Here is a story that appeared in the Czech Republic but doesn't seem to have had much airplay in the US. It is yet another example of how our privacy is continually under assault with the 'terrorism threat' being used to to have us accept it. NASA is developing a brain wave monitoring system for use in airports to detect passengers who might potentially pose a threat.

Anyone a Rugby fan? Do you recall the streaker at the All Black versus Ireland game in June 2006? Well, her name is Lisa Lewis and just recently she became the first naked news reader on the New Zealand Naked News Flash. I'm stunned that a country like New Zealand would even have a naked news service but apparently it does and Lisa became something of an overnight celebrity reading the news naked.

The fact that she was formerly an erotic dancer was known to the media and her employer but just a few days after her nervous first news read it was also revealed that she is a hooker! She admitted that she knew tis news might come out sooner or later but was surprised it took so little time? Lisa Lewis it seems is a $7000 per night private escort. She charges $2000/hour and $10,000 per weekend.

She says that she does make a living that way to pay for a 'super education' for her 3-year old son. Yes Lisa.... we believe you.

An emergency official says another 14 members of a cult that has been holed up in a cave for months awaiting the end of the world have come out.

Seven other cult members came out of the cave in the Penza region, about 400 miles southeast of Moscow, three days ago.

The 14 that emerged Tuesday are in satisfactory condition, regional emergency spokesman Dmitry Yeskin said.

Melting snow had caused part of the cave to collapse, leading to fears that the remaining cult members, which include four young children, could be killed.

Thirty-five people entered the cave in early November to await the end of the world, which they said would happen in May.

They told authorities they would detonate gas canisters if police tried to remove them

Italy's highest appeal court has ruled that married Italian women who commit adultery are entitled to lie about it to protect their honour.

The court gave its landmark ruling after hearing the case of a 48-year-old woman, convicted of giving false testimony to police by denying she had lent her mobile phone to her lover.

The appeal court did not agree that she had broken the law.

It said bending the truth was justified to conceal extra-marital relationships.

Rest of the story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7284134.stm

The no-tell motels in Beijing's university districts pulsate with sex.

Every weekend, lusty college couples make a beeline past greasy spoon restaurants and bootleg video game shops for the dim hotel lobbies to book three-hour blocks of privacy. Students fill half the simple but tidy rooms at the Cheng Lin Ming Guang Hotel, a 10-minute walk from Beijing Normal University.

China is in the midst of a sexual revolution, a byproduct of rising prosperity and looser government restrictions on private life. The relaxed attitudes about sex mark a historic turnaround from the days when love and sex were denounced as bourgeois decadence, and unisex Mao suits and drab austerity were the norm.

Rest of story at http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/02/china.sex.ap/index.html

I just got back from a quick business trip to Switzerland where the news continues to be on the Swiss soccer team FC Thun. Back in December 12 current and past players where arrested for having sex with a 15-year old girl. Apparently, this wasn't a one off event but repeated on a number of occasions. Since then, the news comes back periodically as individual players are tried and found guilty - this was the case this week when a second player was found guilty.

When I wrote my take on the German airline offering flights for nudists it was on the assumption that this was something of a first in the airline industry. Now, as we all know, it appears that just isn't accurate and the German airline was well and truly beaten to the plate by Air France whose female flight attendants have been performing stripteases for the pilots for many years it would seem. Shame that they didn't extend the courtesy for the passenger's because it would make up for the taste of airline food and general poor service.

A while ago I posted about snail caviar which was reported to be becoming popular in France and now we read on the BBC that Thai's are increasingly fond of fried Rat. Whatever next? It's the statement by a customer that Rat livers and hips are the best parts of the animal to eat though that makes me feel sick. I would bet that the Thai's then are a little disappointed that the 1-ton rodent described by scientists recently is extinct. Certainly would have produced more of that chicken tasting meat.

Thai fast food sellers are enjoying a boom in rat sales, as people learn to love the taste of the rodent.

While rat has long been eaten in Thailand's poorer northern regions, a growing number of the country's roadside vendors are now serving it up.

The rats are drowned and sold uncooked or ready to eat, with happy customers purchasing rat meat for as much as 150 baht ($4.82; £2.30) a kilogram.

"It's better than chicken," one customer told the AP news agency.

Rest of story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7230233.stm

On the shores of Coogee beach in Sydney, British fitness expert Rob Derbyshire gently reminds his British client Judith that gain is normally accompanied by pain.

Dashing up the beach together, they look like part of a "pom" invasion of Australia. And in many ways they are.

The number of British people emigrating to Australia has already increased from 8,749 in the year from 2001 to 2002 to 23,290 in 2005 to 2006.

And it has just become easier for Brits to make their homes Down Under.

Changes to the points system, which come into effect on 1 September, will award five valuable extra points for people who can pass a standard English language test, a Brit-friendly policy partly designed to lure more "poms" here.

'No looking back'

So you are in college and overloaded with work. You have more papers than you need to prepare and no time for any fun? Well, stop there just a minute because believe it or not there is a writing service that can help you out. Yep - this website provides you with a writer who will do the research and write that paper for you. They'll even take samples of your previous essays to be sure that the paper you get sounds like it was written by you!

