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(CNN) -- Another Baptist church in Alabama was heavily damaged by fire Saturday night, becoming the 10th house of worship burned in recent weeks, police said. .... A Lamar County Sheriff's Department dispatcher said police are still trying to determine what caused the fire at the Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in northwest Alabama. .... "When we got there, it obviously was in the beginning stages of the fire," Johnson said. "It was coming from the middle of the church. Then the fire began to rage. Then it engulfed the whole church." ... Investigators have been trying to determine the causes...

Analysis:Cartoon row partly Danes' fault By ROLAND FLAMINIUPI Chief International CorrespondentWASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- In September, when the conservative Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed depicted as a terrorist, angry Arab ambassadors in Copenhagen requested a meeting with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. They were demanding severe punishment of those responsible, as well as an official apology from the Danish government. Rasmussen refused to see them, arguing that the Danish government doesn't interfere with the press. By the time Rasmussen was forced to change his tune Friday demonstrators across the Islamic world were burning...

One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week" The florist is pleased and leaves the shop. Next morning When the barber goes to open there is a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door. Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to Pay his bill the barber again replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept Money from you; I'm doing community...

Sept. 28, 2005— A supernova blast 41,000 years ago started a deadly chain of events that led to the extinction of mammoths and other animals in North America, according to two scientists. If their supernova theory gains acceptance, it could explain why dozens of species on the continent became extinct 13,000 years ago. Mammoths and mastodons, both relatives of today's elephants, mysteriously died out then, as did giant ground sloths, a large-horned bison, a huge species of armadillo, saber-toothed cats, and many other animals and plants. Richard Firestone, a nuclear scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National...

The Saudi government yesterday warned that Iraq is hurtling towards disintegration and that an election planned for December is unlikely to make any difference. The government said it was delivering this bleak assessment to both the US and British administrations as a matter of urgency. Saudi fears of a break-up were voiced by Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, in an interview with Associated Press published yesterday, and at a meeting on Thursday night with the US media, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. He said: "The impression is gradually going toward disintegration. There seems to be...

Little proof to the contrary that we are indeed in a very long, bleak tunnel. Is there any light? Then come those times when you read about a 16-year-old girl slashing the throat of a 75-year-old woman for no apparent reason, a woman who was merely walking with her husband near a Berkeley public garden and it's right next to the one about the 16-year-old kid smiling and waving and donning a bulletproof vest before shooting nine people and himself to death in a remote, poverty-stricken region of Minnesota and you can feel the numbness like a wave.

The Brothel The madam opened the brothel door to see a rather dignified, well-dressed good looking man in his late 40s or early 50s. "Can I help you?" she asked. "I want to see Yvette," the man replied. "Sir, Yvette is one of our most expensive ladies. Perhaps you would prefer someone else," said the madam. "No, I must see Yvette" was the man's reply. Just then, Yvette appeared and announced to the man that she charged $1,000 a visit. Without hesitation, the man pulled out ten one-hundred dollar bills and gave them to Yvette and they went upstairs. After...

The ten reasons to vote for President George W. Bush weigh more than the ten reasons for voting against Sen. John F. Kerry. Of course, the sum of all twenty reasons is your vote to preserve and protect our Republic. This is the most important election in our lifetime.

Judge To Hear Case For NJ Special Election Lawsuit States NJ Voters Deprived Of Constitutional Rights Sep 8, 2004 6:53 am US/EasternTRENTON, N.J. (CBS) A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday that New Jersey voters should choose Gov. James E. McGreevey's interim replacement in a special election this November. A federal lawsuit filed Aug. 16 by two Princeton lawyers charged that McGreevey's impending resignation is actually a vacancy, and that by staying in office until it is not possible to hold a special election, he is depriving voters of their constitutional rights, including due process. The filing came...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Armed men kidnapped two Italian women working for a charity at gunpoint from their Baghdad offices along with two Iraqis, witnesses said. The two women, identified as Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, were working for the Italian charity Un Ponte Per Baghdad (Bridge to Baghdad) while the Iraqis worked for a non-governmental organisation called Intersource. Witnesses said the kidnappers drove up in three cars to the offices of the two organisations at 5 pm (1300 GMT) and seized the four hostages. In Rome, officials said Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had immediately been informed of the abduction...

McGreevey's call to FBI makes him fair gameWhen the governor sought an inquiry into an alleged Cipel extortion attempt, he invited authorities to go deeper. "It certainly could get interesting," an investigator said.By John Shiffman, Mitch Lipka and Wendy RudermanInquirer Staff Writers  When Gov. McGreevey asked the FBI to investigate an alleged extortion attempt by former aide Golan Cipel, the governor invited - perhaps inadvertently - intensified federal scrutiny of his own actions.Current and former law-enforcement officials are now expected to interview McGreevey's inner circle and review schedules, phone logs, and other sensitive records - all with the governor's...

