October 2007 Archives

Ebay bidders are being offered the opportunity to drive down the road to Nirvana in the Dalai Lama’s car. A 1966 Land Rover 88’ Station Wagon, which was the Dalai Lama’s official vehicle between 1966 and 1976, is being auctioned off by the Redwood, CA-based Dalai Lama Foundation.

The car was given to the organization by the Dalai Lama’s youngest brother Tendzin Choegyal. After being shipped from Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile, the vehicle was stripped and restored to its former glory.

The right-hand drive, fully operational car, which was named one of the world’s ten most exclusive Land Rover’s by Land Rover Lifestyle magazine, will be sold on Ebay. Bidding begins on Nov 2nd. A Dalai Lama Foundation lunch sitting next to actress Sharon Stone and a chance to meet the Dalai Lama himself at a teaching session in India are also included in the lot, which has a reserve price of $75,000 – a small price to pay for a jump start on the road to enlightenment.

After blasting Kathy Griffin at the Emmy’s, and physically threatening Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens on a MSNBC new show, Bill Donohue and his Catholic League have set their sites on fellow instrument of the Devil, Britney Spears. The troubled songstress has upset the leader of the self proclaimed “largest Catholic civil rights organization" in the United States by featuring some sexy snaps in the CD booklet of her new album Blackout. The shots, were taken by renowned photographer Ellen Von Unwerth, whose work has been extensively featured in magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. The erotic images show Spears rocking a saucy pose in a confessional and sitting on a hunky priest’s lap. Heresy indeed.

“This is all the puzzle pieces coming together. This girl is crashing,” said Catholic League president Donohue, in an interview with New York’s Daily News. “She’s not even allowed to bring up her own kids because she’s not responsible enough. Now we see she can’t even entertain.” Harsh words for a man in the forgiveness business.

Over the last month, on his website, Donohue has attacked Halloween costumers and haunted house owners, David E Kelley and his Boston Legal show, Cold Case, the now notorious yet utterly harmless “Chocolate Jesus” art exhibit, and the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age for their unfavorable depiction of the Catholic Church. And another Catholic leader said Britney was the one doing the “bottom of the barrel” stunts! We’re glad that minor issues such as AIDS, poverty, and global warming aren’t distracting Donohue from doing “Gods” work.

An official report commissioned by the Italian government, which was leaked to local media earlier this week, blames aliens for a series of strange phenomena that occurred in a Sicilian village in 2004.

Reports of everyday, household objects spontaneously bursting into flames in Caronia (pop. 3,555) on north coast of Sicily, first surfaced in Jan 2004. Villagers complained that TVs, mobile phones, toasters, fridges, and vacuum cleaners would smolder or burst into flames. Arson was quickly ruled out, and the problems continued even after the local power company turned off the village’s power supply. One scientist, who was sent to investigate, was said to be stunned when an unplugged electrical cable ignited before his eyes. The fires ceased of their own accord by the following August.

An investigation by The Civil Protection Department, which has so far cost about $2 million, was subsequently ordered. The report, which bought together numerous experts including a NASA scientist, has apparently concluded that the strange phenomena was due to “aliens testing secret weapons.” It went on to speculate the fires were “caused by a high power electro magnetic emissions which were not man made and reached a power of between 12 and 15 gigawatts.” The report’s authors also investigated a UFO landing site near village, where "burnt imprints which have not been explained were found in a field."

“We are not saying that little green men from Mars started the fires but that unnatural forces capable of creating a large amount of electromagnetic energy were responsible," said Sicily's head of civil protection, Francesco Mantegna Venerando. “This is just one possibility we are also looking at another one which involves the testing of top secret weapons by an unknown power which are also capable of producing an enormous amount of energy."

Meanwhile the Vatican’s senior exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth has offered an alternative explanation. In an interview with England’s Telegraph newspaper he said, "I’ve seen things like this before. Demons occupy a house and appear in electrical goods. Let’s not forget that Satan and his followers have immense powers."

It should be noted that Amorth, who founded the International Association of Exorcists, has also issued dire warnings against J.K. Rowling and what he claims is a false distinction between black and white magic that she makes in her Harry Potter books. “Magic is always a turn to the devil,” warns Amorth. So beware of the spells in Potter’s cauldron, aliens messing with magnets, and the gremlins with a penchant for pyromania playing tricks in your toaster, it could just be the Devil’s work at hand.

