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'Fakir' arrested for killing infant CHENNAI (India) - POLICE in southern India said on Monday they had arrested a self-styled Muslim 'fakir' for the gruesome murder of an infant boy in a ritual he believed would lend him supernatural powers. Abdul Gafoor, a mystic who claimed he could perform magical feats, had confessed to kidnapping the 18-month-old in the southern city of Madurai and then beheading him, police inspector Chidambaram Murugesan told AFP. 'During questioning, he said he had a dream and heard a voice saying he would get extraordinary healing powers if he sacrificed a male child,' Mr Murugesan...

Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island's popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn't have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID.

A Wharton county judge is expected to hear evidence on Friday in the first step toward sorting out the estate of a firefighter killed in the line of duty, in dispute because of a lawsuit between his parents and his widow who was born a male.

This makes it clear just how petrified by the prospect of direct negotiations the Palestinians are: The Palestinian Authority has added new conditions for resuming direct talks with Israel, presenting new demands that in effect preclude negotiations. The stipulations stated to the BBC by PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat reflect a previously stated strategy of waiting “a year or two” for the United Nations to recognize it as a new Arab country instead of trying to reach a compromise agreement with Israel. … Erekat told the BBC that in order for direct talks to resume, Israel also must accept former...

A local woman is behind bars, accused of pretending to be a teenage boy in order to have sex with a teenage girl. 31 year old Patricia Dye faces a number of charges, including importuning, corruption of a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The Warren County Prosecutor tells Local 12 that Dye allegedly cut her hair and used the name "Matt Abrams" when courting the girl, who is between the ages of 13 and 16 years old. The girl went to a motel with Dye in June, but didn't know Dye was really a woman. When...

Obama: the Creed that Defines the Character of This Country is YES WE CAN. Yes he really said it in Iowa at the end of his campaign speech.

President Obama to speak about national security: Watch live

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: President Barack Obama Date: Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 12:02 PM Subject: A historic moment To: Don xxxxx Don -- Although it's Christmas Eve, I wanted to share some exciting news: The Senate just passed a historic health reform bill. In all the back and forth, it's easy to lose sight of what this incredible breakthrough really means. But consider this: This Christmas, there are millions of Americans without health insurance who risk losing everything if they get sick. There are mothers and fathers who wonder how they'll provide for their children because an illness...

(CBS) In June, Chastity Bono, daughter of entertainers Sonny and Cher, shocked the entertainment world by announcing that she was becoming a he. Now, in his first interview, Chaz Bono, as he now calls himself, speaks to "Entertainment Tonight's" Mary Hart about his transformation, his famous family and the struggle he's gone through since childhood. "I have to tell you that I was really quite moved with my time with Chaz. His honesty, thoughtfulness and warmth not only impressed me, but it helped me understand this very serious choice he's made," Hart told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. According to...

Just when you thought Keith Olbermann couldn't get any more vile or vulgar . . . Opening this evening's Countdown, Olbermann said that Rush Limbaugh's observation that Glenn Beck was the result of his success "is like congratulating yourself for spreading syphyllis." Olbermann made his crude comment in teasing a segment on Rush's interview with NBC's Jamie Gangel. View video.

Three-steps-from-crazy-cat-lady WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan is teaching at Harvard. Our spies report: "Peggy's a ridiculous, hilarious person to speaking with any authority on anything at all." They've provided us with her awesome quotes. We're presenting them emoticon-contextualized them for you...

This follows a "courtship" of 3,000 rides over ten years with the 80ft gondola ride called 1001 Nachts. Miss Wolfe, 33, from Pennsylvania, will change her surname to Weber after the manufacturer of the ride she travels 160 miles to visit 10 times per year, according to reports “I love him as much as women love their husbands and know we’ll be together forever,” she said. Miss Wolfe first fell for the ride when she was 13: “I was instantly attracted to him sexually and mentally. “I wasn’t freaked out, as it just felt so natural, but I didn’t tell...

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — When word got out that Mr. McBeth, a popular substitute teacher at two southern New Jersey school districts was about to come back to class as Miss McBeth, it caused an uproar. The former William McBeth had undergone sex reassignment surgery and was now Lily McBeth. The schools' 2006 decisions to keep her on as a substitute were hailed around the nation as a model of tolerance and acceptance of transgender Americans. But the storybook ending never happened: She got only a handful of assignments since then and is resigning in frustration.

We've just seen a higher resolution image of the photo that appears to be David Carradine's body hanging in his hotel room -- and it shows what seems consistent with an auto-erotica scenario ... at least from outward appearances. The photo -- published by a Thai tabloid -- shows a body suspended from a bar in a closet, with his hands bound together above his head. Carradine's genitals were also tied. But the new sharper image also reveals what appears to be fishnet stockings covering the body. You can also see red women's lingerie on the bed. And, it appears,...

The religious right, which vehemently opposed Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 bid for the Republican presidential nomination, is rallying to the former New York mayor’s defense against attacks from gay rights groups. The skirmish began when Giuliani in an interview with the New York Post opposed New York Gov. David Paterson's proposed gay marriage bill and asserted it would spark a backlash against Democrats. ....[S]ocial conservatives are applauding him for his stance on an issue over which they have often been at odds with him. SNIP Even Tony Perkins, president of the influential Family Research Council and an outspoken critic of Giuliani’s...

The Glenn Beck Early-Bird Thread for 4-15-09

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's cherished Blackberry slipped through his fingers Friday — but it was only a butterfingers moment. Obama, who has been reluctant to relinquish the device when he becomes president, dropped his Blackberry and its hard plastic case onto an airport tarmac as he emerged from his fortified vehicle. A Secret Service agent hustled to pick it up.

Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week. Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential "bubble." "I think we're going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN," he said. "So I make sure...

(entitled "Friend Mao")

President-elect Barack Obama greets onlookers after working out at the Semper Fit Center at Marine Corp Base Hawaii in Kailua, Hawaii, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.