More of the same

Internet-Addicted Boy Kills Mother Over Cyber Cafe Money - A 16-year-old "Internet addict" stabbed to death his mother in China after she and the boy's father refused to give him money to go to a cyber cafe, China's state media reported Thursday. The boy, only identified by his last name, "Wang," grabbed a knife from the kitchen in their Guangzhou apartment Tuesday and stabbed his mother to death and then seriously injured his father, the Beijing News reported.

Robot Displays Emotions - Japanese engineers have come up with a robot that's guided by a software program which associates certain words with facial expressions.










Housewife Awarded $184 Million In Divorce - A judge has awarded a Chicago area housewife $184 million in a divorce lawsuit with her husband. Maya and Michael Polsky moved to the U.S. from Russia in 1976 with just four suitcases and $500 in cash. During their 30 year marriage Michael Polsky launched the company SkyGen Energy, an independent power producer, he later sold in 2000 for $450 million. He's now president and CEO of Invenergy Wind LLC, a Chicago-based wind energy company.

Komodo Dragon Kills Boy - An 8-year-old boy was fatally wounded in eastern Indonesia when a Komodo dragon grabbed him by the waist and shook him violently before fleeing. The rare attack by one of the giant lizards occurred during the weekend in a national park on Komodo Island, Sky News reported Monday. The boy had gone behind a bush to relief himself when he was grabbed by the animal. The boy's uncle threw rocks at the lizard until it released him but the child bled to death within half an hour.

Bobby Brown Still Fears Bin Laden Will Kill Him - Bobby Brown still fears for his life, after discovering Osama Bin Laden wanted him dead so he could marry Whitney Houston. Although he and Houston are no longer together - the singer is convinced he is still on the Taliban leader's hit list.

Logger Cuts Off Leg to Free Himself From Downed Tree - In a remarkable display of strong will and survival, a California logger cut off his leg to free himself from beneath a fallen tree on a remote hillside east of Colfax. Al Hill, 66, an experienced logger from the small Gold Rush community of Iowa Hill, was recovering Wednesday at Sutter Roseville Medical Center. With a cell phone but no reception, Hill resorted to amputating his left leg below the knee with a pocketknife sometime Friday.

Paris shaped by the pen - Marvel comics legend Stan Lee is developing an animated series for MTV starring Paris Hilton, his office confirmed to Gatecrasher. A separate source directly involved with the project likened it to the 'Stripperella' cartoon developed by Lee in 2003 for Pamela Anderson.

'Mighty' Hypocrite Angelina Jolie Bans FOX and Others From Premiere - Angelina Jolie's true colors came out Wednesday as she promoted a film about freedom of the press and then tried to censor all her interviews. Jolie is touting press freedom these days, playing the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in a new movie called "A Mighty Heart." But Jolie turns out to be a mighty hypocrite when it comes to her own freedom of the press. Her lawyer required all journalists to sign a contract before talking to her, and Jolie instructed publicists at first to ban FOX News from the red carpet of her premiere.

Haiti Youth Soccer Team Goes AWOL At JFK - At least seven members of Haiti's youth soccer team are missing Thursday. They disappeared from John F. Kennedy International Airport during a layover while heading to South Korea for the Youth World Cup.

Freedom, not climate, is at risk

McCain says he will strike Clinton's 'pork' projects in defense bill - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said today in Los Angeles he will try to squash nearly $150 million in proposed defense spending backed by Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling the projects wasteful and unneeded by the military. Speaking to reporters outside a downtown fundraiser, the US senator from Arizona said Clinton had larded a Senate bill with "pork-barrel" proposals that would drain funds needed to shore up armed forces arrayed around the globe.

City of Seattle may ban microwave popcorn - First, Washington State banned indoor public smoking. Now, the City of Seattle may ban employees from making microwave popcorn. A memo from the Fleets and Facilities Department addressed to "Employees at Civic Center Buildings" says there has been several evacuations in recent years due smoke alarms being tripped by burning popcorn.

Cajun Town Bans Saggy Pants - Sag your britches somewhere else, this Cajun-country town has decided. Mayor Carol Broussard said he would sign an ordinance the town council approved this week setting penalties of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for being caught in pants that show undergarments or certain parts of the body. Broussard said he has nothing against saggy pants but thinks people who wear them should use discretion. "It's gotten way out of hand out here," he said.

Venezuela's Chavez to finalise Russian submarines deal - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is expected to finalise a deal on buying up to nine Russian submarines during a visit here later this month, a Russian newspaper reported on Thursday. Caracas has already ordered five 636-type diesel submarines and four of a new model of diesel submarine, the 677E Amur, the Kommersant broadsheet said, quoting unnamed sources in the ship-building and arms export sectors.