Virgin Mary Spotted In Suburban Tree Trunk

Mr Moreau has admitted he was drinking in his garden when he first spotted the likeness, but insists he was completely sober. "I'm not a wacko," he said.

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Manitoba Dig Uncovers 80-Million-Year-Old Sea Creature

A public dig organized by the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre has turned up the biggest fossil find in Manitoba in nearly 30 years.

The summer dig near the centre in Morden, Man., that is still underway has already unearthed a mosasaur, an 11-metre-long ancient sea creature estimated to be 80 million years old.

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'Armored' fish study helps strengthen Darwin's natural selection theory

Dung beetles provide an object lesson in the speed of natural selection

B.C. Health Official Says Mumps Outbreak Began With Unimmunized Religious Group

AGASSIZ, B.C. -- A British Columbia health official says a spreading mumps outbreak began with a Fraser Valley religious group that shuns immunization.

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Judges Uphold Abortion Rights In Mexico City

Mexico's supreme court yesterday upheld the capital's abortion law by dismissing a challenge brought by the conservative federal government by eight votes to three.

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Dead Sea Scrolls Go From Parchment To The Internet

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- More than 2,000 years after they were written, the Dead Sea Scrolls are going digital as part of an effort to better preserve the ancient texts and let more people see them than ever before.

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Praise The Lord And Pass The Business Plan As God Embraces Mammon

God wants you rich, and as if to prove it His golden forefinger is pointing down through the stage ceiling at the Excel exhibition centre in east London.

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Shock Anti-Religion Leaflet Distributed In Hertford

A SHOCKED Hertford resident contacted the Herald after receiving an anti-religion leaflet through her door.

A leaflet was delivered to her home in the Foxholes estate, and she was "freaked out" to read the words "They want your child's mind: Do not give it to them!"

The leaflets feature artist's drawing of Jordanian preacher Abu Qatada, who has been dubbed Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, alongside an Islamic crescent, a stereotypical representation of a Jew complete with the Star of David and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, with a crucifix.

The group behind the campaign against religious education call themselves Notori, an acronym which refers to their slogan, 'Say no to religious indoctrination at school' the leaflets also feature a website address.

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http://www.notori.co.uk/

Abuse At St Stanislaus College 'Involved Night Orgies'

ORGIES involving up to 60 schoolboys, priests and teachers are among allegations levelled at former staff members of a NSW Catholic boarding school.

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Shia Muslim Convicted Of Child Cruelty After Forcing Two Boys To Flog Themselves

Syed Mustafa Zaidi, a warehouse supervisor, told the boys, aged 13 and 15, to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, a wooden-handled implement containing five curved blades used when commemorating the death of Hussain, grandson of Muhammad and one of the most important figures in Shia Islam. Zaidi is due to be sentenced on September 24.

Manchester crown court heard how Zaidi, 44, flagellated himself at an event held in January in Manchester until his back was bloody and cut. Others at the event also flogged themselves. Some of those present, fearing Zaidi would seriously harm himself, asked him to calm down. Zaidi agreed, only to turn his attention to the two boys.

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Turkish Military Will Defend Secular State, Government Warned

One of Turkey's most senior army commanders has warned the Islamist-rooted government that it will face a powerful military backlash if it seeks to alter the country's secular system.

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Church Burns As Indian Religious Riots Spread

Hindu mobs ransacked a church and clashed with Christian villagers in eastern India as authorities struggled to control spiralling religious violence in the region, police said today.

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Kashmir on brink as Islamic militants take family hostage

Bomb Attack Kills 9 On Pakistan Bus

(AP) Suspected militants bombed a bus carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine people as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country's tribal belt.

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Iraqi Troops To Take Control Of Former Restive Province

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition troops are scheduled to hand over control of a onetime hub of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq to Iraqi forces on Monday, a senior American military official said.

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Top Iraqi Shiite Arrested In Baghdad

Monkeys Enjoy Giving To Others, Study Finds

ScienceDaily -- Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have shown capuchin monkeys, just like humans, find giving to be a satisfying experience. This finding comes on the coattails of a recent imaging study in humans that documented activity in reward centers of the brain after humans gave to charity.

Empathy in seeing the pleasure of another's fortune is thought to be the impetus for sharing, a trait this study shows transcends primate species.

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Missouri Public School Must Stop Distribution Of Bibles To Fifth-Graders, AU Tells Court

A Missouri public school must end its policy of allowing an evangelical Christian group to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders on school property during school hours, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told a federal appellate court.

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Churches Vow To Fight Gay Marriage

LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- An effort is taking place to coordinate California churches' opposition to same-sex marriage, organizers say.

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Brides Look Forward to Marrying Under Tribal Same-Sex Marriage Law

The Coquille Indian Tribe now not only recognizes legal same-sex unions from state and federal governments, but it will soon be handing out its own marriage licenses not only to heterosexual couples, but to homosexual couples as well.

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Swiss Exonerate Europe's Last Executed Witch

BERN, Switzerland - Anna Goeldi was executed for being a witch more than 220 years ago -- the last witch beheaded in Europe. On Wednesday, the Swiss decided the least they could do was clear her name.

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Sharia Courts Rule On Sex Lives In Britain

Ten currently operate across the country, with around 95 per cent of their cases relating to matrimonial issues.

Although the hearings have no basis in British law, they are attended voluntarily by Muslim couples to settle disputes without referral to the recognised authorities.

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Eight-Year-Old Wife Puts Saudi Laws In Spotlight

A COURT in Saudi Arabia preparing to hear a plea for divorce from an eight-year-old girl should have little difficulty in determining grounds for incompatibility: the husband is half a century older.

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Danish Publisher Hopes To Publish 'Inflammatory' Islam Novel

A Danish publisher is in negotiations to buy Sherry Jones's novel about the child bride of Muhammad, which was dropped by Random House in America and pulled from bookshops in Serbia.

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Fifth Suspect Arrested Over 'Islamic Internet Plot To Kill Gordon Brown'

A fifth person has been arrested in connection with threats to kill the Prime Minister which were posted on an Islamic website.

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Indian State Erupts In Violence After Hindu Shot

(CNN) -- The remote east Indian state of Orissa -- historically a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions -- erupted in violence this week after gunmen killed a Hindu leader and mobs burned churches in retaliation.

Four days of communal clashes left at least nine people dead. Authorities have imposed a curfew and ordered security forces to shoot violators on sight.

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Mob torches orphanage killing woman

Riots grip India's Orissa region

Iraqi Police Recruits, Soldiers Killed In Bombing

Story Highlights:

Bombing kills 30 people, mostly Iraqi soldiers, police recruits

55 others were wounded in the Diyala province attack

Police: Unrelated car bombing in Tikrit kills 4, wounds 14

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Dazed Iraqi teen suicide bomber says she didn't want to die

Girl, 15, caught with suicide bomb vest

After 5 years of war, Iraqis desperate for water

30 Suspected Taliban Killed In Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- More than 30 Taliban fighters and four policemen were killed in a series of clashes, airstrikes and bombings in Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

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Blast At Rally In Pakistan Kills 3

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A blast at a rally in southwestern Pakistan killed three people and wounded at least 20 others Tuesday, authorities said.

