Sad but true:
New national data show school bus-related accidents send 17,000 U.S. children to emergency rooms each year, more than double the number in previous estimates that only included crashes.
Nearly one-fourth of the accidents occur when children are boarding or leaving school buses, while crashes account for 42 percent, the new research shows. Read More »
eg, goad, plead, urge — so went the anxious get-out-the-vote effort on the weekend before the election with the focus on the already-committed.
The message to the party faithful here in Pennsylvania, from visiting guest stars -- like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York’s ex-mayor Rudy Giuliani -- and from every contender for state legislature was: If you want your candidate to win, go out and persuade people who wouldn’t ordinarily bother to vote, get them to the polls on Tuesday. Read More »
Iraq's High Tribunal on Sunday found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. The visibly shaken former leader shouted "God is great!"
Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of the former Revolutionary Court, were sentenced to join Saddam on the gallows for the Dujail killings after an unsuccessful assassination attempt during a Saddam visit to the city 35 miles north of Baghdad. Read More »
Officials have found 56 bodies bearing signs of torture scattered around the Iraqi capital in the past 24 hours, all apparent victims of sectarian death squads, police said Friday.
The bodies, all men between 20 and 45 years of age, were found between 6 a.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, said police Lt. Mohammed Khayon.
All wore civilian clothes and had been bound at the wrists and ankles, Khayon said. He said the bodies showed signs of having been tortured, a common practice among religious extremists who seize victims from private homes or from cars and buses traveling the capital’s dangerous streets. Read More »
The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years.
The Rev. Ted Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations. His accuser refused to share with The Associated Press voice mails that he said backed up his claim. Read More »
The Dummies are coming to San Francisco! Alan L. Rubin, who organized the conference, wants to share his pride: as author of "Diabetes for Dummies," he knows how hard it is for Dummies to get respect. The 50 authors gathering this weekend are ready to swap knowledge on subjects as disparate as Chinese, algebra and estate planning. Four San Francisco bookstores will be holding panel discussions, Q&A sessions and book signings with groups of "Dummies" authors. The variety of "Dummies" subjects makes for some un-usual panel pairings. The author of "Acne for Dummies" is joining authors of "Sushi for Dummies," "Living With Hepatitis C for Dummies" and "Lowfat Cooking for Dummies" on one Book Passage panel. Others pair experts on Windows XP and Napoleon, smart homes and calculus. (There weren't enough of the same kinds of books, so the organizers decided to embrace the randomness.) The author of "Dreamweaver for Dummies" created a Web site (authorsunconference.com); the writer of "Branding for Dummies" agreed to publicize the event. Organizer Rubin says the odd mixture of experts in one location is what appeals to him. "I have a great interest in home theater and astronomy, and I get a chance to meet these people," he says. "Something very interesting can happen when you get these very bright people together." He's no dummy. Read More »
Clambakes, crabcakes, swordfish steaks and even humble fish sticks could be little more than a fond memory in a few decades.
If current trends of overfishing and pollution continue, by 2050 the populations of just about all seafood face collapse, defined as 90 percent depletion, a team of ecologists and economists warns in a study published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. Read More »
Americans are dining in restaurants more than ever, and with eateries trying to hold the line on prices, it's not necessarily a big money-saver to buy your own groceries.
By the time he's driven to the farmers market, bought the organic veggies and spent an hour cooking a meal for himself and his wife, Mark Chernesky figures he's spent $30.
That's why recently, after fighting rush hour, the Atlanta multimedia coordinator dashed in to Figo, a pasta place, for hand-stuffed ravioli slathered with puttanesca sauce. "I'll get out of here for $17 plus tip," he said. Read More »
