CBC News: Catholic Church to open its doors to gay priests: "A Vatican document expected to be made public soon says the Church will allow gay men who have lived chastely for three years to be candidates for the priesthood.
The document, which has been in the works for three years will update Vatican policy which up until now made clear that homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood.
A senior official with the Vatican, who requested anonymity because the document has not yet been released said the new policy will permit candidates who have lived a chaste life for at least three years before their admission to the seminary."
8.10.05
Psychic seeks $25 million reward for Saddam - Yahoo! News
Psychic seeks $25 million reward for Saddam - Yahoo! News: "RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian court will consider a psychic's claim that the U.S. government owes him a $25 million reward for information he says he provided on the hiding place of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Brazil's second-highest court, the Superior Court of Justice, decided Thursday the Brazilian justice system could rule on the matter and told a court in the psychic's home state of Minas Gerais to judge the case.
The lower court had earlier told Jucelino Nobrega da Luz it could not take up his claim and it would have to be judged in the United States, but the higher tribunal ruled otherwise.
'The Minas Gerais court will work with the claim,' said a spokesman for the Superior Court of Justice.
'Jucelino da Luz alleges that the U.S. armed forces only found Saddam based on his letters that provided his exact location, the very hole where he was hiding in
Iraq. So he filed a court case to claim the reward.'
The U.S. government offered the award for Saddam in July 2003 after the U.S.-led forces occupied the country. He was captured in December of the same year.
The court said Da Luz sent letters to the U.S. government from September 2001, describing Saddam's future hiding place -- a tiny cellar at a farmhouse near Tikrit. He never received a reply.
'His lawyers attest that the author has an uncommon gift of having visions of things that will come to pass. ... Via dreams, he sees situations, facts that will happen in the future,' a court statement said.
In case the court upholds the claim, it will be sent via diplomatic channels to the U.S. State Department."
Brazil's second-highest court, the Superior Court of Justice, decided Thursday the Brazilian justice system could rule on the matter and told a court in the psychic's home state of Minas Gerais to judge the case.
The lower court had earlier told Jucelino Nobrega da Luz it could not take up his claim and it would have to be judged in the United States, but the higher tribunal ruled otherwise.
'The Minas Gerais court will work with the claim,' said a spokesman for the Superior Court of Justice.
'Jucelino da Luz alleges that the U.S. armed forces only found Saddam based on his letters that provided his exact location, the very hole where he was hiding in
Iraq. So he filed a court case to claim the reward.'
The U.S. government offered the award for Saddam in July 2003 after the U.S.-led forces occupied the country. He was captured in December of the same year.
The court said Da Luz sent letters to the U.S. government from September 2001, describing Saddam's future hiding place -- a tiny cellar at a farmhouse near Tikrit. He never received a reply.
'His lawyers attest that the author has an uncommon gift of having visions of things that will come to pass. ... Via dreams, he sees situations, facts that will happen in the future,' a court statement said.
In case the court upholds the claim, it will be sent via diplomatic channels to the U.S. State Department."
SPIEGEL Surfs the Web: First Robot Fish on Display in London - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
SPIEGEL Surfs the Web: First Robot Fish on Display in London - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News: "The world's first ever autonomously controlled fish made a splash at the London Aquarium this week. The three robotic fish, which are about the size of carp, use sensors to navigate round the place and can therefore avoid the other (real) fish they share a tank with."
7.10.05
Russia’s Oldest Practicing Surgeon Turns 101, Still Working - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM
Russia’s Oldest Practicing Surgeon Turns 101, Still Working - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM: "
World’s oldest practicing surgeon Fedor Uglov from St. Petersburg, Russia, has turned 101 and is not quitting his job yet, the Interfax news agency reports.
Fedor Uglov from the Russian Medical Science Academy has performed 6,500 surgeries in the 76 years of doing his job. He has published eight monographs and 600 articles.
“He is a doctor with a unique surgical technique, many of the world’s famous surgeons applauded his operations,” Uglov’s colleague from the Pavlov Medical University of St. Petersburg said.
Uglov, who the Guinness World Records Book calls the oldest working surgeon of the former Soviet territories, keeps teaching students, consulting patients, is active in social and research work."
