World News Today

What to Look out for

2007-11-15T22:47:00.000Z

The LG KS20 is another one of LG's outstanding and highly anticipated mobile phones. This one is the first to run Windows mobile software.
Powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 and boasting full Internet browser, the LG KS20 offers users transfer rates up to 3.6 Mbps via HSDPA, so video calling and conferencing becomes a reality. This tri-band treasure has a huge touch screen display housed in a stunning black exterior and runs on Windows mobile software. For a 3G phone it's compact and light weight too - and it's only 12.8 mm thick. (More Details)

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The 5 megapixel Samsung SGH-G800 is set to launch an epic battle for supremacy this quarter.The G800 certainly has the "wow" factor in both the looks and the technology department with a whole host of top quality features.
All the main features that lacked on the G600 model are now included such as 3G, autofocus, optical zoom and xenon flash - this makes the G800 the ultimate mobile phone, digital camera combination to date. The TV-Out feature lets you watch your own videos from the comfort of your armchair...

Saudi gang-rape victim is jailed

2007-11-15T21:33:00.000Z

An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped.

According to the Arab News newspaper, the 19-year-old woman, who is from Saudi Arabia's Shia minority, was gang-raped 14 times in an attack in the eastern province a year-and-a-half ago.
Seven men from the majority Sunni community were found guilty of the rape and sentenced to prison terms ranging from just under a year to five years.
But the victim was also punished for violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man.
On appeal, the Arab News reported that the punishment was not reduced but increased to 200 lashes and a six-month prison sentence.

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What the hell is this world coming to? A woman who is gang raped 14 times is given 200 lashes and a 6 month prison sentence. I hate to say (actually I don't) bit this another example of religion effecting standard human rights violations. This woman has the right to not be attacked in her own country. She was not dressed provocatively and at no point did she ask her attackers to rape her so why in the world is she getting punished for anything? Being in a car with someone who was not a family member is not a crime! Being in an area where only men are allowed does not constitute a request to be raped.

Religion has no place in Law. Religion has no place dictating what is morally right and wrong. This woman should be freed immediately and given compensation. Unfortunately women are second class citizens in Saudi Arabia and this is Wrong.

Military action still an option with Iran, Cheney says in Dallas

2007-11-15T20:28:00.000Z

Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday that peaceful measures to prevent Iran from menacing the Middle East and developing a nuclear weapons program have not yet worked, leaving military action as a possible solution.

"Nobody wants to resolve this in any means other than peacefully, if it's at all possible," Mr. Cheney told the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth.
"But in the final analysis, the worst outcome would be a situation in which Iran is sort of let loose, if you will, in that part of the world with an inventory of nuclear weapons prepared to be used against other nations in the region or to dominate that part of the globe and to threaten not only the United States, but many of our friends and allies out there as well."

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The problem with this statement is that he feels the need to mention "possible" military action when the situation is no where near this level yet. It also confuses me as to Why it would even reach this level. This is another example of the U.S Government softening the upcoming blow of another military "blunder war". Another question that needs to be asked is why is Iran not allowed to have nuclear weapons? The U.S has them and here in he U.K we have them also. Maybe its because the U.S and U.K governments have meddled so much in other middle eastern governments inc over throwing perfectly good governments, inserting figure heads that are "Western friendly" and sucking the resources out of them so that they continue to operate in a 3rd world economy. Maybe they are scared that if they get any semblance of nuclear weapons that they will immediately target those responsible for keeping them in the dark ages and press the big red button. What other possible reason is their for stopping middle eastern countries from improving their weapons arsenal when it is perfectly acceptable for the U.S and the U.K to continue to develop them. Comments are welcome on this issue as with all my blog entries.

Iran launches anti-vice crackdown

2007-11-13T02:12:00.000Z

BBC News Iranian newspapers have printed a list of moral vices that the police are targeting, including wearing make-up and hats instead of headscarves.