A goth who leads his girlfriend around with a dog lead and collar was stopped from getting on a bus amid fears for passenger safety, a bus firm confirmed.

Dani Graves, 25, and his fiancee Tasha Maltby, 19, of Dewsbury, West Yorks, claim they have been discriminated against by bus firm Arriva Yorkshire.

The black-clad couple said they had been told to leave one bus and prevented from boarding another.

The bus firm said safety came first, but it was investigating the complaint.

Mr Graves told BBC Look North: "We're used to strange looks, we're used to comments.

"But we didn't expect it from someone like that. They're providing a public service. We had our bus passes, we did everything that you are supposed to do to get on a bus."

What is it about people when they walk down the street?

Are they awake? If folks drove like they walk our streets would be full of mangled cars and dead bodies.

There you are walking down the street and people are walking towards you. Do they side step? Nope - they carry on until the last possible moment as if you just weren't there.

Milton Blahyi, a former feared rebel commander in Liberia's brutal civil war, has admitted to taking part in human sacrifices as part of traditional ceremonies intended to ensure victory in battle.

He said the sacrifices "included the killing of an innocent child and plucking out the heart, which was divided into pieces for us to eat."

A woman who ripped off her ex-boyfriend's testicle with her bare hands has been sent to prison.

Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage when Geoffrey Jones, 37, rejected her advances at the end of a house party, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

She pulled off his left testicle and tried to swallow it, before spitting it out. A friend handed it back to Mr Jones saying: "That's yours."

That is what it is being called in the Czech Republic. A security firm employee - Frantisek Prochazka - calmly walked away with 560 million Czech Crowns ($32.2 million) and simply disappeared. Apparently, Prochazka, who was a relatively new employee, found an opportunity to walk into the company's safe room, stuff the cash into bags (and that's a lot of notes because 5000 crowns is the biggest denomination in the Czech Republic) and had an accomplice transport the cash to whereabouts unknown.

MASTIC, New York (AP) -- A U.S. man was arrested Tuesday for walking on a highway with a 14-foot python wrapped around his body, police said.

Police in Long Island's Suffolk County say 35-year-old Curtis Dewberry of Wading River was spotted by an officer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals while out strolling Tuesday afternoon.

The officer called police because the python is considered a danger to the public.

Dewberry has been charged with animal cruelty and failure to protect the public against dangerous wildlife.

He was being held Tuesday and didn't have a lawyer.

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/01/16/highway.snake.ap/index.html

An 88-year-old man is set to star in his first ballet show after taking up dance at the age of 79.

Grandfather to 11, John Lowe, of Witchford, Cambs, took up dancing having watched his daughter Alison become a professional dancer.

The retired teacher said: "It's a wonderful thing to do and I can't understand why more men don't do it."

Mr Lowe is due to appear with the Lantern Dance Theatre Company, in Ely, on Sunday evening.

Pirouettes have been perfected in daily practice at home ahead of Mr Lowe's performance in Prokofiev's The Stone Flower at The Maltings.

'Incredibly fit'

"I went to a dance school in the high street in Ely and asked if I could do tap and ballet and they said 'well of course you can' and I've been doing it ever since," Mr Lowe said.

The plan for a virtual red light district through the creation of a .xxx net domain name has hit delays after concern from government officials.

An official from President George Bush's administration has asked for the brakes be put on the planned domain name until its impact is studied more.

The domain was given the go-ahead by Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) in June.

But some are concerned that it would encourage more porn on the net.

The domain name was expected to get final approval by the net's supervisory body, Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), on Tuesday.

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has lost money after publishing his bank details in his newspaper column.

The Top Gear host revealed his account numbers after rubbishing the furore over the loss of 25 million people's personal details on two computer discs.

He wanted to prove the story was a fuss about nothing.

But Clarkson admitted he was "wrong" after he discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK.

Clarkson published details of his Barclays account in the Sun newspaper, including his account number and sort code. He even told people how to find out his address.

"All you'll be able to do with them is put money into my account. Not take it out. Honestly, I've never known such a palaver about nothing," he told readers.

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- If you turn to the Bible -- Isaiah Chapter 35, Verse 8 -- you will see a passage that in part says, "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness."

Now, is it possible that this "highway" mentioned in Chapter 35 is actually Interstate 35 that runs through six U.S. states, from southern Texas to northern Minnesota? Some Christians have faith that is indeed the case.

It was with that interesting belief in mind that we decided to head to Texas, the southernmost state in the I-35 corridor, to do a story about a prayer campaign called "Light the Highway."

Churchgoers in all six states recently finished 35 days of praying alongside Interstate 35, but the prayers are still continuing.

Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the "holy" highway, it needs some intensive prayer first. So we watched as about 25 fervent and enthusiastic Christians prayed on the the interstate's shoulder in Dallas.

Here in Central Europe any item of clothing with english words written on it appears to be amazingly popular but can often end up making the wearer look a complete idiot or worse. Yes folks, the problem is that the person wearing the clothing doesn't understand what is written on it.....

I've seen girls wearing T-Shirts emblazoned with "Try me - I'm an easy lay" for example. Now - I am assuming they have no clue what it says anyway. And I am not talking about "Kiss me Quick" signs in the main. Nope, some of these slogans are very, very upfront and very, very rude.