News

An Australian and a New Zealander have been rescued off the Vietnamese coast after 11 days adrift in a lifeboat. Mark Smith, 49, and Steven Freeman, 30, left Hong Kong on a 65-ft yacht early in December, but it developed problems and sank soon afterwards.

The men say they had no food, drank their own urine and rainwater and huddled "like two babies" to keep warm.

They were weak and dehydrated by the time they were found by Vietnamese fishermen off the country's coast.

The men said that when their ship sank in the East China Sea during a storm, they were left with just two sponges and an oar.

When it rained, they used the sponges to collect rainwater, according to the Associated Press news agency.

"It was sheer will power that kept us alive," said Mr Smith.

His fellow sailor said: "It's been unreal, incredible."

They were forced to resort to drinking their own urine, and said they were most afraid at night.

'Unable to walk'

They were taken to a clinic on Ly Son island, about 54km (34 miles) off the coast of central Quang Ngai province, said Nguyen Thanh Tung, deputy head of the island's People's Committee.

The centre's director, Le Van Phuong, said the two men were in poor condition when they arrived.

"When we received them on Saturday afternoon, they were cold, exhausted and could not walk on their own," he said. "We warmed them up and gave them food. They are in good condition now, ready to return home."

When that may be remains unclear.

A speed boat was sent to Ly Son island on Sunday to take the men to mainland Vietnam, but was forced to turn back because of rough waves, Mr Nguyen said.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4541186.stm

A simple typing error has triggered mayhem on the Tokyo stock exchange and cost one bank £190m. But in a world where almost everyone now is expected to type, how many of us really can?

Think back to those initial days when you made the leap from pen and exercise book to the infinitely more sophisticated keyboard, and how bewildering the jumble of keys seemed to be under your ill-guided fingers.

The "P", tucked away in the upper-right-hand reaches of the keyboard always seemed particularly aloof.

But in time the apparently random distribution of letters, numbers, punctuation and other function keys fell into place.

Diplomatic incident

The Qwerty layout was developed in the late 18th Century not to ease the flight of the touch typist's nimble digits, but the opposite.

It was designed to slow her - and in those days it was almost exclusively women who carried out secretarial duties - down and prevent a typewriter's clunky typebars from getting jammed.

It's ironic then that today, in an era when lightning-fast computers are de rigueur and typing is no longer the preserve of skilled secretaries, but expected of just about everyone, that the Qwerty layout has never been more widespread.

Its popularity, however, is less certain, particularly among those who've been at the sharp end of an embarrassing "fat fingers" incident - the term given to a simple typing error caused by hitting the wrong key.

It happens millions of times a day, but once in a while the result can be devastating. Earlier this month a trader on the Tokyo stock market accidentally blew £190m because of a simple typing error.

A computer which should have cancelled the transaction failed to click in, and this further embarrassment led to the resignation on Tuesday of the head of the Tokyo stock exchange.

'Hunt and peck'

In March this year the Sudanese government was irked to read on a US Congress website that America had carried out nuclear tests in Sudan in the 1960s.

Fears were allayed however when it turned out to be a typing error. The report should have said Sedan - a test site in Nevada.

Occasionally, such errors can even play into the hands of ordinary folk - such as when online traders accidentally under-price a product.

TYPING & TEMPERATURE
Prof Alan Hedge, Cornell University, found typing accuracy depends on room temperature
At 77ºF employees had a 10% error rate
At 68ºF speed slowed by almost half, and error rate rose to 25%
Hedge also estimated this caused a 10% increase in labour costs per worker hour
Mostly, though the clumsy two-fingered typist has little to smile about compared to his or her infinitely faster and more accurate touch-typing colleague.

Anecdotal evidence suggests not only are "hunt and peck" typists less efficient, they are also more likely to suffer an industrial injury.

"As more and more people are getting computers at their desks we are becoming a nation of two fingered typists," said the TUC general secretary Brendan Barber this year.

"While you can become quite proficient without typing properly, you are putting yourself at serious risk of developing RSI."

Phobia

Part of the problem rests with perceptions, says Sue Westwood, who is campaigning for touch-typing to be taught to children.

"In schools we still get comments about it being a secretarial skill and the 'less able' children will make use of it."

She compares two-fingered key bashing to "like trying to write with a quill and a pot of ink, because you've got to keep stopping to look up at the screen."

In the eyes of John Sutherland, an English professor at University College London, "tough guys don't touch type".

His words are meant as caricature. One of the initial problems in selling computers was getting men to touch the keyboard, he says. Having got over that phobia, many are reluctant to see typing as a skill, to be learned.

In fact, hunt and peck typists have always been around. The iconic American journalist HL Mencken suffered not a bit from "writing ceaselessly using a staccato two-fingered typing process that made him look like a bear cub imitating a drum majorette" - to quote his biographer Terry Teachout.

But times have moved on, and the question for many now is not whether to learn, but how best to learn.

French man Daniel Guermuer has a novel approach.

Blank keyboards

M Guermeur felt frustrated when, as a young student, he signed up for a computer science course in the US, only to find his classmates were adept touch typists. (Typing is commonly taught in US schools, says M Guermuer.)

He tried some traditional typing courses without any luck, before hitting on the idea of scrubbing all the letters from his keyboard; effectively typing blind.

"It's analogous to a piano - there are no marking on piano keys, you just have to learn them," he says.

It did the trick and earlier this year M Guermuer began selling blank keyboards for others who want to learn, under the brand Das Keyboard.

"You go through two weeks of pain. In the first week your typing slows greatly, but by the end of week two you are touch typing," says M Guermuer. Journalists who have tried the keyboard have reported some success with it.

But it's tempting to get things out of hand. Millions of people find the hunt and peck method adequate, some even reporting speeds of up to 60 words per minute. As Alan Knifton, of Pitman Training, acknowledges, "if you don't do a lot of typing, the two-fingered approach is probably sufficient".


Just so long as you can remember where that errant "P" went.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4545714.stm

Why does this article remind me of Nightshade?

:p and :p
and abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
I know where all the letters are I just cant spell the words I can type though somtimes at least.

:brow:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...ntapope203.jpg


Pope Benedict XVI appears to be getting into a different kind of Christmas spirit, donning a Santa-style hat for his weekly appearance at the Vatican. At a chilly St Peter's Square, the Pope draped a red cloak over his shoulders and covered his head with a red velvet hat lined with white fur.

Vatican officials said the hat, known as a camauro, has been part of the papal wardrobe since the 12th century.

But it has not been worn in public since the death of John XXIII in 1963.

Riding the popemobile and waving to crowds, the 78-year-old pontiff smiled as he was cheered into the square.

Follower of fashion

Although missing Father Christmas' trademark white furry bobble, the pope's timely discovery of the long-forgotten camauro seemed as much a nod to the season as to the chilly weather.

The traditional Santa Claus figure is based on Saint Nicholas - a bishop in fourth century Lycia, now part of modern Turkey.

Ordinarily, the pope covers his head with a more traditional white skullcap, which he donned instead of the camauro by the time he reached his podium in the square.

Benedict, who was elected pope in April after the death of John Paul II, has already made a sartorial mark in the Holy See.

He is reported to favour medieval-style red slippers over more practical shoes while padding around his Vatican apartments.

Fashion-watchers have also reported spotting the pope wearing Gucci sunglasses and Prada shoes in recent months.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4551348.stm

A woman's row with her boyfriend about a mobile phone suddenly went quiet - when she swallowed the handset whole. Police in Blue Springs, in the US state of Missouri, said they were called out by a man who said his girlfriend was having trouble breathing.

When they arrived at the house, they found a phone lodged in her throat.

"He wanted the phone and she wouldn't give it to him, so she attempted to swallow it," an officer said. The woman was expected to make a full recovery.

The 24-year-old woman was taken to hospital in Blue Springs, Det Sgt Steve Decker told local media.

"She just put the entire phone in her mouth so he couldn't get it," he said.

"This is the first I've heard of this happening," he added.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4557192.stm

....this is strange.....

Woah, that is strange... strange... strange, indeed

Not so much strange, but silly. Luckily she's OK.

Australian farmers could be about to get an unusual new weapon to protect their crops from rampaging kangaroos.

Researchers in Melbourne have found that these voracious marsupials can be scared off by the thumping sound of their own large feet on the ground.

There could be as many as 60m kangaroos in Australia, and they often compete with livestock for food and water.