Subj: Fw: Senior Citizen I am a senior citizen. During the Clinton Administration I had an extremely good and well paying job. I took numerous vacations and had several vacation homes. Since President Bush took office, I have watched my entire life change for the worse. I lost my job. I lost my two sons in that terrible Iraqi War. I lost my home. I lost my health insurance. As a matter of fact, I lost virtually everything and became homeless. Adding insult to injury, when the authorities found me living like an animal, instead of helping me, they arrested...

NEW YORK — As a young boy, I loved the American flag. I'd lead my younger sisters in patriotic parades up and down the sidewalk, waving the flag, blowing a whistle and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance over and over until my sisters begged me to let them go back to their Easy-Bake Oven. I loved singing the national anthem. I won an essay contest on "What the Flag Means to Me." I decorated my bicycle with little American flags for a Fourth of July parade and won a prize for that too. I became an Eagle Scout and proudly...

Teleportation breaks new groundThursday 17 June 2004Physicists in Austria and the US have independently demonstrated quantum teleportation with atoms for the first time. Until now, teleportation had only ever been observed with photons. The results could represent a major step towards building a large-scale quantum computer. In quantum teleportation, the sender, normally called Alice, instantaneously transfers information about the quantum state of a particle to a receiver called Bob. The uncertainty principle means that Alice cannot know the exact state of her particle. However, another feature of quantum mechanics called "entanglement" means that she can teleport the state to Bob. Entanglement allows particles...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At least 82 women were secretly videotaped naked or partly undressed while applying for jobs at a Los Angeles-area Hooters restaurant and changing into the chain's distinctive uniform, police said on Thursday.   Detectives in the Los Angeles suburb of West Covina were interviewing the women, who range in age from 17 to 25, after seizing 180 video files from the personal computer of former Hooters manager Juan Aponte, police spokesman Rudy Lopez said. "The videos were of the women changing into and out of the Hooters uniform," Lopez said, and were taken while they applied...

SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - Buckle up Fido!   The city of Santa Fe may soon require pet owners to restrain their dogs, cats and ferrets in special pet seats or with seat belts while traveling in a moving vehicle. The ordinance, endorsed by the city's public safety committee, would also require that "animals in open beds of trucks and cars be tethered or restrained enough so the animal can't fly out the window," said Kate Rindy, executive director of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, who helped develop the proposed law. Rindy said dog seat belts as well as portable...

The Sky's No Limit Homo sapiens have wanted to fly like birds for millennia. And they've been killing themselves trying for just as long. For instance, hobbyist lore holds that, between 1930 and 1961, as many as 75 "birdmen" may have leapt from planes wearing wings on their arms. About six dozen of them died. The chief problem those early winged men faced was that they had no idea what they were doing. With little understanding of wing shape, stabilization, or lift and drag, they neither flew nor lived. Now, Alban Geissler, an aircraft designer in Munich, is marketing...

Anti-Dean ad wields image of bin LadenBy Dick PolmanInquirer Staff Writer   In recent days the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire have heard a provocative message: Don't trust Howard Dean with your life.The TV ad, aired repeatedly in those crucial primary states, was hardly subtle. With Osama bin Laden's face filling the screen, a narrator intoned that Americans "want a president who can face the dangers ahead... . But Howard Dean has no military or foreign policy experience. And Howard Dean just cannot compete with George Bush on foreign policy."But you'd be wrong to assume that this message...

Trial Is Ordered in Felon Voting Lawsuit Fri Dec 19, 10:16 PM By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press Writer MIAMI - A federal appeals court Friday ordered a trial in a lawsuit that claims Florida's law barring felons from voting is unconstitutional because it discriminates against blacks.The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, reversing a lower court ruling dismissing the case, decided there are enough relevant facts for the case to go to trial."Our clients are going to get a full hearing on the evidence in court," said attorney Jessie Allen, who represented the plaintiffs. "We're just thrilled."Civil...

Ex-Baath Party Official Gunned Down   BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen attacked two former officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, killing one in a hail of submachine gun fire, critically wounding another and killing her 5-year-old son, officials said Saturday.The two separate attacks in the Shiite Muslim city of Najaf appeared to be part of a series of revenge killings against local members of Saddam's regime, which brutally repressed Shiites. On Wednesday, an angry crowd lynched another Baath official accused in a 1991 crackdown against Shiites.On Friday, gunmen killed Ali Qassem al-Tamimi, the district mayor of Najaf's al-Furat neighborhood, as...