In a beautiful illustration of the butterfly effect, Florida researchers George Austin and Andrew Warren are auctioning the naming rights of a new species of owl butterfly they discovered earlier this year. The proceeds will go to the McGuire Center at Florida’s Museum of Natural History to fund research into Lepidoptera, the species class that includes butterflies and moths.

This is a rare opportunity to buy this unique and eternal gift, since it’s been more than 100 years since a new owl butterfly has been named. “It is extraordinarily uncommon for such a large, showy butterfly to have escaped detection until now,” said Warren. “This likely will be one of the last times such a large and beautiful butterfly is named.”

The soon-to-be-named butterfly is native to the Mexican Sonoran Desert, which is just south of the Mojave, though Austin and Warren actually discovered the previously misidentified butterfly in a collection at Florida’s Museum of Natural History. The male has a bright orange hue, with the female having more distinct marking on its browner wings. Both have a wingspan of approximately four inches.

Convention allows that those who discover new species have a say in naming it. “We realized this striking discovery represents an exceptional opportunity to raise funds for continued research on Mexican butterflies, by allowing rights to the species-level name to be auctioned,” said Austin.

The butterfly lot is up for sale on iGavel.com, a high-end auction site which guarantees the authenticity of its items. So far there have been twelve bids, with the highest offer being $34,000. Bidding closes on Nov 2nd.

A $25 million study, funded by the European Union, has found that organic food really is better for you. Lead by Newcastle University’s ecological agriculture professor Carlo Leifert (who has also spoken out against genetically modified or GM food), researches grew fruit and vegetables, and reared cows using both organic and non-organic methods on adjacent sites over a four-year period. They found that the organic produce contained more antioxidants and less fatty acids that their non-organic counterparts.

Levels of antioxidants in organic milk were between 50% and 80 % higher, with levels reaching a peak during the summer months when the organic cattle stock grazed on fresh grass. Levels of vitamin E were also found to be higher in organic milk, which produced cheese with twice a many nutrients. Organic vegetables such as wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce had between 20% and 40% more nutrients.

For those taking their first step towards a healthier organic lifestyle, Organic Rx's Dr. Geene lists the top five organic food essentials in an interview published by the New York Times. He lists organic foods in order of priority, based on nutritional value, pesticide contamination, and environmental considerations, as well as the average intake of a specific food, since it makes sense to go organic on the foods we eat the most of to maximize their impact.

Milk – According to the New York Times, “one recent United States Department of Agriculture survey found certain pesticides in about 30 percent of conventional milk samples and low levels in only one organic sample.”

Potatoes – They make up 30% of our overall vegetable intake, and are one of the most contaminated foods. “A 2006 U.S.D.A. test found 81 percent of potatoes tested still contained pesticides after being washed and peeled, and the potato has one of the highest pesticide contents of 43 fruits and vegetables tested, according to the Environmental Working Group.”

Peanut Butter – “More acres are devoted to growing peanuts than any other fruits, vegetable or nut, according to the U.S.D.A. More than 99 percent of peanut farms use conventional farming practices, including the use of fungicide to treat mold, a common problem in peanut crops.”

Ketchup – “About 75 percent of tomato consumption is in the form of processed tomatoes…Recent research has shown organic ketchup has about double the antioxidants of conventional ketchup.”

Apples – “Apples are the second most commonly eaten fresh fruit” and are also “one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables.”

Have you ever wondered how Popes get the top job? Do you think you have what it takes to be a pontiff? Well now you can find out thanks to the Vatican Board Game, which is an accurate simulation of the papal election process, and was developed to reveal the mysterious inner workings of The Roman Catholic Church.

The brain behind the board game, Stephen Haliczer, is one of the world’s leading early modern historians, appearing earlier this year on the four-part PBS docudrama, Secret Files of the Inquisition. Since we have papal aspirations ourselves (we just need to change those pesky rules that don’t let chicks become popettes), we called Haliczer and asked him for some tips. Turns out Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown should’ve done the same thing, since Haliczer says his book Angels and Demons, which is set against the backdrop of a papal election, is riddled with factual inaccuracies, though he does concede that is “a great read.”

DM: What did Dan Brown get wrong?

Haliczer: For example, Dan Brown tells us that the papal election turns on four specific candidates. He says these are the four candidates for which the cardinals can cast their votes. Well that’s not the case, they can vote for any cardinal they want. There’s no specific number of candidates or specific candidates. The press identified as many as fifteen possible candidates before the election of 2005, and Dan Brown’s telling us there are only four actual candidates, that’s completely untrue.

