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International Talk Like a Pirate Day (ITLAPD) is a parodic holiday invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chumbucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), of the United States, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate. For example, an observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello", but with "Ahoy, me hearty!" The date was selected because it was the birthday of Summers's ex-wife and consequently would be easy for him to remember. At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when Baur...

WASHINGTON - A popular snack food sold nationwide is being recalled because of concerns about contamination. All lots and sizes of Veggie Booty Snack Food are being recalled, the company said, following a report of 51 cases of salmonella poisoning that may be associated with the product. Georgine Hertzwig of Robert's American Gourmet in Sea Cliff, N.Y., said the company acted after the Food and Drug Administration contacted them about the illnesses in 17 states.Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea,...

A furor over what Concord High School administrators call an "overtly sexual" style of dancing at school dances has split the school community: There are those who defend the students'right to dance however they want and those who believe the moves are just plain inappropriate. Principal Gene Connolly is with the latter group. He said the school will cancel all remaining dances, including the upcoming homecoming dance, unless students step forward to help halt the "grinding." "This style of dancing is wrong," Connolly told parents at a Parent-Teacher-Student Organization meeting Tuesday night. "If you were to see it, you would...

It's Friday. Life is meant to be lived.

Who's got the best bottom for denim? Choose from photos of Beyoncé, Jessica and others – and then vote! PLUS: Take PEOPLE's Ultimate Jeans Poll. BEYONCÉ The onetime Bootylicious diva (on TRL) recently slimmed down but still lays claim to the title in her snug Siwy jeans.

Jefferson exit spurs new rulesBy Josephine Hearn Several House Democrats have proposed significant changes to their party’s caucus rules, with at least two of the changes prompted by internal caucus controversy over the recent ouster of a caucus member from the Ways and Means Committee. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) has written a proposal to handle situations in which leaders may seek to revoke a lawmaker’s committee assignment while he or she faces government investigation. Butterfield and others were upset that Democratic leaders ousted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the committee while he faces a federal corruption probe. The proposal would...

Never one to let his work fall between the cracks, a British bum researcher has published two scientific formulas for the perfect posterior. David Holmes, a high-profile psychologist from Manchester Metropolitan University, says the female behind can be assessed using the equation: (S+C) x (B+F)/T - V, which takes into account shape, circularity of buttocks, "bounce factor," firmness, texture of skin, and vertical ratio. Proportion, calculated by dividing waist measurement by hip measurement, is also significant. The closer the ratio is to 0.7, the more likely the woman's derriere is "sexily proportioned." "The litmus test for the perfect female bum...

MONDAY, Nov. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Too much "junk in the trunk" isn't just a cosmetic concern anymore. Excess buttocks fat, especially in women, can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, painkillers, contraceptives and anti-nausea drugs that are typically injected into the buttocks' gluteal muscles, researchers report. "We are the first to report that the majority of intramuscular injections into the buttocks are not effective in the Western adult population," said Victoria O. Chan, a researchers at The Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, and the lead researcher on the study. She said obesity is the big reason drugs often...

Moslem cleric in England says killing non-Moslems is OK By: John Russell | Source: IRN NEWS May 27, 2004 5:29PM EST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A leading Muslim teacher in the United Kingdom is telling his followers that the killing of non-Moslems is in accordance with Islamic teachings. Shiek Abu Hamsa of the notorious Finsbury Park Mosque in London has been videotaped telling his congregation that, “If a Kafir (that is a non-Moslem)is walking by you and you catch him he’s booty (that is a slave), you can sell him in the market. Most of them are spies. And even if they don’t...

THE mound lies just beyond the oasis town of Sheberghan in northern Afghanistan, on the plain that slips south to the Hindu Kush and north to the banks of the Amu Darya, or Oxus. This was once Bactria, where the Hellenic world briefly touched and intertwined with the worlds of the Indus and the Siberian steppe. Greeks prospered here for a century or so after the death of Alexander the Great, in 323BC, and then were driven off. The mound is anonymous now, barely noticeable from the road. It stands three metres (ten feet) high, 100 metres in diameter, lopped...

17:15 23May2003 RTRS-UPDATE 1-US seizes what may be $500 million in gold in Iraq (Add details, background) WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - American troops have seized what appears to be $500 million worth of gold bars from a truck in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday. The 2,000 40-pound (18 kg) bars were seized on Thursday at Qaim on the Syrian border in western Iraq by soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the U.S. military's Central Command said in a statement. It said the bars could be gold and worth as much as $500 million, depending on karat...

January 15, 2003 11:45 … and the Privateer Option against al Qaeda By Robert G. Williscroft Roaming the oceans of the world, ranging in size from a small freighter to several of the largest container ships afloat, 20 to 30 vessels owned or controlled by Osama bin Laden are plying the world's trade routes, biding their time, waiting for the right moment. The right moment … to launch another major terrorist attack. Sailing under flags of convenience, these ships move men and materials from port to port, distributing al Qaeda resources to where they are needed next. By flying the...

ABUJA, Nigeria, Sept. 25 — Former President Clinton asked Nigeria to spare the life of a mother condemned by an Islamic court to be stoned to death for having sex outside marriage.AMINA LAWAL, 31, was sentenced in March by a court in northern Nigeria, after she gave birth to a girl. An Islamic appeals court upheld the judgment in August although her lawyers have since launched a second appeal. “I hope and pray that the legal system will find a way to pardon a young woman convicted to death for bearing a child out of wedlock,” Clinton said Tuesday in...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  Former President Clinton will visit Africa next week to promote efforts to curtail the AIDS epidemic and encourage economic development.</p> <p>Clinton leaves Sunday and will visit Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa, his office said Friday. He returns Sept. 29 to the United States.</p>

Booty recovered off Cuba’s coast 162-year-old wreck yields a treasure of gold and history Divers recover artifacts from the site of the Palemon, a Spanish ship that sank in April 1839 on its way to Havana. The shipwreck, located in Cuban waters, was discovered by Visa Gold Explorations. By Anita Snow ASSOCIATED PRESS HAVANA, May 21 — A golden statue of Neptune, bronze forks and spoons, elaborate glass perfume bottles and a handful of musket balls were among artifacts that treasurer hunters rescued from their first shipwreck find off Cuba’s coast. LAID OUT CAREFULLY on a little table at the...