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Top US diplomat escapes gun attack in Pakistan

Pakistan's ruling coalition collapses; government bans Taliban

A Teacher On The Front Line As Faith And Science Clash

In February, the Florida Department of Education modified its standards to explicitly require, for the first time, the state's public schools to teach evolution, calling it "the organizing principle of life science." Spurred in part by legal rulings against school districts seeking to favor religious versions of natural history, over a dozen other states have also given more emphasis in recent years to what has long been the scientific consensus: that all of the diverse life forms on Earth descended from a common ancestor, through a process of mutation and natural selection, over billions of years.

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Tracing Origins Of Critical Step In Animal Evolution: The Development Of Nerves

ScienceDaily -- University of Queensland researchers have traced the origins of one of the most important steps in animal evolution -- the development of nerves.

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Exploding Chromosomes Fuel Research About Evolution Of Genetic Storage

Converting Sunlight To Cheaper Energy

ScienceDaily -- Scientists are working to convert sunlight to cheap electricity at South Dakota State University. Research scientists are working with new materials that can make devices used for converting sunlight to electricity cheaper and more efficient.

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Humanists Hit Out At 'Discrimination' Over Council Session Prayers

UK -- THE tradition of holding prayers at council meetings has been labelled 'religious discrimination' by the Humanist Society.

It has criticised local authorities in Devon for upholding the practice, but council bosses say it is "custom and tradition".

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Suicide Bomber Kills 25 Near Baghdad

(AP) A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in the midst of a celebration to welcome home an Iraqi detainee released from U.S. custody, killing at least 25 people, Iraqi officials said.

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Al-Qaeda Masters Terrorism On The Cheap

LONDON - Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, al-Qaeda has increasingly turned to local cells that run extremely low-cost operations and generate cash through criminal scams, bypassing the global financial dragnet set up by the United States and Europe.

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Taliban Turns Lethal: 101 US Deaths In Afghanistan

(AP) Taliban insurgents once derided as a ragtag rabble unable to match U.S. troops have transformed into a fighting force _ one advanced enough to mount massive conventional attacks and claim American lives at a record pace.

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Taliban win over locals at the gates of Kabul

Somali City Clears Bodies After Deadly Clashes

(CNN) -- Families were beginning to bury their dead Saturday after three days of heavy fighting in the Somali port town of Kismayo left at least 89 people dead and 207 wounded, according to residents and human rights organizations.

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Journalists kidnapped in Somalia

Bodies litter streets of Somali city

Valleys Chapels Under Threat From Rapid Decline In Religion

UK -- TRADITIONAL Valleys chapels are in danger of disappearing an expert has warned.

Dr Paul Chambers of the University of Glamorgan, said: "Wales is now experiencing the most rapid and deepest rate of religious decline in the UK."

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Save our churches: A congregation of 200 'is not viable'

Now skint Aberdeen City Council may axe nativity scene because of costs

Women 'Leave Churches In England'

Churches in England have lost about 50,000 women every year from their congregations since 1989, according to a Derby-based sociologist.

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Suicide Attack Kills At Least 6 Police In Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Police say a suicide bomber used a car laden with explosives to attack a police station in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least six officers.

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Pakistan army hits Taliban after suicide strikes

Attack Forces Indonesian Christians Off Campus

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a mob of angry Muslim neighbors stormed their campus last month wielding bamboo spears and hurling Molotov cocktails.

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Large Hadron Collider Set To Unveil A New World Of Particle Physics

ScienceDaily -- The field of particle physics is poised to enter unknown territory with the startup of a massive new accelerator--the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)--in Europe this summer. On September 10, LHC scientists will attempt to send the first beam of protons speeding around the accelerator.

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Kamikaze Bacteria Illustrate Evolution Of Co-Operation

Bacteria can commit suicide to help their brethren establish more damaging infections -- and scientists think that they can explain how this behaviour evolved.

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Manes, Trains And Antlers Explained: How Showy Male Traits Evolved

Survey: Americans Feel Churches Shouldn't Meddle In Politics

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A slim majority of Americans think churches should stay out of politics, according to a new survey.

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Protections Set For Antiabortion Health Workers

The Bush administration yesterday announced plans to implement a controversial regulation designed to protect doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who object to abortion from being forced to deliver services that violate their personal beliefs.

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Controversial Rule On Abortion Moving Forward

Bush plan would blunt state birth control law

For Coach, God And Archery Are A Package Deal

BEIJING -- Two weeks before leaving to compete in the Olympics, the archer Brady Ellison waded into a pool not far from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and was baptized in the Christian faith.

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Olympic Coach's Use of Religion Raises Some Eyebrows

US School District Sued Over Homophobic 'Witch Hunt'

FLORIDA - When a high school senior told her principal that students were taunting her for being a lesbian, he told her homosexuality is wrong, outed her to her parents and ordered her to stay away from children.

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Fundamentalist Group Drops Public Funding Windfall After Americans United Protest

A fundamentalist Christian group that claims to help young people overcome drug and alcohol addiction through Bible study and prayer has given up a federal grant after Americans United for Separation of Church and State protested the funding.

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3 Texas Polygamists Indicted By Grand Jury

(CNN) -- A Texas grand jury indicted three more members of a polygamist sect that was raided in April....

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Jesus Is Magic

Inside the Fellowship of Christian Magicians, where Scripture-quoting puppets and flaming Bibles win souls for the Lord.

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Pastor Michael Guglielmucci Spun Gospel Of Lies

Adelaide, AU -- HE preached to thousands about his terminal illness and tugged at hearts with a hit song.

The problem is the pastor wasn't dying at all

Michael Guglielmucci, who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his terminal cancer "battle", has been exposed as a fraud.

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Crocodile Eats Bangladesh Man Who Sought Its Blessing

"He went into the pond hoping to be blessed when a crocodile attacked him and dragged him into the deep part of the pond," said Inspector Humayun Kabir of the local police.

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Nigerian Burns 1.2M In Bizarre Ritual

Sam Edem, chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, is accused of stealing a total of 3.4 million in public money to pay a witchdoctor to cast "juju" spells to secure business contracts and to kill a powerful rival at work.

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Muslims Crack Down On Transplants For Christians

A report from the U.S. Copts Association reveals that the Muslim Brotherhood-influenced Egyptian Medical Association is trying to prohibit any organ transplants that would involve a Muslim donor and Christian recipient or vice versa.

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Birthday Parties Against Islam Says Top Saudi Cleric

RIYADH (Reuters) - Celebrating anniversaries, birthdays or mother's day is against Muslim 'righteousness', Saudi Arabia's top cleric has said, quashing suggestions by a colleague that Islam permits personal celebrations.

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Saudi Ban On Woman Drivers May Be Eroding

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans all women _ Saudi and foreign _ from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and women who cannot afford the $300-$400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor.

But there are signs support for the ban is eroding.

--snip--

Conservatives say women at the wheel create situations for sinful temptation. They argue that women drivers will be free to leave home alone, will unduly expose their eyes while driving and will interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.

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Iraq Takes Aim At U.S.-Tied Sunni Groups' Leaders

BAGHDAD -- The Shiite-dominated government in Iraq is driving out many leaders of Sunni citizen patrols, the groups of former insurgents who joined the American payroll and have been a major pillar in the decline in violence around the nation.

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Deadly Bomb Hits Southern Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded in southern Thailand, killing a local journalist and wounding 17 others, a police official said.

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Civilians 'Butchered' At Mosque, Market In Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Heavy shelling struck Somalia's capital city on Thursday, leaving pools of blood around a neighborhood mosque, a devastated market and 11 civilians dead, according to witnesses and a local journalist.