DM: Why did you create the game?

Haliczer: The Vatican board game really is an effort to dispel some of the mythology surrounding the Catholic Church. In popular culture there’s not only a great deal of curiosity about the inner workings of the Catholic Church, there’s also a great deal of confusion because of the secretive nature of some of its deliberations and processes.

DM: It does seem so much is done behind closed doors, which in a democratic society is not necessarily seen as a very good thing?

Haliczer: But the church is not a democratic society. Ironically, at the very apex it is, because you do have an election for the supreme leader, but otherwise it’s not democratic it’s hierarchical like an old fashioned monarchy.

DM: So in understanding how it all works, do you think people will have more or less respect for the institution?

Haliczer: I think if they play the game they’ll understand a great deal more about it, and they’ll see that the process involves a careful nurturing of talent over a long period of time. In other words the cardinals that do emerge as possible papal material are cardinals that are seasoned. They have a distinguished record in a pastoral sense as archbishops. For example Pope Benedict XVI, as Archbishop of Munich, was very widely respected in his role as pastoral leader. And then they have experience in two very important areas, serving in episcopal organizations like bishops conferences and synods on the one hand, and serving the central administration of the church, the curia. My game reflects that.

DM: I think from the outside, that’s where some of the criticism lies; It’s not the Mother Teresa types, who have seriously served the poor, that get to be pope, it’s the people that are good at playing politics.

Haliczer: You’ll probably find it curious but I don’t like to use the word politics. There is a political dimension to it, but I think it’s more a matter of service and experience, that’s what one finds, and that’s what’s reflected in my game, and in the reality. My game is based on a deep study of the careers of dozens of leading cardinals.

James Blunt has been forced to return an experimental electric Mini Cooper he was loaned after he ran it into the ground. "It was the fastest car I've ever been in - totally silent, like a stealth Mini. That was part of the problem,” said the singer to a reporter from the World Entertainment News Network. "I didn't crash it but I did break it and I was going too fast. I'm sure they've learnt from my mistakes."

One of only two prototype cars in the world, the ultra-eco Mini, which runs on two hi tech Lithium-ion batteries, was developed by engineers from NASA. Earlier the Daily Mantra reported that the regular U.K. production diesel version of the vehicle beat out Toyota’s hybrid Prius in terms of its all round eco-friendliness, making the stylish Mini Cooper a beautiful car both inside and out.

We’re not wanting to give you nightmares, but beware of naked sleepwalking zombies next time you visit the UK (who are likely to be pastier and less buff than our model pictured right). According to a press release issued by British budget hotel chain Travelodge, there was a seven-fold increase in sleepwalking customers over the last year, 95% of which were apparently naked men.

The survey spanned 310 of the chain’s hotels, and was conducted in July 2007. Approximately 400 sleepwalking cases were reported, with night crawlers often turning up naked in reception in a zombified state, asking such innocuous questions such as: “Where is the bathroom”, “Can I check out as I am late for work” and “Do you have a copy of today’s paper.”

Following the surprising results of the survey, the hotel chain has issued a guide to staff advising them on how to deal with the issue. One of the key recommendations being that they keep a stack of towels handy at reception to preserve their sleepwalking customers’ modesty. (It seems Douglas Adam’s was right when he told travelers to always carry a towel.)

Further research on a pool of 3,000 British adults has shown that the massive increase in sleepwalking is in evidence in the general population too. Experts estimate 3 million Britons sleep walk at least once a week. The top five nocturnal activities are: opening curtains, watching TV, getting dressed, eating and drinking, and going for a walk. Furthermore 11% of respondents reported injuries, such a bruising, cuts and grazes and broken bones, received during their somnambulant activities.

"Sleepwalking is a serious disorder that can develop for a variety of reasons. It can be triggered by a stressful lifestyle, sleep deprivation, alcohol abuse or not breathing properly during the night. Sleep walking is most likely within an hour or two of going to bed, when first slipping into a deep sleep,” explains Chris Idzikowski, a sleep expert from the Edinburgh Sleep Centre. "Part of the brain switches into auto pilot and can manage well-learned movements such as walking, bending or sitting despite other parts being in a deep sleep. Sleepwalkers will awake quite unable to recall any of their actions and it can be quite distressing. Other forms of 'sleepwalking' involve acting out dreams."

It would be interesting to know if Britain is alone in being increasingly a nation of sleepwalking zombies, or whether the condition is spreading beyond the country’s boarders like a nightmare scenario from Return of The Living Dead. Answers on a postcard please, and happy travels!

To quote the reassuring words written in large friendly letters on the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Don't Panic, buy this helpful USB panic button instead. An invention The Guide's dearly departed author Douglas Adams would no doubt have approved of, the USB panic button instantly replaces any dubious surfing material displayed on your computer screen with something more mother-in-law or boss friendly, like a photo of your spouse, dog, plant or a very important looking, and very non-threatening work document. Now all you need to successfully negotiate your way through the universe is a towel, which every H2G2 fan knows is the most "massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have."

Life is random, so shouldn't your search engine be too? Embrace the arbitrary nature of our existence with RandomWebSearch.com and go places you never knew you needed to go.

We gave it a whirl and got taken to www.deathclock.com. We're told we're going to expire on Thursday September 3rd, 2048, so we have approximately 1,289,270,375 seconds of randomness left.

Unlike James Blunt, who sung about the beauty he saw in a red triangle on Sesame Street, Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be able to see beauty in anything that doesn’t have long legs and big tits. Recently Trump, who’s no oil painting himself, criticized Angela Jolie for being less than a perfect 10.

"Angelina Jolie is sort of amazing because everyone thinks she's like this great beauty. And I'm not saying she's an unattractive woman, but she's not beauty, by any stretch of the imagination," said Trump about the child-rescuing U.N. Goodwill Ambassador on a recent episode of Larry King Live. Digging the hole deeper, the mogul explained, "I really understand beauty. And I will tell you, she's not -- I do own Miss Universe. I do own Miss USA. I mean I own a lot of different things. I do understand beauty, and she's not."

On an earlier episode of the CNN chat show, the duo had joked about not finding Rosie O’Donnell sexually attractive. As if O'Donnell, who came out in 2002 after a guest appearance on the sitcom Will & Grace, and married former Nickelodeon exec Kelli Carpenter in San Francisco in 2004, would even be interested in either of the old codgers. Though O’Donnell’s marriage license was later voided by the California Supreme Court, the couple live happily together with their four kids (three of them adopted).

Talking of real beauty, O'Donnell has worked tirelessly raising over $60 million for her For All Kids Foundation which gives grants supporting early childhood care and education. The quick-witted comedienne had the last laugh at Trump and King's expense though, telling audiences on the pro-gay rights True Colors tour, “As you can imagine it was devastating to me. It’s been a goal of mine for many years to give a bald billionaire and a toad a boner.”

Clearly King and Trump have no concept of inner beauty – or inner ugliness for that matter. As for the Daily Mantra, the comb-over king may have the cash, but in our world James Blunt clearly trumps him, with beauty both inside and out. Check out this Sesame Street clip and we’re sure you’ll agree.

Photo of Rosie O'Donnell on the True Colors tour courtesy of the Ken Phillips Publicity Group.

Like Jennifer Aniston, we all like to have friends. Buddy up to us on MySpace by clicking HERE.

Breaking up is hard to do, and the pain lingers long after your ex is gone – especially if you’re Jennifer Aniston. It’s been close to three years since she split from her Ken doll Brad Pitt, and over two since their divorce was finalized, but she’s still being compared to the woman who ran off with her man. Style bible W, in a very unstylish move, have put the rival women on the two covers of their November issue, so the public can vote with their $4.50 cover price. As the rag hit the stand, E Online conducted their own web poll. As we’re writing this story Aniston is winning with 56.6% of the vote versus Angelina Jolie’s 43.4%.

Using this cheap stunt for the cover of their Art Issue seems to be somewhat of a stretch, though a group of Balkan artists who are making an artistic statement about heartbreak might disagree. The Museum of Broken Relationships is a touring exhibition of break up memorabilia, much of it donated by members of the public who visit the show. One women donated her wedding dress, another a pair of pink furry handcuffs that had lost their playful air, and another an axe which she’d used to chop up the furniture of a cheating ex.

“Memories and the emotional heritage stored in the most varied objects, messages, songs or photographs, are truly an invaluable part of individual emotional history,” explains Olinka Vistica and Drazen Grubisic, the Zagreb-based artists behind the project. “It is only the new context of a broken relationship that makes them unwanted and turns them into victims of affected vandalism.”