World’s oldest practicing surgeon Fedor Uglov from St. Petersburg, Russia, has turned 101 and is not quitting his job yet, the Interfax news agency reports.
Fedor Uglov from the Russian Medical Science Academy has performed 6,500 surgeries in the 76 years of doing his job. He has published eight monographs and 600 articles.
“He is a doctor with a unique surgical technique, many of the world’s famous surgeons applauded his operations,” Uglov’s colleague from the Pavlov Medical University of St. Petersburg said.
Uglov, who the Guinness World Records Book calls the oldest working surgeon of the former Soviet territories, keeps teaching students, consulting patients, is active in social and research work."
BBC - Press Office - George Bush on Elusive Peace
: "President George W Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.
In Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, a major three-part series on BBC TWO (at 9.00pm on Monday 10, Monday 17 and Monday 24 October), Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.
Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"
Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state." "
In Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, a major three-part series on BBC TWO (at 9.00pm on Monday 10, Monday 17 and Monday 24 October), Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.
Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"
Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state." "
6.10.05
Wired 13.10: Building Your Own Air Force, One Mig at a Time
Wired 13.10: Building Your Own Air Force, One Mig at a Time: "A decade ago, only sovereign nations could afford to buy and maintain sophisticated, high-performance fighters. But Kirlin's unmarked hangars contain an air force more formidable than that of many countries. He has 30 jets in flying condition, 10 in line for maintenance, and dozens more to be delivered. His MiG-29 Fulcrums, designed in the late 1970s to go head-to-head with the hottest US planes, are the only privately owned Fulcrums in the world. Kirlin breaks into a big smile whenever he looks at them."
BBC NEWS | England | Tyne | 'Pot' plants stolen from castle
BBC NEWS | England | Tyne | 'Pot' plants stolen from castle: "Thieves have stolen cannabis plants in a raid at a specially-licensed poison garden at a top visitor attraction."
ABC News: Espionage Case Breaches the White House
ABC News: Espionage Case Breaches the White House: "Both the FBI and CIA are calling it the first case of espionage in the White House in modern history.
Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney."
Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney."
America, United States, Times Online, The Times, Sunday Times
America, United States, Times Online, The Times, Sunday Times: "THE film version of The Da Vinci Code is attempting to reduce the offence that the best-selling book caused to Roman Catholics.
Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film starring Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellen, is reported to have been so concerned that it has consulted Catholic and other Christian specialists on how it might alter the plot of the novel to avoid offending the devout.
Film officials have held talks with Catholic groups and other organisations despite Dan Brown, the author, insisting that “it’s only a novel and therefore a work of fiction”, The New York Times reported yesterday.
The Catholic League is calling for Ron Howard, the film’s Oscar-winning director, to include a disclaimer acknowledging that the movie is fiction."
Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film starring Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellen, is reported to have been so concerned that it has consulted Catholic and other Christian specialists on how it might alter the plot of the novel to avoid offending the devout.
Film officials have held talks with Catholic groups and other organisations despite Dan Brown, the author, insisting that “it’s only a novel and therefore a work of fiction”, The New York Times reported yesterday.
The Catholic League is calling for Ron Howard, the film’s Oscar-winning director, to include a disclaimer acknowledging that the movie is fiction."
Plea to Pope from 'God's banker' revealed as murder trial begins - World - Times Online
Plea to Pope from 'God's banker' revealed as murder trial begins - World - Times Online: "ROBERTO CALVI, the Mafia-linked financier known as “God’s banker”, made a desperate last appeal to Pope John Paul II to save him from financial ruin shortly before he was found hanging from scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge nearly a quarter of a century ago.
The disclosure emerged on the eve of the opening today of the trial in Rome of four people accused of murdering Calvi in June 1982. The first inquest, held a month after his death, ruled that Calvi, 62, had committed suicide. A second inquest, a year later, reached an open verdict.
But Calvi’s relatives — above all, his son, Carlo, a banker in Canada, and his widow, Carla — have maintained that he was murdered by Mafia gangsters to cover up the extent to which the Vatican Bank, which funded anti-communist causes in Eastern Europe and Latin America, was entangled with organised crime.