Keeping these fleet-footed marsupials away from their crops and water supplies has become a constant battle.

A traditional deterrent has been a series of high pitched squeals emitted from loudspeakers.

Researchers have found that kangaroos often become accustomed to these artificial sounds and take little notice of them.

However, a recording of a 'roo thumping its foot appears to have been quite a breakthrough. This is the noise these macropods make when they sense danger before taking flight.

Using the animal's own alarm system could be what irate farmers have been looking for. They often complain that kangaroo numbers have reached plague-like proportions. Several million are shot dead every year as part of an official cull.

Animal rights campaigners have insisted that many of these pouched mammals die a painful death at the hands of unlicensed or inexperienced marksmen.

A large number of marsupials are also killed or injured on Australian roads by cars and trucks. Researchers, who are hoping to develop their foot thumping technology, believe it could also be used to guide kangaroos away from busy highways.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4554640.stm

Scientists are delaying the start of the new year by adding the first "leap second" in seven years. The Paris Observatory said an extra second would be added to clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight on 31 December.

Leap seconds are required every so often to keep our clocks in sync with solar time used by astronomers.

"Enjoy New Year's Eve a second longer," said the researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Tidal friction

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, based at the Paris Observatory, tells the world every six months whether to add or subtract a second from atomic clocks, the standard for everyday timekeeping.

A leap second is added to Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) to keep it in step with solar time - based on the Earth's rotation on itself - to within a second.

Tidal friction causes the Earth's rotation to slow down, which means that solar time tends to drift out of sync with atomic clocks.

If this disparity was not corrected, the error could increase to several seconds within a few decades; and would very quickly make software and possibly hardware used by astronomers obsolete.

There have been 22 leap seconds added - and no subtractions - since the first one on 30 June, 1972.

The new leap second will be inserted at the end of the final minute of 2005, giving the familiar "six pip" BBC radio time signal an extra pip before the long pip marking the hour.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4562194.stm

I saw this today too and found it interesting. I didn't know we added leap seconds. Should I mark it on the calendar?

3, 2, 1, 1 Happy New Year!

lol

If you want you can mark it on the calendar, I guess

No no no...

"THREE...TWO...ONE AND A HALF...ONE...ZERO!!"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RobinHood3000

No no no...

"THREE...TWO...ONE AND A HALF...ONE...ZERO!!"

---

ah, you're right :)

...u mean we have to wait a second before shouting HAPPY NEW YEAR!??

A judge in New Mexico has lifted a restraining order on talk show host David Letterman sought by a woman who said he sent her coded messages by TV. The Santa Fe resident had obtained the order on the grounds that Mr Letterman had caused her mental cruelty for 11 years, forcing her to go bankrupt.

Lawyers for the TV host, who records his shows in New York, dismissed the claims as "absurd and frivolous".

The same judge who granted the ban accepted their request to quash it.

In her request filed on 15 December, Colleen Nestler asked for Mr Letterman to stay at least three metres (yards) away from her and not "think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering".

She accused the host of using code words, gestures and "eye expressions" to send her messages since she began sending him "thoughts of love" after his Late Show programme began in 1993.

One alleged message was for Ms Nestler to come east to New York to be trained as the Late Show's co-host.

'I'll break their legs'

In court on Tuesday, a lawyer for the talk show host, Pat Rogers, argued that his client was "entitled to a protection of his legal rights and a protection of his reputation".

He also said that the New Mexico court had no jurisdiction over Mr Letterman, a resident of Connecticut.

Questioned by Judge Daniel Sanchez, Ms Nestler, who defended herself in court, said she had no proof of the alleged messages from Mr Letterman.

She added that if Mr Letterman or any of his representatives came near her, she would "break their legs" but denied after the hearing that she was making a threat.

She had, she said, achieved her purpose since "the public knows that this man cannot come near me".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4563212.stm

Uh...huh. The Litigation Circus is making its rounds around the nation...

A rule that will allow public libraries in the US city of Dallas to ban people who are considered to smell badly has drawn criticism by charity groups. Under the guidelines, which come into force in February, sleeping, eating, loud talking, fighting, bare feet, sex and washing will also be banned.

Officials say the moves aim to provide a better environment for library users.

But charity workers say the plans unfairly target Dallas' poor and homeless people.

