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MP Sued for Laziness

published by You on 5 February, 2009 - 19:56

Labour MP first to be sued for 'laziness'

Health Minister Ann Keen has been taken to court over allegations that she failed to exercise her duty to help a war veteran clear his name after a miscarriage of justice 47 years ago.

John Taylor, 84, claims he wrote more than 100 letters to his MP asking her to help him get compensation for his wrongful conviction of stealing £17 in 1962 - a conviction which saw him serve three years in prison. The conviction came after three men brought a stolen safe to the flat where he was sleeping, but it was quashed in 1998.

Mr Taylor, who was badly wounded while fighting in Holland during the Second World War, alleges his MP failed to act beyond writing to the Justice Secretary Baroness Scotland about his case four years ago.

If you fail at first, try, try again

published by You on 5 February, 2009 - 19:43

L-test hell for S Korean driver

A South Korean grandmother has failed her written driving test 771 times.

Police in the city of Jeonju said the 68-year-old woman has taken, and failed, the written test repeatedly since April 2005.

She failed the exam once again on Monday but has said that she will continue trying...

Read more @ BBC News.

Iraqi woman used rape to recruit female suicide bombers

published by You on 4 February, 2009 - 22:30

Iraq's 'female bomber recruiter'

Suspected militant recruiter Samira Jassim reportedly calls herself "the Mother of Believers".

Detained in January by Iraqi security forces, the mother of six is accused of converting dozens of vulnerable women into suicide attackers.

In an apparent video confession, the middle-aged woman described how she identified potential bombers, helped supply them with explosives and led them to their targets.

She also explained, in a separate interview with the Associated Press, how insurgents used rape as a tool, with the "shamed" women persuaded to redeem themselves through suicide attacks.

Her apparent confession could help throw light on the recent increase in attacks in Iraq involving female bombers.

Party like its... 1234567890!

published by You on 4 February, 2009 - 21:01

Geekerati brace for Unix timestamp milestone

Party like it's 1234567890

In an event that's sure to bring a burst of adrenalin to computer geeks everywhere, the official Unix calender is about to pass a milestone: exactly 1234567890 seconds since the clock first started ticking.

POSIX is the official a widely used time-keeping method for Unix and is measured in the number of seconds that have passed since January 1, 1970 at midnight UTC (not counting leap seconds). It has since been adopted by many other computer systems.

Cricket

published by You on 4 February, 2009 - 20:48

I seem to have not seen a single match in years, but todays feat needs a topic. probably.

Muralitharan has equalled Wasim Akram's Record of 502 ODI wickets.

Is Murali the greatest baller ever?

Man held after getting off a flight with live pigeons in his trousers

published by You on 4 February, 2009 - 20:42

Australia holds 'pigeon smuggler'

A man has been caught with two pigeons stuffed in his trousers after he got off a flight from Dubai to Melbourne.

Australian customs officials say the live birds were wrapped in padded envelopes and held to the man's legs by a pair of tights under his trousers.

Officials also found two eggs in a vitamin container in the man's luggage.

Australia has strict quarantine rules on the importation of wildlife, plants and food. The man, 23, could face up to 10 years in jail.

The nation's quarantine regulations are designed to protect health, agriculture and the environment.

As well as 10 years' imprisonment, the maximum sentence for wildlife smuggling includes a fine of A$110,000 (US$70,480; £48,902).

The pending scramble for water

published by You on 4 February, 2009 - 01:34

The pending scramble for water

ANALYSIS by Dominic Waughray, Senior director, head of environmental initiatives, World Economic Forum, Geneva

In 2008, Saudi Arabia ceased to be self sufficient in wheat production.

It is looking to access land overseas to grow crops, possibly in Pakistan or the Horn of Africa.

China is acquiring agricultural land in Southern Africa for similar purposes.

And Daewoo Logistic is looking to lease land in Madagascar, to grow food for South Korea.

Other countries in South Asia and the Gulf are considering similar moves.

Scale of problem

None of these countries needs the land for the sake of territorial expansion.

Human-Animal Hybrids Fail

published by You on 3 February, 2009 - 19:59

Study questions usefulness of animal-human embryos

It may be futile to try producing stem cells by putting human DNA into cow or rabbit eggs and making hybrid cloned embryos, a strategy that triggered controversy recently in Britain, a new study says. The animal eggs don't reprogram human DNA in the right way to generate stem cells, researchers report.

"Instead of turning on the right genes, it turns out the animal eggs actually turn them off," said senior study author Dr. Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass.

Another scientist disputed that conclusion.

Beards (and the veil)

published by You on 3 February, 2009 - 19:51

What does everyone think of them?

I was just browsing another forum (I give a plea of temporary insanity. not.) and there was a topic on this where he original poster was pushing the line that beards were fardh.

Leaving aside the fiqh issue (because that would require a scholarly opinion and there are many different ones out there), what do you think of beards? WHat do you think of the focus on womens clothing when having a beard for a guy may (or may not) be just as important?

Good bad or ugly?

Fatah, Hamas trade accusations

published by You on 2 February, 2009 - 21:19

Fatah, Hamas trade accusations

RAMALLAH, occuiped West Bank (IPS) - Reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah is looking increasingly problematic as the two groups exchange serious accusations of treason, torture and extrajudicial killings.

Tension between the two groups has escalated in the wake of Israel's 22-day military assault on Gaza, code-named Operation Cast Lead, which left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead, nearly 5,000 wounded, and the coastal territory's infrastructure decimated.

Fatah, affiliated with the ruling Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, accuses Hamas of killing, torturing and beating up a number of Fatah activists in Gaza.

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