Now this sounds like a good idea. A list that tells you in advance what police are on the look out for when they patrol the streets. The list the Iranians have put together includes;

"Wearing boots with short pants, wearing hats or scarves which do not fully cover hair and neck instead of the proper head veil and putting on unusual make-up that contradicts public chastity (is forbidden)," and "Wearing Western-style clothes and insignias of deviant groups (usually a reference to referring to Satanists or rappers),"

Now Iran is a country where capital punishment is a well used method for eradicating the country of criminals. Can you imagine someone being executed for wearing a cap with the words "Biggy Smalls Rulez!" written on it.

I took the time to write a list of my own, all of these offences are punishable by death...

People who fart in enclosed spaces
People who are fat and wear tight cloths
People who push in front of you in a queue
People with the surname Bush

This is another example of religion gone mad. These people believe totally that this is a good way of living. They totally believe that a mystical being in the sky is watching everything they do ready to send them to hell and remove any chance of them making it with an angelic virgin in the afterlife. They are deluded but they do provide me with entertainment and a reason to write.

Does God have a place in a rational world?

2007-11-13T01:00:00.001Z

No is the simple answer to this question. If you are a logical thinker and rationally review all available evidence (the term evidence is used very loosely) relating to a "Gods" existence then the only possible conclusion one can arrive at is that "He does not exist".

Religion not only segregates the world, it encourages it. Religion does not want you to think freely, it doesn't want you to have your own ideas. It only wants you to believe and subscribe to the delusion that when you die an amazingly complex being will look after you in a place called heaven and in some cases Even allow you to sleep with many many virgins.

I have often wondered about the "Virgin offer". Does the offer also apply to women? Do women also get the right to sleep with many virgin men? I think the question is would women actualy like to have virgin men unable to sustain any kind of action for more than a few seconds? Maybe I could get some comments on that question.

But, seriously. Religion is in my view a mind control device that started its time as no more than a means to regulate and control a tribe, villi age, town or city and eventually grew to include regions and countries. We are perfectly capable of leading good lives without religion and morality is proven to have evolved over time so it begs the question...

Religion, what is it good for... Absolutely Nothing!

Apple iPhone debuts in UK stores

2007-11-12T22:32:00.000Z

Apple's much-hyped iPhone has finally hit shelves in the UK.
But once again its the consumer who is getting ripped off. In the U.K we are required to pay £269 for the handset and then sign up to a minimum contract of at least £35 per month. You are able to unlock the handset and use it on most other networks but that is simply NOT THE POINT!

If you agree to a contract of £35 per month you are already paying £420 a year plus any insurance you take out on the Handset. This is yet another example of major organisations taking advantage of the public's need for new technology.

"Good business sense" you might say but the number one rule in business is that the lower the price the more you sell. Apple and O2 (The Iphone preset network) has alienated about 70% of its consumers simply by charging them for the handset. I would like to see a boycott on the latest technology until the major organisations start to price more realistically.

Bhutto 'to go ahead' with march

2007-11-12T14:06:00.000Z

BBC News "Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto says she will go ahead with a march from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad, despite security risks."

I like what I'm hearing from Benazir. She sticks to her guns and despite being kicked out of her country a couple of times she is back again and this time she is not going anywhere.

The whole of Pakistan need to get behind her and get her elected over (General) President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf is simply a dictator with no balls. By this I mean he is trying very hard to be a dictator but he simply doesn't have it in him to be as nasty as he needs to be to maintain control of the country and his position.

Extremist groups are slowly gaining more support in Pakistan and with the weapons and strength that Pakistan has at its disposal it is imperative that Musharraf is taken out of power as soon as possible.

Five die at Arafat rally in Gaza

2007-11-12T13:54:00.000Z

BBC News "At least five people have been killed in gunfire at a rally organised by Fatah in the Gaza Strip to mark three years since the death of Yasser Arafat."

When will the people of this region realise that they will never ever get what they want by fighting all the time. The Middle East is the most volatile place on the planet right now and until they get round a table and thrash out some sort of peace agreement that will actually work, they are destined to fight amongst themselves for ever more.

Religion is the biggest motivator when it comes to major disputes. I fear that religion will cause the next world war and the quicker science can prove evolutionary theory to the masses the better we will all be.