--snip--

Mogadishu's main market also came under attack, as vendors fled for their lives amid a continuous barrage of shelling that left five dead, witnesses told Haji.

--snip--

Clashes between Islamic insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian soldiers also raged around Suuqa Holaha, a neighborhood in northeast Mogadishu. Fighting also continued in Folarensa junction, an intersection near the presidential palace.

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Al Qaeda Branch Claims Algeria Bombings That Killed 60

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- The North African branch of al Qaeda claimed responsibility Friday for devastating bombings in Algeria that killed up to 60 people this week, in a statement carried by an Arab TV news station.

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Bombings Rock Pakistan Ahead Of Elections

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for dual suicide bombings at a Pakistani military arms factory that police said killed 66 people and wounded more than 70 others.

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Coalition Troops Kill 30 Militants In Afghan Fight

(CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed 30 Taliban militants, including a commander, in a battle in western Afghanistan early Friday, according to a coalition spokesman.

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See also:

Eight troops dead in Afghanistan in 24 hours: military

'Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq inspiring Taliban attacks in Afghanistan'

Afghanistan's Renewed Jihadi Allure

Petraeus Book 'Endorsement' Draws Fire

Gen. David Petraeus is used to controversy surrounding the war in Iraq, but his publicized thoughts on an Army chaplain's book for Soldiers put him squarely in the middle of the ongoing conflict over religious proselytizing in the U.S. military.

The book is "Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel," by Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) William McCoy, and according to Petraeus' published endorsement of the work, "it should be in every rucksack for those times when soldiers need spiritual energy."

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Coverage of the new documentary Constantine's Sword, which examines church-sanctioned violence, from the Middle Ages through today's religious extremists.

Scientists Create Blood From Stem Cells

Scientists have used embryonic stem cells to generate blood -- a feat that could eventually lead to endless supplies of type O-negative blood, a rare blood type prized by doctors for its versatility.

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Living With Humans Has Taught Dogs Morals, Scientists Say

Dogs are becoming more intelligent and are even learning morals from human contact, scientists claim.

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Mama gorilla won't let go of her dead baby

Georgia Men Say 'Bigfoot' Was Filled With Road Kill, Slaughterhouse Leftovers

ATLANTA -- In an exclusive interview with Channel 2, two Georgia men said their bigfoot hoax was a joke and that they never intended for it to go as far as it did. The Clayton County police chief said he did not find it funny and he fired one of the men from the department.

The men confessed to Channel 2 they bought a costume off the Internet and filled it with possum roadkill and slaughterhouse leftovers.

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U.S. Amish Population Surges And Spreads: Study

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -- America's Amish population has nearly doubled and spread out in the past 16 years due to large families, more marriages within the community and longer lifespans...

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Church OKs $10M Settlement In Sex Abuse Cases

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Roman Catholic diocese has tentatively agreed to pay $10 million to settle nearly 50 sexual abuse claims against the diocese and 12 of its priests.

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Mexico Church Assailed For Maligning Miniskirt

MEXICO CITY - A Catholic priest's condemnation of miniskirts on an official church Web site is causing outrage among some Mexican women, who say the Roman Catholic Church is making it easier to justify sexual violence against women.

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Islamic Group Call For Avril Lavigne Concert To Be Cancelled

An Islamic political party is aiming to scrap Avril Lavigne's forthcoming concert in Malaysia - claiming the pop star is "too sexy" to perform in a Muslim country.

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Malaysia: Court Denies Woman's Appeal To Leave Islam

A civil court has denied a woman's appeal to renounce Islam in favour of Christianity, highlighting the jurisdictional disputes in Malaysia's dual legal system.

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3 NATO Troops, 30 Fighters Die In Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition troops battled a group of militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing over 30 insurgents, while three NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast elsewhere, officials said Thursday.

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Suicide Attack Kills At Least 50 At Pakistan Arms Factory

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the gates of a military arms factory in Pakistan on Thursday, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 70, police said.

--snip--

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives near the emergency entrance to a hospital in the Dera Ismail Khan district, killing 29 and wounding another 35. The Taliban, claimed responsibility for that attack.

More...

See also:

Bloodshed, Political Fight Plague Pakistan

Goodbye Musharraf, hello Taliban

Inside Iraq: The Militia That Won't Go Away

Mr Ahmed and his buddies work for about US$230 (Dh844) a month guarding one of several dozen checkpoints in his hometown. Fluorescent yellow sashes identify them as SOIs - 'Sons of Iraq' - the name given by the US military to the largely Sunni militia they created to help drive out al Qa'eda.

There are more than 90,000 SOIs -- a force of untrained, armed, minimally employed young men which the United States cannot disband and the Iraqi government is reluctant to embrace.

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Key U.S. Iraq strategy in danger of collapse

Iraqi Exodus

10 people killed in 24 hours throughout Iraq, official says

Strategic Shift In North Africa Militancy

Cairo - A string of suicide bombings in Algeria this week has intensified concerns that the country's Islamist militancy is rising, guided by insurgents who have been trained in Iraq and are now waging their fight in North Africa.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, car bombs rocked towns near Algiers, the capital, killing at least 54 security forces and police recruits. While Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the home-grown group that recently allied itself with Al Qaeda, has not claimed responsibility, the bombings carried all the markings of the group, which has been responsible for some 200 deaths over the past 18 months.

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See also:

Terror Group Entrenched In Algeria

Ragtag Insurgency Gains a Lifeline From Al Qaeda

New Algeria suicide attack kills 11

New Ribosomal Research Offers Fresh Evidence, Understanding Of Evolution

Skepticism aside, evolution is steadily being verified and analyzed thanks to cutting edge computing.

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Girl From Texas Sect Ordered Into State Care

SAN ANGELO, Texas - A Texas judge on Tuesday ordered a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly married to jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to be placed in foster care.

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Priest Admits Abuse

A PRIEST who sexually abused a string of boys at a top Catholic school more than 20 years ago has finally been brought to justice.

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Is Yoga Evil?

A leading exorcist claims yoga can be a path to "the evil spirit".

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'Boys Forced Into Muslim Flogging Ritual'

A devout Muslim encouraged two teenage boys to flog themselves until their backs were covered in bloody cuts, a jury was told yesterday.

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Islamic Terror Cell 'May Have Been Plotting To Attack Queen'

The cell, which included Britain's youngest ever terrorist, arrested on his way home from his GCSE chemistry exam, was found with information about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh along with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal.

Also on the list were Princess Michael of Kent, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and The Duke and Duchess of Kent.

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Schoolboy extremist faces jail over terror training manuals

Muslim Rebellion Rocks Towns Across Southern Philippines

BANDS of Muslim rebels stormed several towns in the southern Philippines in a bloody rampage that killed at least 34 people.

The attacks by hundreds of guerrillas on Mindanao island also caused 7,000 people to flee their homes, and triggered a swift response from government troops.

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Chain Wrapped Around 'Old Man's Body' Found In Mosque

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," says Abu Muhanad as he walks through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found.

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Iraq Moves Against Some US-backed Sunni Fighters

Suicide Bombers Try To Storm U.S. Base

(CBS/AP) A team of suicide bombers tried to storm a U.S. military base near the border with Pakistan in a daring insurgent attack on a major American installation, officials said Tuesday. Six suicide bombers attacked the base and three detonated their vests when surrounded, NATO officials said.

Afghan officials said at least 13 militants died in the attack, including six suicide bombers. NATO offered a slightly different account, saying three suicide bombers detonated their vests and three more were shot dead. NATO said seven attackers in total were killed.

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10 French Soldiers Killed In Afghan Fighting

Pakistan Hospital Bomb Kills At Least 23

(CNN) -- A bomb blast at a hospital in northwest Pakistan killed at least 23 people Tuesday, authorities said. Another 15 to 20 were injured.

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See also:

Pakistan Violence Flares After Musharraf Resigns

43 Dead In Algerian Suicide Bombing

(CNN) -- An attack on a military school in Algeria killed 43 people and wounded another 38 on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.

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Fair Discount Day Causes Controversy

LEBANON, Tenn.- A discount day at the Wilson County Fair has some people believing they are being discriminated against. Sunday was "God and Country Day" at the Wilson County Fair in celebration of American troops.

Fair organizers gave a discount to anyone who brought a church bulletin to the fair, but an Atheists group said they support troops too and don't appreciate being left out.

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See also:

Atheists attend God and Country Day at Wilson Co. Fair

Earlier:

Atheists Threaten to Protest at Fair

Wilson County Fair Bends, Will Give Atheists Discount

Local Fair Extends Promotion to Atheists

Supernatural Science: Why We Want To Believe

"Humans first started believing in the supernatural because they were trying to understand things they couldn't explain," says Benjamin Radford, a book author, paranormal investigator and managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. "It's basically the same process as mythology: At one point people didn't understand why the sun rose and set each day, so they suggested that a chariot pulled the sun across the heavens."

--snip--

Today's ubiquitous and often one-sided, promotional coverage of the paranormal, both on the Internet and TV, perpetuate myths and folklore as well or better than any ancient storyteller. Fiction and belief masquerade as fact and news, feeding the 24/7 appetite of the easily swayed.

Scientists are left with an impossible task: proving something does not exist. You can prove a rock is there. You can't prove that Bigfoot or a ghost or the god of thunder is not there. Bigfoot paraphernalia purveyors and cash-cow psychics know this well.

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Start your own cult (Humor)

Survey: Many Believe In Divine Intervention

Story Highlights:

57 percent in survey said God could save a patient even if doctors said it was futile

Researchers: Docs should be prepared to deal with families who expect a miracle

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Doctors Can't Deny Lesbians Care On Religious Grounds

The California Supreme Court today ruled unanimously that doctors cannot cite their religious beliefs as grounds to deny gay and lesbian patients medical care.

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Texas Wants 8 Sect Kids Back

(AP) More than two months after being forced to return children from a polygamist sect to their parents, Texas child welfare authorities want eight of the youngsters put back in foster care.

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Catholic Leaders Block Contraceptive Advice For 30,000 Scots Girls

A VACCINE against cervical cancer will be given to schoolgirls without them receiving any safe sex advice as a result of a controversial deal struck between the Catholic Church and health officials, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

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Four Hurt In Philippines Hotel Bomb Blasts

Escalating Violence In South Stems From Christian-Muslim Tensions

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Controversy Over Imam 'Cult'

When President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad launched Iran's first domestically built telecommunications satellite into space yesterday, he did so in the name of the last true Shia imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi.

The launch coincided with the end of festivities in Iran to mark the birthday of the imam, one of the holiest figures in Shia Islam, who is believed to have gone into hiding in the year 941 and will return to bring peace and justice to the world.

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The Afghan Women Jailed For Being Victims Of Rape

In Lashkar Gah, the majority of female prisoners are serving 20-year sentences for being forced to have sex.

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Resilient Sunni Stronghold Tests Iraqi Army

The offensive unfolding here in Diyala province, one of the most resilient strongholds of Sunni extremists, is proving to be one of the Iraqi army's biggest challenges.

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In Pakistan, Musharraf Bows Out

Nearly nine years after he seized power in a bloodless coup, Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf has decided to call it a day.

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See also:

Musharraf's resignation accepted

The Rise and Fall of Pervez Musharraf

Musharraf Exit Unlikely To Undo Pakistan Militants

The Gods Themselves

There are thousands and thousands of supernatural beings that people have believed in over time.

Here are some of the ones that start with the letter "A" (feel free to skim):

