the ammo from 3400-round linked belts. "The vehicle lays down so much firepower so fast," says a Dillon Aero spokesman (who asked to remain anonymous), "if you're a bad guy, all you're going to want to do is keep your head down." Dillon Aero is no stranger to withering fire—the Arizona-based company is the country’s largest manufacturer of electric Gatling guns, which were first developed during the Vietnam War to suppress enemy fire from helicopters. Dillon Aero’s guns are in wide use, mounted on everything from OH-57 Little Bird helicopters (think of the strafing scenes in the film Black Hawk Down) to Humvees . When it comes to the armed Yukons, Dillon Aero is coy about its customers; it says they include governments around the world that are friendly to the United States. Six of the vehicles were recently sold to an unnamed Middle Eastern government. Of course, all such weapons sales require official American export permits. Aside from a video posted on YouTube —a leaked promo, according to Dillon Aero—the Yukons have yet to make a public appearance. Which is probably a good thing. Popular Mechanics

10 Things You Might’ve Been Better Off Not Knowing About Your Body 1. The average human body comprises enough fat to make seven bars of soap, enough iron to make a medium sized nail, enough potassium to explode a toy cannon, enough lime to whitewash a small chicken coop, enough sugar to fill a jam jar, and enough sulfur to rid a dog of fleas. 2. A complete skeleton is worth between $5,000 and $7,500 to a medical student; your skull alone would fetch only about $450. 3. Your mouth produces about one quart of saliva per day. 4. Demodex folliculorum has eight stumpy legs and a tail, is about a third of a millimeter long, and loves nothing more than to recline in the warm, oily pits of your hair follicles. Most adults have this mite, usually on the head, but especially in eyelashes. And often, they’re in nipples. 5. You have approximately 4,000 wax glands in each ear. 6. The average adult stool weighs about 4 ounces. And half of the bulk of your feces comprises the dead bodies of bacteria that live inside your intestines. 7. The average male foot exudes half a pint of sweat each day. 8. If it weren’t for the slimy mucous that clings to and lines the walls of your gut, your stomach would readily digest itself. 9. The average person will pass about 11,000 gallons of urine in a lifetime. 10. A man weighing 200 lbs. would provide enough meat to feed 100 cannibals in one sitting.

Des Moines police investigate attack by onion September 20, 2007 A Des Moines man went to jail Wednesday afternoon for allegedly throwing an onion at his wife. The police report begins: "(The victim) states her husband had been drinking and they got into an argument." James Izzolena, 54, of 3515 Sheridan Ave., was charged with domestic assault causing injury. Police said he became upset with his wife, Nicole Izzolena, 27, and tossed an onion at her, striking her in the back of the head. She told police it made her head hurt. James Izzolena admitted throwing the onion, police said, but he claimed he did not intend to hit her with it. He was being held without bond pending a court appearance today.

Boy, 6, accused of sex abuse September 19, 2007 AUSTRALIA- The Education Department has investigated claims a six-year-old student ran a "sex club" at an eastern suburban primary school, involving up to up to half a dozen grade 1 students. One mother said her son, also six, was asked to perform a sex act, and that the alleged perpetrator also exposed his genitals to students. Following an investigation, the department has admitted that the student exposed students to sexual conversations and proposed activities, but denied the existence of a "sex club". The alleged perpetrator received counseling. The mother has been unable to make a police report because the law states sexual assault by a child under 10 cannot be prosecuted.

Sex aid burglar escapes jail September 19, 2007 03:55pm A MAN who broke into his neighbor's home west of Brisbane and used her vacuum cleaner and a detergent bottle as sex aids has avoided jail. Jamie Thomas Lacey, 27, was high on LSD and amphetamines when he broke into the house at Millmerran in September 2004. He pleaded guilty today in the Brisbane District Court to burglary and willful damage. The court was told his neighbor returned home on September 29 to find her bathroom in a total state of disarray. Crown prosecutor Julie Aylward told the court pornographic magazines and clothes were strewn around the room, and that a makeshift sex aid constructed from a Toilet Duck bottle, a piece of wood and a latex glove had also been left behind. The woman's vacuum cleaner had also been left in the bathroom. Lacey's defense barrister, Shaun Gordon, argued there was no proof his client had used the vacuum cleaner as a sex aid, but Judge Tony Rafter said it was unlikely it had been used for cleaning. "I'm sure that your client didn't hoover the carpets,'' he said. During the search police uncovered a black carry bag filled with condoms, gloves, creams and a tapered wooden stick. Lacey told police it was his "masturbation bag'', but denied any knowledge of the burglary. He was arrested in December 2006 after police finally matched his DNA to that found on the latex glove attached to the Toilet Duck bottle. He later told police he had vague recollections of the offence, but said his memory was jumbled as he had been a heavy drug user at the time. Judge Rafter sentenced him to 12 months' jail, which he ordered to be served in the community as an Intensive Correction Order. NEWS.com.au

Red lights dim in brothel district Thu Sep 20, 12:04 PM ET About a third of Amsterdam's red-lit windows for prostitutes will disappear from the city center as one of the main brothel owners is set to sell his empire to a real estate company. A housing company is to buy 18 premises, currently featuring 51 windows, for about 25 million euros ($35 million), Amsterdam city council said. Last November, the city revoked the trading licenses of 33 brothels because they were suspected of criminal activities including money laundering and drug dealing. However, the brothel owners appealed successfully against the decision. Tourist authorities acknowledge the 700-year-old red-light district -- a maze of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops, prostitutes behind windows and marijuana-selling "coffee shops" -- is as much of a draw as other attractions such as the Van Gogh museum or the Anne Frank House. Mayor Job Cohen said he had no plans to rid Amsterdam of prostitution but the concentration of sex in the city center was too high.

Alabama Grandma Gets Jail For Prostitution POSTED: 10:58 am EDT September 18, 2007 FORT PAYNE, Ala. -- A 62-year-old grandmother arrested in a prostitution sting in Fort Payne has begun serving a two month jail sentence. Last night, a Fort Payne municipal judge sentenced Mary Clark Duncan to 180 days, but suspended all but 60 days of the jail term. Duncan's daughter, Theresa Duncan, was also arrested August first. The mother and daughter were arrested Aug. 1, after they allegedly both agreed to have sex with an undercover officer for $30 -- at $15 each . Fort Payne Police Chief David Walker said the sting was carried out after his office received several tips that the women were engaged in illicit activities. “Prostitution is not something we see a lot of in the Fort Payne area,” Walker told The Times-Journal. “However, we are glad that something of this nature was brought to our attention, and were able to put an end to this operation.” Walker said the majority of the Duncan’s clientele was believed to be Hispanics. There were two men at the home at the time of the arrest, including Teresa Duncan’s estranged husband and Mary Duncan’s son. No charges have been filed against the men, Walker said, according to The Times-Journal.

Travel Light Tow gear and a house, even with a Prius. The 700-pound GO, which folds to become a trailer for boats and more, is half the weight of most pop-up campers. (Aluminum and tent fabric replace steel and canvas.) SylvanSport GO $6,000; sylvansport.com

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