| French first lady snubs Bush invitation
It was not the first time France's new first lady sent protocol flying to the wind: at her husband's first Group of Eight meeting in June she ducked out of the first ladies' program midway, saying she had to prepare a birthday party for her daughter. Last month, the elegant 49-year-old former PR executive grabbed the headlines again when she stepped in as an unlikely last-minute envoy to EU talks on the release of the six foreign medics jailed in Tripoli. The mission's success took some sting out of the controversy, with Cecilia hailed as a heroine in the medics' home country Bulgaria, but it also left critics complaining about a blurring of roles at the head of state. Cecilia Sarkozy had warned before her husband's election she did not see herself slipping easily into the traditional role of hostess of the Elysee, and appears determined not to be tied down by etiquette.
More vacation disasters
Here are more reader submissions to our request for vacation disaster stories. It never rains in Puerto Rico
By Amy Angelilli Saturday, Day 1: 2 p.m. Chris and I arrive in Puerto Rico where "the Sun always shines." 2:15 p.m. Using trash bags as umbrellas, we wade through the puddles to the Tres Palmas Guest House. 2:16 p.m. Our room can't accommodate us with our luggage. 2:18 p.m. For $60 more, we take another room that fits both as long as we hold our breath. 12:15 a.m. In line at one of Puerto Rico's hottest discos. 1:30 a.m. Still in line. 3:00 a.m. Journey back to Tres Palmas. 3:01 a.m. Someone grabs my purse. I'm on the ground. Chris screams. Mugger No. 1 stares at Chris. Mugger No. 2 fights for my purse.
Brain part may affect foreign language skills
Just can't manage to nail down the subjunctive tense in French or the difference between the Spanish verbs for "to be"? Blame your Heschl's gyrus - or at least your left one, anyway. That is a tiny part of the brain that appears to play an important role in how well adults can learn another language, a new study finds. Writing online in the journal Cerebral Cortex, researchers said people who had a larger left Heschl's gyrus seemed to have an easier time picking up foreign languages. For this study, the researchers, led by Patrick Wong of Northwestern University in Illinois, were focusing on the ability to discern pitch, a key element of tonal languages, not vocabulary. In tonal languages like Chinese, which are spoken by most of the world's population, the same word can have different meanings, depending on how it is inflected.
Torture Is A War Crime
Torture only compromises our soldiers' lives in the field as the US cannot credibly claim any kind of moral high ground if one of our soldiers is tragically captured. The abomination of Abu Ghraib is one of the reasons that the insurgency began on the day Casey was killed in Sadr City, Baghdad. I personally know three men who were illegally and wrongly imprisoned in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib who can testify to the fact that, yes, America does torture and does so with extreme, callous and cold-hearted cruelty. The Geneva Conventions are clear on prohibiting the use of torture and the 8th Amendment to our own Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. When torture is official policy, where will it end? When George can pick and choose who receives the centuries old right to habeas corpus and who doesn't, where will it end? Will it end with the "terrorists" in Guantanamo or will it be used here in the USA against those who stand up against tyranny and struggle for our Constitution, freedoms, peace and human rights? Torture has tarnished the soul of our nation and Congress has done little to restrain BushCo's Torquemadas and even when a bill is passed restricting the use of torture, George adds a signing statement saying that he is above the law.
Brown warns Cabinet not to wreck relationship with US
GORDON Brown issued an unusual public warning to members of his Cabinet last night about relations with the US, cautioning them not to undermine the special relationship. The surprisingly-public message came after a speech by Douglas Alexander, the development secretary, that was seen by some in London and Washington as heralding a cooling in Transatlantic relations. .
Al-Sadr builds secret power base
AFTER months of lying low, the anti-American Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has re-emerged with a shrewd two-tiered strategy that reaches out to Iraqis on the street and distances him from the increasingly unpopular government. Al-Sadr and his political allies have largely disengaged from government, thus contributing to a political paralysis. His outsider status has enhanced al-Sadr's appeal to Iraqis, who consider politics less and less relevant to their daily lives. .
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