The rules follow complaints by library patrons over homeless people using the downtown public library for washing in the toilets or loitering outside.

Lack of facilities

Dallas library Director Laurie Evans said the intention was to create a welcoming environment for library users.

"They deserve to be comfortable, they deserve to feel welcomed in public buildings," he told the AP news agency.

He added library employees would be trained to implement the new regulations consistently.

Violations of the rules would be addressed on a case-by-case basis, he said.

The American Library Association has supported the change.

"If people can't take care of basic hygiene and are disturbing to the 100 or so people around them, then it's perfectly acceptable for the library to say, 'Will you please sit somewhere else?'", Leslie Burger, president-elect of the association told AP.

But charity groups say the ruling discriminates against homeless people, who already suffer from a lack of facilities in the city.

James Waghorne, a Dallas homeless advocate, said the city did not provide enough washing facilities for the homeless.

Homeless people often need libraries for resources they cannot get elsewhere, he said.

Libraries across the United States, including Redwood City, California, Boston and Houston have adopted similar policies.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4568348.stm

People around the world are being invited to vote in a survey for the New Seven Wonders of the World. A privately funded organisation, the New 7 Wonders Foundation, has put forward a shortlist of 21 landmarks from across the globe.

They include Rome's Colosseum, Jordan's ancient city of Petra, Britain's Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China.

The Swiss-based foundation is asking people to vote for their favourites by phone during 2006.

The winning septet will be announced on New Year's Day 2007.

Half of the money raised will go towards funding the Foundation's heritage work.

Man-made monuments

The list also includes a number of more modern candidates, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, New York's Statue of Liberty and the Sydney Opera House.

NEW WONDERS?

Acropolis, Athens
Alhambra, Spain
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Chichen Itza, Mexico
Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
Taj Mahal, India
Timbuktu, Mali

The Great Pyramid of Giza, which is included in the new list, is the only original wonder to remain in contention.

The Seven Wonders of the ancient world were selected by a Greek philosopher, Philon of Byzantium, over 2,000 years ago.

All of his choices were situated around the Mediterranean basin.

To be included on the new list, the wonders had to be man-made, completed by 2000, and in an "acceptable" state of preservation.

The New Seven Wonders Foundation, which includes among its members the former head of the United Nations cultural agency, Unesco, says it is using its survey to alert the world to the destruction of the world's cultural heritage.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4574336.stm

You mean there was no BBC story detailing Scher's birthday?

I was going to postthat bit of news scher :p
anyway if you want to vote the link is here, in fact this might be intresting to discuss....
http://cms.n7w.com/voting1f.php
:brow:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Virgil

You mean there was no BBC story detailing Scher's birthday?

---

They had a Scheherazade quiz. I got 6 out of 10. I can't find the link, but here are the answers:

1. Mrs. Dalloway

2. Kitkats

3. 67 years old

4. True

5. The Sting

6. http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/2...erazade5vq.jpg

7. Kitkats

8. Boo Radley

9. "Moon River"

10. A Kitkat By Any Other Name by Jonathan Gluckman

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Basil

They had a Scheherazade quiz. I got 6 out of 10. I can't find the link, but here are the answers:

1. Mrs. Dalloway

2. Kitkats

3. 67 years old

4. True

5. The Sting

6. http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/2...erazade5vq.jpg

7. Kitkats

8. Boo Radley

9. "Moon River"

10. A Kitkat By Any Other Name by Jonathan Gluckman

---

Scher, I'm donning my hair suit and humbly apologizing for unleashing the Bon Mot Beast Of The UK on you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by starrwriter

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Basil

They had a Scheherazade quiz. I got 6 out of 10. I can't find the link, but here are the answers:

1. Mrs. Dalloway

2. Kitkats

3. 67 years old

4. True

5. The Sting

6. http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/2...erazade5vq.jpg

7. Kitkats

8. Boo Radley

9. "Moon River"

10. A Kitkat By Any Other Name by Jonathan Gluckman

---

Scher, I'm donning my hair suit and humbly apologizing for unleashing the Bon Mot Beast Of The UK on you.

---

But Starr... You are surely giving yourself too much credit!

:p

Education reforms get thumbs down

Scottish councils believe education reforms planned for England stand no chance of being replicated in Scotland.