A, A'as, A'ra, A-a, Aa Maakhuer, Aabit, Aaghu Gugu, Aah, Aahmes Nefertari, Aakuluujjusi, Aasith, Aataentsic, Aatxe, Ab Kin Xoc, Aba khatun Baikal, Abaangui, Abaasy, Abaddon, Abandinus, Abarta, Abassi, Abat[t]ur, Abeguwo, Abello (Abellio), Abeona, Abere, Abgal (Apkallu), Abgal, Abhijit, Abhijnaraja, Abhiyoga, Abira, Abnona, Abora, Abowie, Abraxas (Abraxis, Abrsax), Abu, Abuk, Abunciada (Abondia, Habondia), Abundantia (Abundita), Abziu, Acala, Acat, Acatl (Omacatl) , Acaum (Ah Can Cum), Acaviser, Acca, Acca Larentia, Accasbel, Acchupta, Acco, Achelois, Achiyalatopa, Achlae (Achelous, Acleloos, Aclelous), Achtland, Aclla, Acna (Akna), Acolmiztli, Acolnahuacatl, Acoran Gran Canary, Adad, Adamanthea, Adamisil Wedo, Adam[m]as, Adaro, Addanc, Adekagagwaa, Adeona, Adeos, Adhimukticarya, Adibuddha, Adidharma, Adimurti, Aditi, Adityas, Adonis, Adonis, Adrammelech, Adrastea, Adrasteia, Adro, Adroa, Adsullata, Aea, Aeacoc, Aebhel (Aeval), Aebhel Afekan, Aed, Aedos, Aegeria, Aegir, Aelus (Aiolos) , Aengus, Aeolos, Aequitas, Aericura, Aerten (Aerfen, Aeron), Aesculapius (Ascelpius), Aesir, Aesma Daeva, Aestas, Aesun, Aether, Aetna, Aeval, Afekan, Afi, Afreet, Ag'o, Agaman Nibo, Agamede, Agas, Agasaya, Agathos Daimon, Age Fon, Agischanak, Aglaia, Aglibol, Agni, Agni Hindu, Agnikumara, Agnostos Theos, Agrona, Agrotera, Agu'gux, Aguara, Agwe, Agwe, Agwe, Agweta, Ah Bolom Tzacab, Ah Bolon Dz'acab, Ah Chun Caan, Ah Ciliz, Ah Cun Can, Ah Hulneb, Ah Kin, Ah Kin Xoc, Ah Kinchil, Ah Kumix Unicob, Ah Mun, Ah Muzecab, Ah Patnar Uinicob, Ah Peku, Ah Puch, Ah Tabai, Ah Uaynih, Ah Unicir Dz'acab, Ah Uuc Ticab, Ah Wink ir Masa, Aha, Ahat, Ahau Chamahez, Ahau Kin, Ahemait, Aheramenmthoou, Ahladini-Sadini (Parvati), Ahmakiq, Ahnt Alis Pok', Ahnt kai, Ahone, Ahriman, Ahsonnutli, Ahti, Ahuic, Ahulane, Ahura Mazda, Ahurani, Ai Ada, Ai Apec Mochica, Ai Tojon, Ai Tupua'i, Aiakos, Aialila'axa, Aiaru, Aibell, Aibheaeg, Aida Wedo, Aidin, Aido Wedo, Aife (Aoife), Aige, Aijo, Ailsie, Aimend, Ain, Aine of Knockaine, Aino, Airmid, Airsekui, Airyaman, Aisha, Aisha Qandisha, Aittsamka Bella, Aitu, Aitvaras, Aius Locutius, Aizen-Myoo, Aizen-Myoo, Aja, Aja, Ajalamo Yoruba, Ajatar, Ajaya, Ajbit, Aje, Aji Suki Taka Hi Kone, Ajok, Ajtzak, Ajysyt Yakut, Aka, Akasagarbha, Akelos, Aken, Aker, Akerbeltz, Akert khentet auset[s], Akeru, Akewa, Akhushtal, Akkadia (Isara), Akkadia (Sulman[u] Mesopotamia), Akonadi, Akongo, Akras Karelian (Egres) , Aksayajnana-Karmanda, Aksobhya, Aktunowihio, Akuj Akuj, Akusaa, Akycha, Akycha, Al Kahdir N. (Kahdir), Al Lat, Al Shua, Al Uzza, Ala, Ala Ibo, Ala Muki, Alaaye (Olodumare) , Alaghom Naom Tzentel, Alaisiagae, Alako, Alalahe, Alalu Ossetian, Alalus, Alastor, Alatangana Kono, Alaunus, Alauwaimis, Albasta, Albina, Alcis, Alecto, Alecto of Eumenides, Alectrona, Alemona, Alephus, Alfhild, Alfs, Alignak, Alii Menehune, Alisanos, Alk'unta'm Bella, Alkonost, Allah, Allatu[m], Almaqah, Almha, Almoshi, Aloadae (Aloidae), Alom, Alopurbi, Alpanu, Alpheus, Alphito, Altan Telgey, Altria, Aluelp, Aluluei, Am-Heh, Ama, Ama No Uzume, Ama Terasu, Ama-arhus (Amat-Ama-arhus, Arad-Ama-arhus), Ama-Tsu-Mara, Amaethon, Amagandar, Amakandu (Sakka[n]) , Amalthea, Amasagnul, Amaterasu O-Mi-Kami (Amaterasu), Amatsu Mikaboshi, Amaunet, Amayicoyondi, Amba Dravidian, Amberella, Ambikas (Mataras) , Ambisagrus, Ame No Uzume, Ame-No-Kagase-Wo, Ame-No-Mi-Kumari-No-Kami, Ame-No-Minaka-Nushi-No-Kami, Ame-No-Tanabata-Hime-No-Mikoto, Ame-No-Toko-Tachi-No-Kami, Ame-Waka-Hiko, Amelenwa, Amelia, Amen, Ament, Amesha, Ami, Amida, Amimitl, Amitabha, Amitolane, Amm, Amma, Amma, Amma, Ammavaru, Ammit, Ammon (Amen), Amn, Amogahasiddhi, Amoghapasa, Amon (Amun), Amor, Amphion, Amphitrite, Amponyinamoa, Amset (Imset), Amsu, Amun, Amunet, Amurru, Amymone, An, An Zu, Anael, Anahita, Anahita, Anaitis, Anala, Ananke, Ananse, Ananta, Anantamukhi, Anantesa, Anapel, Anasuya, Anat (Anath), Anath, Anatis, Anatu, Anaulikutsai'x Bella, Anbay S., Ancasta, Anceta, Andarta, Andjety, Andrasta Icene, Andriaahoabu, Andriam Vabi Rano, Androgyne, Andromeda, Andvari, Anextiomarus, Angels, Angerona, Angina, Angitia, Angitia, Angpetu Wi, Angru Mainya, Angus, Angus Mac Og, Angus Og, Anguta, Anhouri, Anhur, Ani, Anieros, Anila, Aningan, Anjea, Ankalamman, Anna Kuari, Anna Perenna, Annalia, Annallja Tu Bari, Annapatni, Annapurna, Annis, Anpao, Anqet, Ansa, Ansar, Anshur (Ashur, Asshur), Antaboga, Antai, Anteros, Antevorta, Antheia, Anti, Antu, Anuanaitu, Anubis, Anuket, Anukis, Anulap, Anumati, Anunit, Anunitu, Anunnaki, Anuradha, Anus (Anann, Anu), Anwho, Anyigba, Anzety, Aondo Tiv, Apa, Apacita, Apam Napat, Apap Teso, Apate, Apaturia, Apedmak, Apep, Apesh, Apet, Aphaea, Aphrodisias, Aphrodite, Aphrodite Pandemos, Apis, Apiu, Apo, Apollo, Apolonia, Aponibolinayen, Apophis, Apozanoltl, Appias, Apsaras, Apsu, Apuat, Aquilo, Aquit, Arachne, Aralo (Aparajita, Aray), Aramazd, Aranyani, Aranzahas, Arapacana, Ararat, Araua, Arawa Suk, Arawn (Arawen, Arawyn, Arrawn), Arazu, Archons, Ard Greimme, Ardhanarit savara, Ardra, Arduinna, Ardvi Sura Anahita, Ardwinna, Arebati, Areimanios, Ares, Arete, Argante, Arge, Ari Au Tchesf, Ariadne, Arianrhod, Arianrod, Aricia, Arimanius (Areimaios), Arinna, Aristaeus, Aristatos, Arito, Arjuna, Arma, Armaz, Arna'kuagsak (Nuli'rahak), Arnakua'gak, Arnamentia, Arnemetia, Arom Kafir, Arsan Duolai Yakut, Arsay, Arsu, Artaius, Artemis, Arthapratisamvit, Artio of Muti, Aruna, Arundhati, Aruru, Arvenus, Arya-Tara, Aryaman, Aryong Jong, As, As ava, As-im-babbar (Nanna), Asa Poorna, Asalluha, Asar, Asase Afua, Asase Ya, Asbit, Ascelpius, Asertu, Asgaya Gigagei, Ashera, Asherah, Asherali, Ashi, Ashiakle, Ashima, Ashimbabbar, Ashirat, Ashis, Ashkit, Ashnan (Asnan), Ashtaroth, Ashur, Ashvins, Asi, Asiaq, Asima Si, Asintmah Athabasca, Asira, Asis Suk, Askelpios, Aslea[s], Aso, Asokottamasri, Asopos, Aspalis W., Asrael, Asratum, Assur, Astabis, Astamastara, Astapaios, Astar, Astaroth, Astarte, Astarte, Astarte, Astarte, Asterodeia, Asthertet, Astlik Georgia, Astoreth, Astraea, Astraeos, Astrik, Asuha-No-Kami, Asuras, Asurkumara, Asvayujau, Asvins, At Em, Ataa Naa Nyongmo Gan, Atabei (Attabeira), Ataecina, Atahensic, Atai, Atalacamani, Atanea, Atanea, Atar, Atargatis, Atasamain, Ate, Atea, Aten, Atete, Athena (Athene), Athirat, Athor, Athtart, Atida, Atira, Atius (Tirawa), Atl, Atlacoya, Atlahua, Atlaonin, Atlas, Atma, Atoja, Atropos, Attabeira Atahensic, Attar, Attis, Atua Fafine Tikopia, Atua I Kafika Tikopia, Atua I Raropuka Tikpoa, Atugan, Atum, Atunis, Au, Au Co, Auchimalgen, Audjal, Aufaniae, Augeus, Augralids, Auilix, Aura, Aurita, Aurora, Ausaitis, Auseklis, Auset, Austeja, Auster (Notus), Austrine, Autyeb, Auxesia, Avalokitesvara, Avatar, Avatea, Averruncus, Aversa, Aveta, Avfruvva, Avrikiti Fon, Awitelin Tsita, Awonawilona, Axiocersa, Axo Mama, Aya, Ayaba, Ayas, Ayauhteot, Ayauhteotl, Ayi' Uru'n Toyoy'n Yakut (Uru'n Ajy Toyo'n), Ayida, Ayiyanayaka, Ayizan, Aylekete (Agbe), Ayt'ar, Ayurvasita, Ayyapan, Azacca, Azapane (Bele), Azele Yaba, Azer Ava, Azi, Aziri, and Azizos.

It is an alphabet soup of supernatural beings up there (aren't you glad I didn't go through the whole alphabet?). You could just about stir up some random combination of letters and come up with a god. There are even some different ones with the same name.

Some of these are creator gods; some are chief gods; some are gods of the sun or moon, some are gods of fire, water, rain, and war; some are demons or gods of the underworld; some are gods of storms and other natural catastrophes; some are gods of various human passions or sex; some are gods of the fetus, some are gods of women and children; some of the names are of whole hosts of supernatural beings; some are gods for construction workers, sailors, or other trades; some are local gods; some are gods for potato crops, wine, salmon, etc.; some gods are for toothaches or other pains and illnesses, there are even a couple of gods for bees in this list -- and this is an incomplete list of just the ones that begin with "A."

I didn't notice a god of incontinence, but I'm pretty sure I could find one if I looked hard enough.

It is funny how you can find gods of water; gods of oceans or seas; gods of rivers, springs, and mists; gods of rain; gods of running or fresh water, etc., all from the same group of people. There seems to have been a lot of gods who were specialists in their fields...or should I say field? In many cases, while there might have been a god of the crops (who must have been like an overseer), you could still dig up a god of the potato crop (for example), who was just in charge of that specifically. Of course, he might have to have dealings with the god of the soil or earth, the god of the sun, and the god of the water or the rain (while appeasing the god of the storm or the god of droughts).

In other words, people seemed to have some very specific information about these beings. It wasn't like some vague notion that there is this god that has been hanging around... or there is this god that has something to do with liquid or growing things. It is like they knew their names and specifically what their areas of responsibility were. They even seemed to know stories about them, their history, their personality types, events in their lives, other supernatural beings with which they interacted, what would make them pleased or angry, and so on. They seemed to know their gods fairly intimately, almost as if they lived around the corner and popped by on occasion to gossip over tea and crumpets.

I don't guess most of the people reading through this list truly believe that most of these supernatural beings really exist, so where did all this information come from?

I mean, there are a lot of gods here and this is just the tip of the iceberg. That is a lot of detailed information about a lot of supernatural beings that had to come from somewhere. Where did it come from?

Where did they all come from?

If they aren't real, if the stories aren't true, then they must have been made-up.

Who made up all these stories?

It seems fairly evident to me (although I expect there will be some who differ), that it was human beings that made this stuff up.

Why did they make it up?

Well, there might be a number of reasons for that, but I would venture to guess the main reason was to explain what they didn't understand.

Where did all these gods go? Why don't most people believe in most of them now?

Could it be that as people begin to understand more and more about how nature really worked more rational explanations replaced them?

I can hear some believers making the claim (on one level or another): "But my god is different! He is much more sophisticated than these other gods."

Yeah? In what way? Wasn't he originally made of the same stuff as these others were, out of the imagination of the human mind? Old Jehovah, for example, started out as a tribal war god that lived on a mountaintop before he "evolved" into the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, supreme creator God Being that we are presented with today. This conception is more sophisticated only in that he has made himself less available for examination and detection than he supposedly was when people were much more ignorant about the world than they are today. Although he is supposedly more powerful than he was formerly, he uses his power with such subtlety that even the best scientists can't tell the difference between his actions and events unfolding as they would have if he wasn't even there at all.

If all these other "lesser" gods have been exposed for the shams they really were when the light of knowledge was pointed in their direction, how are gods people still believe in today any different than these others except that they have managed to retreat into the last refuges of darkness where the light has yet to shine? They have removed themselves not only beyond human detection but beyond all human reason as well. They have become increasingly irrelevant and nonsensical. Yet despite all this, believers claim to know some fairly intimate details about their histories, their natures, their personalities, their desires, what makes them pleased or angry, their plans, how they want us to act, what they have in store for us, etc., etc., but they don't want to define their god, no sir. It is "beyond human understanding and reason," they will say.

I see no good reason to take these claims any more seriously than the claims made before about all the other gods.

We haven't found proof of one supernatural being yet, out of all the ones that now seem to have been demoted to the mythological realm. If we had run across at least one or two of the lesser ones when we were learning about our universe, it might make sense to think we might run across some more powerful ones later. We've never captured a demon to study, or an angel that has fallen from the sky. We haven't ever turned up even an elf or a fairy or any other supernatural thing ever. It looks like in all this time we might have found one scrap of irrefutable evidence of something or anything that was supernatural: a magic wand, a genie in a bottle, a magic hat with an unlimited supply of rabbits....

Finding something like that wouldn't necessarily prove or disprove a god, but it might demonstrate that supernatural things were at least possible.

Not only is it the case that there is no empirical evidence for whatever god you might believe in, there is no evidence for any god, or gods, or supernatural beings, or supernatural things, or any evidence whatsoever that the word "supernatural" might mean anything more than the word "imaginary."

If we can't tell the difference between something that is supernatural and something that is imaginary then why should we give any more respect for people's claims of knowledge about a supernatural god than we have for other people's claims about an imaginary friend?

---

Earlier: In the Beginning....

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--snip--

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Matthias says, "They couldn't live without him. Can you imagine what kind of faith it would take for a whole family to leap from the 11th floor of a hotel? Can you imagine what kind of faith that would take?"

--snip--

In recent weeks, Matthias has been sending letters to LDS Church leaders and the media, proclaiming Immanuel David as God. The cult was tiny 30 years ago and remains that way today with only a handful of true believers.

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General Update

BILLBOARD UP IN THE CITY OF ANGELS



The famous "Don't believe in God?" billboard has now reached the other side of the country, going up in Los Angeles on "the 5" - heavily travelled Interstate 5 between downtown L.A and Anaheim. This sign is tagged with AtheistAlliance.org, in support of the Atheist Alliance International led by the irrepressible Margaret Downey. We expect tremendous support from the large and growing nontheist community of Southern California.

The ad provides an opportunity for AAI to promote their upcoming "Unsinkable Atheism" convention to be held September 25-28 on the beautiful and historic Queen Mary permanently docked in Long Beach, CA just a few miles from the billboard. We were at Margaret's 2007 convention in the Washington, D.C. area and it was positively amazing and inspiring. If you're in the L.A. area or willing to travel for a smorgasbord of top speakers and discussions in a fun social setting you should really consider attending. You won't be disappointed.


PHILLY PHEEDBACK

Meanwhile... our most recent billboard on I-95 near downtown Philadelphia in association with PhillyCoR, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition of Reason has just come down. The roadside ad generated print stories in the Philadelphia Inquirer and several area suburban papers. Martha Knox of PhillyCoR had an extensive interview on local talk radio. It was the lead story for a day at Philly.com accompanied by a very unscientific poll in which over 73% of 11,000 respondents said they did not believe in God.



Our favorite coverage, though, was the comical hatchet job by Fox News Channel. To hear Fox tell it, you would think Philadelphians, up in arms over this blaphemous billboard, were roaming the streets with pitchforks and torches. As the graphic said: "Believers outraged over 'Don't Believe in God' Billboard." Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, virtually all the response to the billboard has been positive. We especially love that Fox had a mouthpiece for God, Inc. all made up and ready to go on camera while Steve Rade, a driving force behind PhillyCoR, was interviewed via phone technology that made it seem as though Mr. Rade was calling from his cell in Gitmo. The talking head from Family Research Council felt that this one little billboard was somehow infringing on the rights of religious people to say their peace as opposed to a statement of our right to express ourselves too. Thank you Fox for caring enough about what we do to give us the full "Fair and Balanced" treatment!

Of lasting importance to the success of the cause is the development of PhillyCoR, which came together to run the ad and has shown an ability to work together in an admirable spirit of cooperation. Many members of PhillyCoR have stepped forward and proven themselves worthy spokespersons for the project in a wide range of media settings. We know that similar organizations exist or are forming in other markets and encourage them to look at how quickly PhillyCoR was able to make a big splash by joining forces to promote freethought.


ON THE COVER OF THE...




No, we haven't made the cover of the Rolling Stone yet, but our billboard was just featured on the cover of Secular Nation magazine.

You can also find a clever reference to our signature ad in a popular web comic strip at cectic.com.

We are deeply honored.


STICK IT!

That's right. Stick it... right on your car. We've had several requests and they are finally here - "Don't believe" bumper stickers are now available at our online store. You don't have to wait for our billboard to come to town to bring a message of support to freethinking motorists in your area. Only $3.99 each. Or buy a ten-pack, pass them around to your friends and start a movement!


COMING ATTRACTIONS

More billboards around the country are in the works. Stay tuned for more developments! And if you are part of a local group that is interested in working with us, we can help and may even be able to share some costs.

Thank you for your support!

Contribute here.

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Female Suicide Bomber Kills 26 In Iraq

(CBS/AP) A female suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad, killing at least 26 people and wounding dozens, police said. It was the deadliest in a series of attacks on travelers heading to the holy city of Karbala for a major religious festival.

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Suspected U.S. Missile Strike Kills 9 In Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- In what could herald an intensified U.S. campaign against Islamic insurgents in Pakistan's tribal areas, a suspected American missile attack killed at least nine people near the Afghan border, local officials said Wednesday.

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Muslims Demand Independent Kashmir As Indian Police Kill 13

Indian Kashmir has been convulsed by the biggest pro-independence rallies for two decades, with tensions between Muslims and Hindus spilling over into violence that has so far claimed 13 lives and left more than 100 people injured.

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Afghan Militants Kill 3 Aid Workers

(AP) Taliban fighters with assault rifles shredded a U.S. aid group's SUV with dozens of bullets Wednesday, killing three Western women and their Afghan driver amid an escalating militant onslaught against humanitarian workers in Afghanistan.

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British aid worker killed by Taliban named

Lebanon Bus Stop Bomb Kills 18

A bomb killed at least 18 people, including nine soldiers, as they boarded a bus in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli today, security sources said.

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Cassini Begins Transmitting Data From Enceladus Flyby

ScienceDaily -- Shorty after 9:03 p.m. Pacific Time (August 11, 2008), the Cassini spacecraft began sending data to Earth following a close flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus. During closest approach, Cassini successfully passed only 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the surface of the tiny moon.

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Maximum Of Perseid Meteor Shower, August 12 -13, 2008

Judge Says UC Can Deny Class Credit To Christian School Students

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution.

Rejecting claims of religious discrimination and stifling of free expression, U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles said UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking.

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District Of Columbia Gift Of Land And Money To Central Union Mission Is Unconstitutional, Americans United Says

The District of Columbia City Council's plan to give $13 million in property and cash to Central Union Mission is unconstitutional and must be dropped, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

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4 More In 'Cult' Cited In Death

Baltimore police have obtained warrants charging four more members of what authorities call a religious cult in the death of 2-year-old Javon Thompson, whose body was found in May in a suitcase in Philadelphia. The warrants bring the number of people charged in the boy's death to five.

--snip--

Police say the five suspects belonged to a small group of adults and children who operated for a time in East and West Baltimore. Police allege that the victim's mother, Ria Ramkissoon, 21, the first to be charged with murder, and others neglected Javon and allowed the boy to starve to death because they thought he was a demon for not saying amen after he was fed, according to police charging documents.

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Cult Murder Suspect's Mom: It's Not Her Fault

First Card To Comply With Sharia Law Launched

The UK's first Sharia-compliant prepaid MasterCard was launched yesterday.

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Three Police Officers Slain In Western China

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- An attack on a security checkpoint in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region killed three members of the security force and wounded a fourth, state media reported Tuesday.

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Hijab-clad women Olympians attempt to break away from Muslim stereotypes

Bomb Hits Pakistan Military Truck, Up To 14 Dead

Peshawar, Pakistan - A roadside bomb hit a Pakistan air force truck in a northwestern city Tuesday, killing as many as 14 people including a 5-year-old girl in the latest violence in the volatile region.

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Taliban Declares "Open War" In Pakistan

India Yearns For Pakistan's Musharraf Amid Turmoil

Campaign To Silence Dissent In West Bank, Gaza

(AP) A weeks-old clampdown on political opponents by the Islamic militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its rival Fatah in the West Bank has increased allegations of human rights abuses by security forces.

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Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tuesday Morning

The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a good display of shooting stars in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.

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Colorful Star Birth Region Near Tarantula Nebula Unveiled On Hubble's 100,000th Orbit Milestone

FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 08/11/08

Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll (August 11, 1833 - July 21, 1899)

According to Wikipedia, Ingersoll "was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism."

Some Ingersoll Quotes:

The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance, called "faith."

The inspiration of the Bible depends upon the ignorance of the gentleman who reads it.

No man with a sense of humour ever founded a religion.

It may be that ministers really think that their prayers do good and it may be that frogs imagine that their croaking brings spring.

More Ingersoll quotes HERE.

"Keep Religion Out Of Politics" Billboard Goes Up In Denver

Two months after posting an "Imagine No Religion" billboard in Denver at West 14th Avenue and Fox Street, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its local membership have replaced that sign with a timely new message:

"Keep religion OUT of politics."

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Boy In Suitcase Was Cult Victim, Police Say

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- A toddler whose remains were found inside a suitcase in Philadelphia in the spring was starved to death by members of a religious cult, including his mother, in part because he refused to say "amen" after meals, police said.

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U.S. Soldier Killed As Bombers Target Troops Across Iraq

Story Highlights:

U.S. soldiers among 24 wounded in blast north of Baghdad, official says

Two people killed, 10 injured when bomb explodes outside bank in Baghdad

Suicide car bomb explodes outside Kurdish security department, killing 3

Four separate bombings target Iraqi army patrols

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Iraq Struck by Wave of Bomb Attacks, Killing 13

U.S. and Iraqi forces wall off threats in Sadr City

Severe Islamic law which banned 'suggestive' cucumbers cost Al Qaeda public support in Iraq

3 Killed By Suicide Bomber In Afghanistan

(CBS/ AP) A suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in Kabul on Monday, killing three civilians and wounding at least a dozen, officials said. Clashes and an airstrike in the south killed 25 militants and eight civilians held hostage by insurgents.

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Soldier killed in Afghanistan

Police arrest Mullah for marrying off girl, aged 7

Rape getting a public airing in Afghanistan

Sex Shame Priest Drops Legal Action To Sue Catholic Church

A PRIEST sacked over an 18-year affair with a woman has abandoned his sensational legal action.

Monsignor Joseph Creegan had threatened to expose scandals in the Catholic Church in Scotland, including priests' secret homosexual liaisons and alcoholism.

But now he has ditched the unfair dismissal action only two weeks before the hearing was due, prompting speculation he has been paid off.

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Cassini Prepares To Swoop By Saturn's Geyser-Spewing Moon

ScienceDaily -- Fractures, or "tiger stripes," where icy jets erupt on Saturn's moon Enceladus will be the target of a close flyby by the Cassini spacecraft on Monday, Aug. 11.

Cassini will zoom past the tiny moon a mere 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the surface. Just after closest approach, all of the spacecraft's cameras -- covering infrared wavelengths, where temperatures are mapped, as well as visible light and ultraviolet -- will focus on the fissures running along the moon's south pole. That is where the jets of icy water vapor emanate and erupt hundreds of miles into space. Those jets have fascinated scientists since their discovery in 2005.

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Poof! Scientists Closer to Invisibility Cloak

Quantum Chaos Unveiled?

Morality Can Thrive Apart From Religion

The emergence of beliefs in evil spirits, witches, deified ancestors and punitive gods is not the source of morality but, likely, an outgrowth of morality. Had our early ancestors not had the benefits of innate morality, they probably would have been less likely to imagine supernatural agents who were somehow interested in human behavior.

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Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

For the first time, scientists have sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of a Neanderthal.

--snip--

The mitochondria are only passed down the female line, so can be used to trace the species back to an ancestral "Eve", the mother of all Neanderthals. The team analysed the DNA of 13 genes from the Neanderthal mitochondria and found they were distinctly different to modern humans, suggesting Neanderthals never, or rarely, interbred with early humans. The genetic material shows that a Neanderthal "Eve" lived around 660,000 years ago, when the species last shared a common ancestor with humans.

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Pinpointing Genetic Variations In European Americans

Fingerprints Provide Clues To More Than Just Identity

Ancient City Uncovered In Afghanistan

CHESHM-E-SHAFA, Afghanistan - Centuries-old shards of pottery mingle with spent ammunition rounds on a wind-swept mountainside in northern Afghanistan where French archaeologists believe they have found a vast ancient city.

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WWJB: What Would Jesus Buy?

Worship has a new look now that the Bible, God and church have become commodities. From the Bible Bar to Holy bottled water, to quench your spiritual hunger and thrust, some marketers are selling religious merchandise in the hopes of spreading their faith.

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Novel On Prophet's Wife Pulled For Fear Of Backlash

A romantic novel about Aisha, the child bride of the prophet Muhammad, has been withdrawn because its publisher feared possible terrorist acts by Muslim extremists.

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Pakistani Forces Bomb Houses Near Afghan Border -- At Least 100 Dead

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani forces bombed dozens of houses in a tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday, officials and witnesses said, in a military offensive that comes amid U.S. pressure for Pakistan to crack down on militants.

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Purported al-Zawahiri message criticizes Pakistani leadership

Nine Killed In Iraq Attacks

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A spate of bomb attacks across Iraq on Sunday targetting a bank, a town hall and a string of military patrols killed at least nine people and wounded more than 50, security and hospital officials said.

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Attack On Government Facilities Kills 8 In Remote China

(CNN) -- Pre-dawn clashes in a remote northwestern county Sunday killed at least eight people, including a security guard, after assailants using handmade explosives attacked police and government facilities, China's state-run Xinhua reported.

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Eight Dead In Algeria Car Bombing

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Explosives packed into a vehicle detonated outside a police station in northern Algeria, killing eight civilians and wounding eight others, the national radio said Sunday.

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5 Arrested In Italy 'Terror Cell' Bust

ROME, Italy (AP) -- Police broke up a suspected terror cell Saturday and arrested five North Africans, including the alleged leader who Italian officials said recruited Islamic extremists for attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Uproar Over Loud Prayer Calls In Muslim Morocco

(AP) The muezzins' calls echo well before daybreak, summoning the Muslim faithful to daily prayers and reminding foreign tourists in the Moroccan capital how far they are from home.

But the rising decibel level is deepening fault lines between a government drive to modernize and a wave of rigorous political Islam.

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Nigerian Official Accused Of Hiring Witch Doctor

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Police on Friday arrested the head of a federal agency charged with developing Nigeria's impoverished southern oil region after allegations that the man spent millions of dollars on a witch doctor in hopes vanquishing a rival.

--snip--

The police said Edem was "incensed" when none of the work contracted to the witch doctor had been achieved and had demanded a total refund. The witch doctor refused.

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Physicist's Quantum-'Uncollapse' Hypothesis Verified

ScienceDaily -- In 2006, Andrew Jordan, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, together with Alexander Korotkov at the University of California, Riverside, spelled out how to exploit a quantum quirk to accomplish a feat long thought impossible, and now a research team at the University of California at Santa Barbara has tested the theory, proving it correct.

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Catch the big meteor show while you can

Hubble Instruments Slated for On-Orbit 'Surgery'

Activists, Hindus, Jews Protest Highway Crosses

A church-state watchdog group has joined Hindu and Jewish organizations in arguing that a Utah court erred in ruling that a highway cross memorializing a fallen state trooper is a "secular symbol of death."

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Camp Offers Training Ground For Little Skeptics

Bupp says polls show that people who believe in reason, not God, are among the fastest growing groups in America. And this camp is designed to teach children to investigate and question everything. They study fossils, they learn about morality without religion, they meet an expert who debunks mysteries like weeping icons and ghosts and crop circles.

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Victoria Osteen Denies Attacking Flight Attendant

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- The wife of megachurch evangelist Joel Osteen told jurors Friday that she was "dumbfounded" and "shook up" after a flight attendant accused her of assaulting her over a spill on a first-class seat.

--snip--

On Thursday, another flight attendant on the plane, Maria Johnson, testified that Victoria Osteen demanded special attention to clean up a half-dollar-sized spill on her armrest.

When Victoria Osteen didn't get her way, Johnson testified, the passenger became verbally and physically abusive to both flight attendants. She said Osteen eventually grabbed Brown by the shoulders, elbowed her in the chest and pushed her out of the way in an attempt to get into the cockpit.

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Iraq Bombing Kills 21

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A bombing at a crowded outdoor market in northern Iraq on Friday killed 21 people and wounded 50 others, according to police.

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Sadr to disarm if U.S. withdraws

Mehdi Army to give peace a chance?

In Iraq, Regional Politics Heats Up

Impeachment Hopes And Fears

The decision by Pakistan's new ruling alliance to impeach the country's President, Pervez Musharraf, has sparked jubilation as well as fears across the country.

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Child, 4 Women Killed During Afghan Raid

(CNN) -- Coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan accidentally killed four women and a child during an operation against the Taliban, the U.S.-led coalition said on Friday.

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Researchers Halt Spread Of HIV With RNAi In Animal Model

ScienceDaily -- Hopes languished last September when a promising candidate HIV vaccine failed to work. Despite this setback, many researchers still believe immunization is possible, and a new study suggests they're correct -- at least at the cellular level.

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Medicinal Marijuana Effective For Neuropathic Pain In HIV, Study Finds

And...

Gene For Sexual Switching In Melons Provides Clues To Evolution Of Sex