CitizenSugar -- Breaking News, Together.

Front Page: Heat Wave to Hit Fires, Bombing in Kabul Kills 40, Injuries in Running of the Bulls

CitizenSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:55:19 -0700

Heat Wave to Hit Fires:
Firefighters in California brace for an impending heat wave set to make containing one of the 1,700 fires sparked since June 21, much harder. Cooler, damper weekend temperatures had helped firefighters working to bring the Santa Barbara fires under control are set to end, while 2,600 homes are still evacuated. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday the fires had burnt over half a million acres and killed one firefighter. Drought conditions combined with human encroachment into forest areas — bringing with them, carelessness, has stretched the fire season from four to six or seven months. Officials are having to prepare for the longer more intense season.

Bombing in Kabul Kills 40:
In what's thought to be the deadliest attack in Kabul yet, a suicide bomber has killed at least 40 people and injured 140 today at the gates of the Indian Embassy in the capital of Afghanistan. The attacker plowed a car into two Indian diplomatic vehicles as they entered the gates of the embassy before detonating. Witness say the blast wrecked several other cars and flung body parts and bloodstained pieces of clothing among the wreckage.
Injuries in Running of the Bulls:
At least nine have been injured and one killed during the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain. Four of the injured were foreign tourists. The nine-day festival that's been held since 1591, began yesterday and the run itself lasted four minutes. It's thought that 13 people have been killed during the controversial tradition since record keeping began in 1924.

McCain's Rx for Health Care: Will Employers Ditch Insurance?

LibertySugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:00:52 -0700

John McCain wants to give every person that purchases their own health insurance $2,500, and families $5,000 in tax credits. Yesterday the Associated Press tried to answer this question: How many employers would drop insurance coverage for their workers because of this tax policy? In other words, will health insurance still be an attractive benefit?

Under McCain's incentive plan, some individuals would be able to make a profit from the system — they could buy a plan for less than the credit, keeping the difference. Thus, McCain's plan could give a boom to the market for individual plans, at the risk of weakening the employer based scheme.

Experts say the results will be mixed. To see why,

The Way We Became the G-8 Bunch: The Summit Episode

CitizenSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:00:33 -0700

The G-8 Summit gets underway in Hakkaido, Japan today; a three-day meeting of the leaders of the eight countries invited, plus a representative of the European Union.
Grown from the concept of a forum of the major industrialized democracies after the 1973 oil crisis, more have been invited until 1997 when the last member, Russia, was invited at the initiative of then US President Bill Clinton.

The guest list is at the edge of controversy this year, as major climate issues are at hand, and two of the worst polluters (China and India) aren't invited. Here's who is (top to bottom, left to right):

Marcia Brady: United Kingdom, Gordon Brown
Jan Brady: United States, George W Bush
Cindy Brady: Germany, Angela Merkel
Carol Brady: Canada, Stephen Harper
Ann B. Davis as Alice: European Union, Jose Manuel Barroso
Mike Brady: Japan, Yasuo Fukada
Greg Brady (Johnny Bravo): France Nicolas Sarkozy
Peter Brady: Russia, Dmitry Medvedev
Bobby Brady: Italy, Silvio Berlusconi

What's going to happen in this very special episode of the G-8 bunch? Well, no one's going to find a Tiki idol or Vincent Price in a cave, but some other important stuff instead. To find out,

New Tablet Suggests Christ Wasn't Alone in Resurrection

CitizenSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:02:28 -0700

A three-foot tall tablet tells the story, in Hebrew, of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days. That sounds familiar, right? Well, the messiah mentioned, isn't Jesus. David Jeselsohn, an antiquities expert innocently purchased what looked like an ancient stone with centuries old Hebrew script — until one day a friend visited. This friend just happened to be an Israeli scholar who read the stone and came to the conclusion that the stone may hold another important key to the history of Christianity.

The stone, which was discovered nearly a decade ago, seems to point to a commander in Herod’s army named Simon who was believed to have been resurrected three days after being slain — suggesting that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique to Jesus Christ, but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.

A professor of Talmudic culture says the tablet is causing a stir. To see how,

Quiz Nation! Are You an Informed Citizen?

LibertySugar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:00:10 -0700

Well — are you? Only your score will tell!

Source