Critics have said a bill to be debated in the Commons later this month would result in local authorities having less control over education.

But the UK Government said the bill's aim was to give schools more freedom.

Ewan Aitken, spokesman for the Scottish Convention of Local Authorities, said Scottish schools were hugely successful and did not need major change.

The government claims the bill has been widely misunderstood.

Unveiling the proposed reforms last October, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said parent power would be the driving force behind improving England's schools.

Under the proposals, groups of parents concerned about underachieving schools can ask their local authorities or Ofsted inspectors to intervene - or else set out plans for the creation of their own school.

If local authorities reject proposals, the parents can appeal for adjudication - which Ms Kelly said could lead to the government forcing local authorities to fund such new school projects.

Newly-created trusts would run individual schools or else groups of schools, under the leadership of a successful school or an outside organisation, such as a university, business or faith group.

link


Ok, I am attempting to resist the urge to make a political comment about this. However, I must say that the idea having businesses and "faith groups" running schools seems like a pretty slippery slope to me.

I have paset this thread several time.. never thougth i would post in it..
But here we go..
Last night Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon suffered a major stroke and now is fighting for his life.
For more details you can go here.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10709976/ -

Takan From MSN news.

I Pray for his recovery.

Golf clubs which ban women from the bar or restrict times when they can play will be violating EU law from 2007 onwards, the European Commission says. The statement came in reply to Irish MEP Proinsias De Rossa, who asked if such practices would be outlawed by a new sex discrimination directive.

The directive bans discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

"This includes leisure activities such as those offered by golf clubs," said EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla.

Mr De Rossa tabled his question in the wake of a 2003 petition to the European Parliament by a UK woman, Clare Oliver.

Women's complaints

She complained that many British golf clubs did not treat men and women equally when it came to playing in tournaments or standing for election to club committees.

The European Commission replied that there were no EU laws in force at the time obliging clubs to apply the same rules to men and women, but it said the directive on equal treatment between men and women in goods and services would plug the gap.

Last year, Mr De Rossa asked for confirmation that the directive would indeed apply to golf clubs, and he got the answer this week.

The news was welcomed by the English Ladies Golf Association.

"We think it's time women had equal opportunities and we support the moves by the EU," said spokeswoman Clare Tyler.

She said restrictions on the times women could play, and access to the bar, were the most common forms of discrimination - and that they particularly irritated the new, younger generation of women golfers.

Some women, usually of an older generation, did not object to restricted access, if their membership fee was reduced, she added.

Single-sex clubs

The directive does not ban single-sex private clubs, which are regarded as legitimate on grounds of the right to freedom of association.

Mr De Rossa's office said it was unclear how the directive would affect Ireland's exclusive Portmarnock golf club, whose men-only membership policy is being challenged in the courts by Ireland's Equality Authority.

The club allows women to play if they pay green fees, but they cannot join the club or use "recreational facilities".

In a ruling last summer, a judge said there was nothing wrong with people of the same sex, nationality or religion wanting to be together.

Mr Justice Kevin Higgins said: "You could have a bridge club for Bulgarians, a chess club for Catholics, a wine club for women or a golf club for gentlemen."

The Equality Authority is appealing to Ireland's Supreme Court.

EU member states have until December 2007 to enact laws upholding the provisions of the directive.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4584958.stm

Book clubs go online

Suddenly it seems we're all reading
Anyone who's ever finished the last page of a great novel will know how frustrating it is not to be able to share the experience with someone else.

Whether it's a spine-tingling thriller or a heart-melting romance, it's always good to be able to mull over your favourite book with a friend.

That's why book clubs have become such big news in the last ten years.

Now, the idea is going online, with a new website which gives readers the chance to swap books for free.

and from me(night)the link to the website they were talking about.....

Quote:

---

The death toll from a hostel that collapsed in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia has risen to 53.

A Saudi official confirmed the number of deaths after rescuers searched through the night hoping to find trapped survivors.

Rescuers have been using heavy-lifting equipment and sound-detecting gear.

The hostel, just outside Mecca's Great Mosque, fell down on Thursday as people prayed in the nearby streets.

At least 64 people were wounded, officials said.

...

The building - on al-Ghazal Street - is only 60m from the walls of the Great Mosque - and was said to have been used by pilgrims from Egypt, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and India.

