Russia has ordered a crackdown on Georgian-owned businesses and tighter visa measures as part of the nations' escalating diplomatic dispute.

hmm developing situation

As his governing party faced nationwide local elections on Thursday, he insisted that he [ Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili ] would keep Georgia on the pro-Western path he has followed since he came to power following a revolution in 2003.

Correspondents say President Putin is alarmed by Georgia's closer links with the West, and that he is determined to prevent it joining Nato.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Russia turns screw on Georgians

I don't know what the law says in the US but in my country 16 is the age of consent for either straight or gay sex. The situation with Foley strikes me as a gay witchhunt. Yes I think his behaviour was inappropriate. I wouldn't be happy if a 16 year old son of mine was being pursued by someone twice his age or more but if he choose to flirt or go further with either Mr or Mrs Robinson that would be up to him. I would hope that he would show good judgement and choose a partner much closer to his own age where the power relationship is far more balanced but there comes a time and an age when people must be free to make their own choices.

Yes there is a reek of paedophilia but there is also a reek of homophobia.

Lawmaker's Intentions Appear Clear In Exchanges - washingtonpost.com

This is a tale of two predators. The first is a congressman who befriended teenage pages. He sent them cajoling instant messages asking them to describe their sexual habits, so he could get his jollies.

The second is a secretary, who invited a 13-year-old girl from her neighborhood into her car and kissed her. Then she invited the girl up to her apartment, gave her some vodka, took off her underwear and gave her a satin teddy to wear.

Then she had sex with the girl, which was interrupted when the girl’s mother called. Then she made the girl masturbate in front of her and taught her some new techniques.

The first predator, of course, is Mark Foley, the Florida congressman. The second predator is a character in Eve Ensler’s play, “The Vagina Monologues.”

Foley is now universally reviled. But the Ensler play, which depicts the secretary’s affair with the 13-year-old as a glorious awakening, is revered.

an interesting take

Mark Foley, the Vagina Monologues and Morality - A Tear in Our Fabric - David Brooks - New York Times

Scientists have evidence behind what many tea drinkers already know - a regular cuppa can help you recover more quickly from everyday life stresses.

The study of black tea - instead of green or herbal varieties - found it helps cut levels of the stress hormone cortisol circulating in the blood.

They found people who drank tea were able to de-stress more quickly than those who drank a tea substitute.

ok you Americans win Nobel prizes for Physics but we Brits understand the importance of a nice cup of tea 8-)

BBC NEWS | Health | Black tea 'soothes away stress'

A brilliant idea is neither necessary nor sufficient for a successful business, although all else being equal it can't hurt. Microsoft is probably the canonical example of a successful business, and it has never had a single brilliant idea in its entire history.

Rondam Ramblings: Top ten geek business myths

A study by anti-trafficking charity the Poppy Project found that about 80% of prostitutes in London were foreign. The proportion in other towns and cities is also high. Among them, in every part of the UK, are trafficking victims.

The typical man who uses prostitutes is startlingly ordinary. He is: "Around 30 years of age, married, in full time employment, and with no criminal convictions," the Home Office suggests.
...
"We want it to be a topic of conversation," he says, adding that men need to realise that "slavery still exists".

BBC NEWS | UK | Beer, banter... and a brothel

For nearly 40 years Neil Armstrong has been accused of fluffing his lines during his first steps on the Moon.

On tapes of the Moon landings, he appears to drop the "a" from the famous quote: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

But new analysis of the tapes has proved Mr Armstrong right after all.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Armstrong 'got Moon quote right'

If we lived in a serious political culture, we’d be discussing what we’ve learned from Iraq and how to proceed. Instead, all of Washington is involved in a juvenile game of gotcha. Bill Clinton is fighting about what did or didn’t happen 10 years ago. The White House is still exaggerating the positive. Democratic senators purr like happy kittens as retired generals slam Donald Rumsfeld, and then stop up their ears when those same generals call for more troops and a longer war.

Voters now confront a Republican Party that understands the breadth of the threat but has bungled the central campaign, and a Democratic Party that is quick to criticize but lacks an understanding of the jihadists and a strategy for confronting them.
...
The blunt fact is that groups of Islamic extremists will continue to compete and grow until mainstream Islamic moderates can establish a more civilized set of criteria for prestige and greatness. Today’s extremists are not the product of short-term historical circumstances, but of consciousness and culture. They are not the fault of the United States, but have roots stretching back centuries. They will not suddenly ignore their foe — us — when their hatred of us is the core of their identity.

The Grand Delusion - New York Times

Silas Simmons was handed a photograph and asked if he recognized anyone in it. He fixed his eyes on the sepia stares and moved his curled fingers over the glass and frame, soaking in the faces for more than 20 silent seconds.

It was a picture of the 1913 Homestead Grays, a primordial Pittsburgh-area baseball team that played before the Negro leagues were even born. His mind, Simmons said, needed time to connect the faces to positions to names. He was entitled to the delay; next month, he will turn 111 years old.

Baseball’s Oldest Old-Timer Opens a Window - New York Times

A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

The report says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse.

Spin that.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat