"The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science, along with behaviour control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers." - Lewis Thomas

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So this Muslim goes into a sitcom . . . how a TV show is defusing tensions - "Muslim humour? Enter Little Mosque on the Prairie, North America’s first Muslim sitcom... Much of the rest of the programme is dedicated to the humour of everyday Muslim life, poking fun at the conservative imam who rails against popular television — “Desperate Housewives? Why should they be desperate when they’re only performing their natural womanly duties?” — and condemns wine gums and liquorice as a Christian plot to lure Muslims into imbibing alcohol. The programme has been greeted warmly by moderate Muslim groups, happy to see Muslims at last being portrayed with humour in their ordinary lives. “I think it is about time for Muslims to laugh at themselves in public,” Dr Moham-med Elmasry, of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said... Overall, however, the reaction has been positive, from Muslims and nonMuslims alike. “There haven’t been riots in the streets or anything,” Ms Nawaz notes, a wry references to the Danish cartoon scandal. “Perhaps that’s because it gently mocks everyone equally. If everyone’s equally offended, that’s okay.”"
Sedition! Sedition!

Hospice helped dying man lose his virginity - "A young disabled man who receives care for his life-limiting illness at a hospice run by a nun spoke yesterday of his decision to use a prostitute to experience sex before he dies... Mr Wallis told staff at the Douglas House hospice in Oxford that he wanted to experience sexual intercourse. He explained that he had hoped to form an intimate and loving relationship with a woman, but his disability had acted as a barrier... "It was not emotionally fulfilling, but the lady was very pleasant and very understanding. I do not know whether I would do it again. I would much rather find a girlfriend, but I have to be realistic.""

Note to MySpace Users: Get Better Passwords - "Granted, some of the "phished" user names and passwords show that a few would-be victims were wise to the scam, including "yourmom@hottmom.com:yoyoyomomma" and "getalife@hotmail.com:golayintraffic," and "Screwyouphishers:hahascrewyou," to name some of the more "polite" entries. Still, the entries that are junk or obviously fake are far outnumbered by the login credentials that appear to have come from actual victims."

The Straight Dope: How come the U.S. uses 120 volt electricity, not 240 like the rest of the world? - "The penalty of leadership, champ. While inventors in many countries contributed to electric power technology, the U.S. was way out front in putting that technology to practical use. In the early days, lower voltages were the most practical for electric lights-- higher voltages burned out the bulbs. So the hundreds of power plants built in the U.S. prior to 1900 adopted 110 volts (or 115 or 120 volts) as their de facto standard."

Does TRUE Have a 'Right-Wing, Fascist Bias'? - "Elizabeth Joseph was the keynote speaker at a conference of the Utah chapter of the National Organization of Women. She told attendees she has discovered the ultimate feminist lifestyle: polygamy. Ms Joseph, who shares her husband with seven other wives, said she "was able to go to law school 400 miles away, knowing my husband had clean shorts in the morning and dinner at night" thanks to the other wives. "I've maximized my female potential without the tradeoffs associated with monogamy," she explained, such as delaying education in order to raise a family. "Polygamy is an empowering lifestyle," she declared... A recent decision by the U.S. military "marks the first sanctioned use of a hallucinogen by members of the armed forces," says an official of the Native American Church of North America. The decision, to allow Native American members of the church to use peyote in the pursuit of their religion, applies to over 9,000 servicemen and -women, and allows them to answer "no" when asked if they have ever used drugs."

Coin Shortage Could Turn Pennies to Nickels - "Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel have meant the face value of pennies and nickels are worth less than the material that they are made of, increasing the risk that speculators could melt the coins and sell them for a profit."

Housework can help you to beat breast cancer, women are told - "A study comparing the beneficial effects of different types of exercise found that moderate housework had the biggest obvious effect."

Macedonia leads world with wi-fi - "A project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has brought broadband internet access to hundreds of such remote villages in Macedonia by putting the country's 460 primary and secondary schools online. While the computers for the labs came from China, USAID's side of the project, called Macedonia Connects, was to pay for a local company to provide wireless internet access for the nation's schools, and while doing so roll out a wireless communication network across the country."

Facebook | Ban Opposite Sex Marriage - "Scientists may have discovered a link between oposite sex marriage and "pregnancy" a process akin to the one depicted in the movie alien in which a living organism incubates within a womans body for nine months and then forces its way out in an extremely painful ordeal known as live birth."

Tijuana Police Have Guns Confiscated, Issued Slingshots - "The police department has issued about 60 slingshots to officers in the violent border city of Tijuana, where soldiers confiscated police weapons two weeks ago on allegations of collusion with drug traffickers."

Holy war erupts as unorthodox Greeks revive ancient religion - "It took more than 1600 years, but the ancient Greek god Zeus has been honoured once again, pagan style, by a tiny group of worshippers at an ancient temple in the heart of Athens."

US military unveils heat-ray gun - "The US military has given the first public display of what it says is a revolutionary heat-ray weapon to repel enemies or disperse hostile crowds."

Hard yakka, Singapore style - "National Tertiary Education Union organiser James Godfrey said Singapore labour laws allowed 12-hour working days for academics. The union described the city-state's work laws as oppressive. But UNSW Asia president Greg Whittred scoffed at the claims. "In my experience, most academics work more than 12 hours a day anyway. If they were forced to work the minimum 12 hours, they would be delighted," Professor Whittred said."
More than 12 hours a day? Hahahahahahaha.

Fat people 'are given a slimmer wage packet' - "Fatter people pay the price of being overweight by earning less, a Europe-wide study has found."

All-New Takara Soundwave Functional MP3 Player Figure - "BigBadToyStore has put up a pre-order for a brand-new Takara Soundwave action figure featuring an all-new mold as well as a fully-functional MP3 player."

Pillow fighting goes professional - "They are not allowed to scratch, gouge or pull each other’s hair, but the women fighters of North America’s newest professional sport wield a potentially punishing weapon: a standard fibre-filled bed pillow... a list of rules that forbid punching, low blows and “rude, lewd or suggestive behaviour”. It is also an offence to stuff a brick in a pillow."

What happened to Singapore, the land of plenty? - "Lee Chong Peng is the symbol of Singapore’s broken dream. She lives alone in a one-room flat on about $3 a day. “I watch television and take short walks,” she says. “My legs ache now, so I cannot go so far.” But without fail, every Wednesday afternoon, Lee takes the lift down eight floors to the ground level of her public housing block."

First-born child 'achieves more' - "First-born children are likely to be more successful at school than their younger siblings, a study suggests."

Singapore's Rich-Poor Divide - "New statistics reveal that middle-class households have tasted none of Singapore's spectacular growth, and that the island's poorest 30 percent are worse off than they were five years ago. "Although we have seen very strong growth, we're experiencing this new phenomenon of median real-wage stagnation and low-income decline," says Yeoh Lam Keong, vice president of the Economic Society of Singapore."

Obesity may reduce risk of heart failure death - "Obese patients hospitalized with heart failure tend to fare better than their lean counterparts, new research suggests. The report, which appears in the American Heart Journal, indicates that this "obesity paradox," which was previously described in patients with chronic heart failure, may also apply to patients with rapidly worsening or "decompensated" heart failure."