Prayers

The hotel is surrounded by markets and pilgrims had been praying when the incident happened. Reports said at least 30 people were staying there.

Eyewitnesses say they heard a huge cracking sound before the four-storey building toppled onto worshippers streaming out of the eastern gates of the mosque.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4586678.stm

---

My heart goes out to the victims and all their loved ones, and to all the Muslims on the forum who have loved ones participating in the Hajj.

A 77-year-old Frenchman has spent a night in custody in Paris after attacking a plain porcelain urinal considered to be a major artwork. The urinal - called Fountain - was slightly chipped after the man hit it with a hammer on Wednesday.

The piece by French-US artist Marcel Duchamp was on display at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Police said the man had urinated on the same piece at an exhibition in Nimes, southern France, in 1993.

The work, a replica of the 1917 original , is on display as part of a wider Dada exhibition, is believed to be worth some 3m euros (£2m).

Police said the man claimed the hammer attack was a work of performance art that Marcel Duchamp himself would have appreciated. (I love people! :D)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4587988.stm

I've been to the Pompidou Centre. I don't think a few chips and stains are going to make anything in there much uglier. :rolleyes: The next people who see the "piece" will probably comment on how the chips are clearly the artist's statement on the nature of human existence.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by emily655321

I've been to the Pompidou Centre. I don't think a few chips and stains are going to make anything in there much uglier. :rolleyes: The next people who see the "piece" will probably comment on how the chips are clearly the artist's statement on the nature of human existence.

---

Yeah it's got to be one of the ugliest buildings in Paris! :lol:

Well, the building itself looks kind of like the children's slide at a MacDonald's. I suppose it has a certain charm. But, anyway, it's not nearly as ugly as the stuff inside, IMHO. (A giant blank canvas?? C'mon, people! I mean... c'mon!)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Book clubs go online

Suddenly it seems we're all reading
Anyone who's ever finished the last page of a great novel will know how frustrating it is not to be able to share the experience with someone else.

Whether it's a spine-tingling thriller or a heart-melting romance, it's always good to be able to mull over your favourite book with a friend.

That's why book clubs have become such big news in the last ten years.

Now, the idea is going online, with a new website which gives readers the chance to swap books for free.

and from me(night)the link to the website they were talking about.....

---

Hey, they must be talking about us! Nice find, Nightshade.

yeah I turned on the tv and they were discussing it :nod:

over 100 die in Delhi,India: due to the sudden decrease in temperature...
temp 0.2 on sunday at 8:30 in the morning, the lowest ever recorded in 70 years
frost and icy deposits on roofs of houses and cars and dew drops on grass in ice form for the first time ever...

The charity Keep Britain Tidy has asked footballers to stop spitting as young people are copying the habit. The group, based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, criticised players for making a "filthy habit appear macho".

In a poll of nearly 300 fans, 75% said they were upset by the incident when Bolton striker El-Hadji Diouf spat at Portsmouth player Arjan de Zeeuw.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was also mentioned for spitting out chewing gum after matches.

'Spreading the flu'

Alan Woods, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said spitting was the ultimate insult, and "a contemptuous gesture drowning in hate."

He added: "But it is not just revolting - it has a cost.

"Saliva and chewing gum deposited on the pavement needs to be washed and cleaned-up and when it is aimed at another person, spit can spread colds, flu, measles and mumps."

To encourage footballers to stop spitting, Mr Woods is writing to the Professional Footballers Association, to say why he thinks players should set a better example.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/4594052.stm

Too funny.

Mouse thrown into fire sets home ablaze
January 8, 2006
FORT SUMNER, N.M. --A mouse got its revenge against a homeowner who tried to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The blazing creature ran back to the man's house and set it on fire.

Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the mouse inside his house and wanted to get rid of it.
"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," Mares said from a motel room Saturday.

Village Fire Chief Juan Chavez said the burning mouse ran to just beneath a window, and the flames spread up from there and throughout the house.

No was hurt inside, but the home and everything in it was destroyed.
Unseasonably dry and windy conditions have charred more than 53,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes in southeastern New Mexico in recent weeks.

"I've seen numerous house fires," village Fire Department Capt. Jim Lyssy said, "but nothing as unique as this one."

:lol: :lol: