Dowbrigade

The creator of Loverspy, software to surreptitiously
observe individuals’ online activities, has been indicted for allegedly
violating U.S. federal computer privacy laws.

If convicted, Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara, could face a maximum sentence
of 175 years in prison and fines of up to $8.75 million. His current whereabouts
are unknown.

Four individuals who purchased Loverspy to illegally spy on others were
also indicted.

So spying on your kids is OK, but not on your lover….

from PC
World.com

WASHINGTON — The ozone layer has stopped shrinking, but it will take
decades to start recovering, US scientists reported yesterday.

The specialists credited, at least in part, the 1987 Montreal Protocol,
which was ratified by more than 180 nations and set legally binding controls
on the production and consumption of ozone-depleting gases containing
chlorine and bromine.

And they say we bloggers never cover the good news! This
is actually pretty big news, if true, proving that international agreements
and human
actions can actually halt and correct some of the damage we have done
to the environment. We pray there is a carry over onto global warming,
before we all get washed off the map like New Orleans….

from the Boston Globe

Panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber, thousands of Shiite pilgrims
broke into a stampede on a bridge during a religious procession Wednesday,
crushing one another or plunging 30 feet into the muddy Tigris river. About
800 died, mostly women and children, officials said. from AP

They didn’t even have to waste a martyr or any valuable explosives,
and they managed to kill more people than in any suicide attack since
9/11. With a rumor!

New Orleans’ homeland
security chief, Terry Ebbert, said looters were breaking into stores
all over town and stealing guns. He said there are gangs of armed men
moving around the city. At one point, officers stranded on the roof
of a hotel were fired at by criminals on the street. from AP

Sounds a lot like Bagdad….

Fears of an international energy crisis mounted yesterday
as the scale of human and economic devastation caused in the southern
US by Hurricane Katrina became fully apparent. from the Financial Times

Why waste energy fighting the Great Satan, when we are
doing such a good job of fighting ourselves. Somewhere Usama is smiling…..

Swaziland’s King Mswati III, attends the annual reed dance in Ludzidzini, Swaziland, Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, where young girls perform a dance after days of gathering reeds to present to the king. The annual reed dance gives Mswati an opportunity to choose another wife should he so wish. Last week the king abandoned an unpopular HIV-prevention campaign, launched in 2001, that urged girls in the country to remain virgins. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko)

MBABANE, Swaziland –The Swazi king’s daughter has long raised eyebrows
with her Western-style clothes. Now her decision to hold a drinking party
to celebrate the end of a chastity decree has shocked members of Africa’s
last absolute monarchy — and resulted in a beating.

The scandal caused by Princess Sikhanyiso’s latest flouting of tradition
has cast a pall over Swaziland’s royal bride-choosing festivities, when
her father was to select another wife.

The annual reed dance, at which 20,000 girls in beads and traditional skirts
danced before King Mswati III, ended late Monday with no indication of
whether he had chosen a bride. In recent years, the king has increasingly
made his choice in private, after a screening by palace aides and his mother.

Royal officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue
is considered sensitive, said Tuesday the king had privately chosen three
potential brides and might unveil one at a ceremony in southern Swaziland
this weekend.

After the road test…

Royal officials had tried to keep word of Princess Sikhanyiso’s party
quiet during the reed dance, but acknowledged late Monday it had occurred
on
Friday to celebrate the end of a ban on sexual relations for girls younger
than 18. The chastity rite is separate from the bride-choosing ritual.

In 2001, Mswati temporarily revived the ancient "umchwasho" rite
— symbolized by the wearing of woolen tassels — to fight AIDS, which
is at crisis levels in Swaziland, but it was ridiculed as old-fashioned
and unfairly focused on girls. Days before the reed dance, the king announced
he was ending the ban a year early.

His eldest daughter, a 17-year-old who was rarely seen in the umchwasho
tassels herself, said Friday’s party with loud music and alcoholic drinks
was a private gathering that did not warrant the public scrutiny it received.

"We were just enjoying ourselves," Princess Sikhanyiso was quoted
as saying in a local newspaper. Ntsonjeni Dlamini, who oversees traditional
affairs, was not amused.

"We were so shocked that the girls decided to turn the reed dance ceremony
into a drinking and dancing spree," Dlamini said Monday.

He said he was compelled by tradition to beat the celebrating girls –
including the king’s daughter — with a stick.

We smell a reality TV show – "The Swazi Princess Diaries". MTV is already making
inquiries..

from the
Boston Globe

BERLIN (Reuters) – Berlin’s mayor Klaus Wowereit on
Tuesday fended off criticism for giving an official welcome to a sado-masochism
festival expected to draw thousands of leather-clad visitors to the German
capital this weekend.

"The first weekend in September stands for the pure zest for life," Wowereit
wrote in a message of greeting in the official program of the Folsom-Europe
Street Festival. "A warm welcome to Berlin!"

Members of the conservative opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), and even
political leaders from within Wowereit’s own Social Democrat party (SPD),
said Wowereit’s public endorsement of the leather and fetish festival showed
poor taste.

They also questioned whether it was appropriate for the mayor of Germany’s
largest city, who became a nationally known figure when he outed himself
in 2001, to support the festival.

from Reuters