They also claim that an illegal masonic lodge, P2, to which Calvi belonged, was involved in the conspiracy."
The disclosure emerged on the eve of the opening today of the trial in Rome of four people accused of murdering Calvi in June 1982. The first inquest, held a month after his death, ruled that Calvi, 62, had committed suicide. A second inquest, a year later, reached an open verdict.
But Calvi’s relatives — above all, his son, Carlo, a banker in Canada, and his widow, Carla — have maintained that he was murdered by Mafia gangsters to cover up the extent to which the Vatican Bank, which funded anti-communist causes in Eastern Europe and Latin America, was entangled with organised crime.
They also claim that an illegal masonic lodge, P2, to which Calvi belonged, was involved in the conspiracy."
Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible - World - Times Online
Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible - World - Times Online: "THE hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true.
The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible.
“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.
The document is timely, coming as it does amid the rise of the religious Right, in particular in the US."
The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible.
“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.
The document is timely, coming as it does amid the rise of the religious Right, in particular in the US."
Deadly 1918 Epidemic Linked to Bird Flu, Scientists Say - New York Times
Deadly 1918 Epidemic Linked to Bird Flu, Scientists Say - New York Times: "Two teams of federal and university scientists announced today that they had resurrected the 1918 influenza virus, the cause of one of history's most deadly epidemics, and had found that unlike the viruses that caused more recent flu pandemics of 1957 and 1968, the 1918 virus was actually a bird flu that jumped directly to humans."
5.10.05
Jock Slap! Scotland 'Most Violent Country' - Yahoo! News UK
Jock Slap! Scotland 'Most Violent Country' - Yahoo! News UK: "Scotland has been named the most violent country in the developed world.A United Nations report claims more than 2,000 Scots are assaulted every week - almost 10 times official police figures.The study - which does not include figures for murder, muggings or sexual assaults - claims that together, England and Wales are the second most dangerous countries.
Experts say Britain's heavy-drinking habits are to blame.
The UN claims the attacks have been fuelled by a 'booze and blades' culture in the west of Scotland with the worst offenders being males aged between 15 and 25.
Violent crime has doubled in the country over the past 20 years to a level comparable with crime-ridden cities like Rio de Janeiro."
Experts say Britain's heavy-drinking habits are to blame.
The UN claims the attacks have been fuelled by a 'booze and blades' culture in the west of Scotland with the worst offenders being males aged between 15 and 25.
Violent crime has doubled in the country over the past 20 years to a level comparable with crime-ridden cities like Rio de Janeiro."
Proposed law: Companies can't keep employees from bringing guns to work: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Proposed law: Companies can't keep employees from bringing guns to work: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "TALLAHASSEE -- Florida businesses could soon face criminal charges if they try to stop employees from bringing guns to work in their cars, thrusting the state into a growing national debate pitting individual freedom against job safety.
Backed by the National Rifle Association, two state lawmakers have filed bills that would allow workers to have guns at work, as long as the weapons remain locked in their vehicles."
Backed by the National Rifle Association, two state lawmakers have filed bills that would allow workers to have guns at work, as long as the weapons remain locked in their vehicles."
Mystery Ocean Glow Confirmed in Satellite Photos - Yahoo! News
Mystery Ocean Glow Confirmed in Satellite Photos - Yahoo! News: "Mariners have long told of rare nighttime events in which the ocean glows intensely as far as the eye can see in all directions.
Fictionally, such a 'milky sea' is encountered by the Nautilus in Jules Verne classic '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.'
Scientists don't have a good handle what's going on. But satellite sensors have now provided the first pictures of a milky sea and given new hope to learning more about the elusive events.
The newly released images show a vast region of the Indian Ocean, about the size of Connecticut, glowing three nights in a row. The luminescence was also spotted from a ship in the area.
'The circumstances under which milky seas form is almost entirely unknown,' says Steven Miller, a Naval Research Laboratory scientists who led the space-based discovery. 'Even the source for the light emission is under debate.'"
Fictionally, such a 'milky sea' is encountered by the Nautilus in Jules Verne classic '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.'
Scientists don't have a good handle what's going on. But satellite sensors have now provided the first pictures of a milky sea and given new hope to learning more about the elusive events.
The newly released images show a vast region of the Indian Ocean, about the size of Connecticut, glowing three nights in a row. The luminescence was also spotted from a ship in the area.
'The circumstances under which milky seas form is almost entirely unknown,' says Steven Miller, a Naval Research Laboratory scientists who led the space-based discovery. 'Even the source for the light emission is under debate.'"
Booman Tribune ~ Boo!
Booman Tribune ~ Boo!: "Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make
marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana,
including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do
become pregnant 'by means other than sexual intercourse.'
According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every
woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother throu gh assisted
reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation,
and egg donation, must first file for a 'petition for parentage' in
their local county probate court.
Only women who are married will be considered for the 'gestational
certificate' that must be presented to any doctor who facilitates the
pregnancy. Further, the 'gestational certificate' will only be given
to married couples that successfully complete the same screening
process currently required by law of adoptive parents.
As it the draft of the new law reads now, an intended parent 'who
knowingly or willingly participates in an artificial reproduction
procedure' without court approval, 'commits unauthorized
reproduction, a Class B misdemeanor.' The criminal charges will be
the same for physicians who commit 'unauthorized practice of
artificial reproduction.'"
marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana,
including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do
become pregnant 'by means other than sexual intercourse.'
According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every
woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother throu gh assisted
reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation,
and egg donation, must first file for a 'petition for parentage' in
their local county probate court.
Only women who are married will be considered for the 'gestational
certificate' that must be presented to any doctor who facilitates the
pregnancy. Further, the 'gestational certificate' will only be given
to married couples that successfully complete the same screening
process currently required by law of adoptive parents.
As it the draft of the new law reads now, an intended parent 'who
knowingly or willingly participates in an artificial reproduction
procedure' without court approval, 'commits unauthorized
reproduction, a Class B misdemeanor.' The criminal charges will be
the same for physicians who commit 'unauthorized practice of
artificial reproduction.'"
4.10.05
321energy :: Oil Crunch:: David Chapman of Union Securities Ltd.
321energy :: Oil Crunch:: David Chapman of Union Securities Ltd.: "The knocking out of roughly 25% of the US’s oil and gas and refinery production for what could be an indeterminate period is fuelling the spectre of fuel shortages in coming months. Once again this is an area where the damage to the oil and gas rigs in the Gulf and the refineries along the coast has been underestimated. Consumers are seeing higher prices at the gas pumps and they are threatened with sharply higher heating costs this winter that can only bite into consumer spending. Higher gas and heating prices are like an additional tax on the economy."
MSN Money - Empty houses, falling prices: A boom dies
MSN Money - Empty houses, falling prices: A boom dies: "The process was created by Easy Al trying to bail out the stock bubble by taking rates to 1%. Folks got caught up in taking the equity out of their homes, as if they were on-site ATMs. Rising house prices attracted speculation. Lenders abdicated all responsibility -- dropping standards so low that folks could buy a house and even walk away with cash, much less put zero down -- thereby creating the credit bubble that has precipitated the problem we now have."
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Britain's secret sex survey
His poem Annus Mirabilis famously links the start of the sexual revolution with the "Beatles' first LP". But the results of a survey into sexual attitudes and behaviour, conducted 14 years earlier, reveal the British had developed a hearty lust for sexual experimentation. Only, no one would openly discuss it.
In these liberated times, when sex is almost a constant undercurrent of everyday life, it's hard to imagine how much of a taboo sex once was.
Yet when a group of young researchers set out to probe British sexual behaviour in 1949 their findings were considered so outrageous they were instantly swept under the carpet; banished to the archives of a university.
Only now, more than 50 years on, have the results come to light, revealed in a new BBC programme. The findings show that the prim and proper façade of post-war Britain hid some remarkable truths about sexual attitudes and experience.
One in four men admitted to having had sex with prostitutes, one in five women owned up to an extra-marital affair, while the same proportion of both sexes said they had had a homosexual experience.">
3.10.05
New Scientist Breaking News - Australians win Nobel for linking bug to ulcers
New Scientist Breaking News - Australians win Nobel for linking bug to ulcers: "Two Australians have won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for establishing that bacteria cause stomach ulcers, it was announced on Monday.
Working at the Royal Perth Hospital, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren established beyond all doubt in the 1980s that Helicobacter pylori causes stomach ulcers by infecting and aggravating the gut lining.
Moreover, they showed that ulcers could be cured altogether by killing the bacteria with antibiotics. Hitherto, ulcers had been considered uncurable. Instead, patients' symptoms were treated with a lifetime of drugs to reduce the acidity of the gut.
The pair’s claims provoked a fierce backlash from the medical establishment, which held to the dogma that ulcers were brought on by stress and lifestyle, and could not be cured. By revealing a simple cure, the researchers also threatened to destroy huge and lucrative global markets for the existing anti-ulcer drugs, which simply eased symptoms."
Working at the Royal Perth Hospital, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren established beyond all doubt in the 1980s that Helicobacter pylori causes stomach ulcers by infecting and aggravating the gut lining.
Moreover, they showed that ulcers could be cured altogether by killing the bacteria with antibiotics. Hitherto, ulcers had been considered uncurable. Instead, patients' symptoms were treated with a lifetime of drugs to reduce the acidity of the gut.
The pair’s claims provoked a fierce backlash from the medical establishment, which held to the dogma that ulcers were brought on by stress and lifestyle, and could not be cured. By revealing a simple cure, the researchers also threatened to destroy huge and lucrative global markets for the existing anti-ulcer drugs, which simply eased symptoms."
This Illiterate Brazilian's Home Speaks Volumes - Yahoo! News
: "SAO GONCALO, Brazil — Carlos Leite can barely read a word, but books revolutionized his life.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two years ago, he was doing construction work for a man who was about to toss out six thick, red encyclopedias. Leite asked whether he could have them instead. Thus a dream was born.
Within days, he hit the pavement, knocking on doors, begging people for more unwanted books. No contribution was too small, too big or too arcane. Skeptical members of Leite's cycling club were dragooned into helping him collect donations.
His collection quickly multiplied. The original six volumes turned into 100, then 1,000. Soon, his humble home was bursting with 5,000 books of all types — worn classics, chemistry textbooks, dog-eared thrillers.
To Leite, though, nearly all the books are mysteries. Born into a poor family, he dropped out of school after third grade and, at 51, is practically illiterate.
But books, he knows, are the gateway to a life of greater possibility and more promise than his own. It might be too late for me, a working man, he reasoned, but not for others."
ADVERTISEMENT
Two years ago, he was doing construction work for a man who was about to toss out six thick, red encyclopedias. Leite asked whether he could have them instead. Thus a dream was born.
Within days, he hit the pavement, knocking on doors, begging people for more unwanted books. No contribution was too small, too big or too arcane. Skeptical members of Leite's cycling club were dragooned into helping him collect donations.
His collection quickly multiplied. The original six volumes turned into 100, then 1,000. Soon, his humble home was bursting with 5,000 books of all types — worn classics, chemistry textbooks, dog-eared thrillers.
To Leite, though, nearly all the books are mysteries. Born into a poor family, he dropped out of school after third grade and, at 51, is practically illiterate.
But books, he knows, are the gateway to a life of greater possibility and more promise than his own. It might be too late for me, a working man, he reasoned, but not for others."
2.10.05
BBC NEWS | Business | Google and Nasa in space venture
BBC NEWS | Business | Google and Nasa in space venture: "Web search firm Google has formed a partnership with US space agency Nasa in an effort to harness new technology which could boost the space programme.
Google is to build a new office complex on the site of Nasa's research facility in California, close to its own headquarters in Silicon Valley.
The two companies will co-operate in a range of areas including IT solutions, data management and nanotechnology.
It would look to 'bring entrepreneurs into the space programme', Nasa added."
Google is to build a new office complex on the site of Nasa's research facility in California, close to its own headquarters in Silicon Valley.
The two companies will co-operate in a range of areas including IT solutions, data management and nanotechnology.
It would look to 'bring entrepreneurs into the space programme', Nasa added."
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