“Unlike the destructive self-help instructions for recovery from broken relationship, the Museum offers every individual the chance to overcome the emotional collapse through creation, by contributing holdings to the Museum,” their manifesto explains. The Daily Mantra will be sending along a copy of W, and wonders if Aniston has anything else she’d like us to include in our package.

According to a new study CO2 levels in the atmosphere have risen 35% faster than expected since 2000. The research was done by the University of East Anglia’s Global Carbon Project in partnership with the British Antarctic Survey, and was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The unexpected increase was impart due to our ever rising emissions, but also, rather worryingly, because it appears the earth’s own ability to soak up emissions in its natural sinks is decreasing, which is compounding our global warming problems.

"In addition to the growth of global population and wealth, we now know that significant contributions to the growth of atmospheric CO2 arise from the slow-down of natural sinks," said the study’s lead author, Dr Pep Canadell of the Global Carbon Project, in a statement. "The decline in global sink efficiency suggests that stabilization of atmospheric CO2 is even more difficult to achieve than previously thought," said report co-author Dr Corinne Le Quere of the British Antarctic Survey. Their decade long study in the North Atlantic found that the ocean’s ability to soak up CO2 had halved between the mid-90s and 2005.

And as the earth’s abilities to health itself is increasingly compromised, a recent report by Intertanko, an organization which represents the majority of the world’s tankers, has found that global CO2 emissions from shipping are now twice the level of those due to aviation. According to the BBC, they found that emissions have risen sharply over the last six years, due to increasing trade, and because ships are burning more fuel due to time and speed constraints. With 90% of the world’s cargo now carried by ships, we should perhaps all be encouraged to think global by keeping trade local.

Meanwhile global warming has had unexpected consequences at sea, causing quite a stink on the Canadian Navy’s ships. Until recently the storage of sewage and garbage aboard their ships hadn’t been an issue, since the icy Arctic waters would keep it cool while they carried out their patrols at sea. However, with rising sea temperature odors have become a big issue, and the Navy have requested that regulations in the Arctic Water Pollution Prevention Act be relaxed to allow garbage and sewage dumping if, and when, necessary. An internal memo, reprinted by Green Options, revealed the Navy requested the changes to “help alleviate our COs (commanding officers’) concerns (with regard to) accumulated food remnants stored in garbage bags on decks during ever-increasing global warming summers.”

Looking at the evidence from all quarters leads us to conclude the planet's in serious hot water.

A group of “concerned friends and former associates of Britney” are asking that the public show the fallen idol some tough love. They’re asking fans of Britney,who has a new album out at the end of this month, to boycott her music until she’s well enough to function well in her day job. They’re also asking the public to express their outrage to those responsible for exploiting her during this tragic time.

“Help Britney help herself by expressing your concern to those who are largely responsible for her success, and continue to capitalize on her every move,” says the group, which according to E Online includes a bodyguard, backup dancer and makeup artist, as well as several old friends. On their MySpace page, the group, who call themselves Be Proactive to Help, are asking fans of the singer to take action in the following ways:

• Contact MTV and hold them responsible for allowing Britney to come out and really give us all the finger because she knew we’d all be curious to see what she did.
• Contact her record label and let them know you’ll buy her album, but not until she is clean and sober and realizes the amazing life she has created for herself.
• Contact her music publishing house who is responsible for tracking Britney’s music. Publishing houses pay artists when their music is played on the radio or purchased in stores or on- line or played at live performances such as her MTV disaster.
• Contact her management and let them know that they’ll make money together with her for a much longer period of time if she is clean and sober. Management’s role will be constantly in jeopardy if Britney continues to spiral out of control.

"We've all hung out with Britney a lot," says a source in an interview with E Online. "We've seen her at her best and at her worst. And we aren't doing this to be mean. We're doing this out of concern, for herself and for her boys. They need a mother figure and right now, they don't have that."

In an interview with Parade magazine, comedian Jerry Seinfeld talked about, among many other things, the benefits of his youthful flirtation with Scientology. "I last really studied, oh, it's almost 30 years ago. Believe it or not...it's extremely intellectual and clinical in its approach to problem solving, which really appealed to me. I actually got to it from my auto mechanics teacher in high school, who was into it, and he was telling me about it. In my early years of stand-up, it was very helpful. I took a couple of courses. One of them was in communication, and I learned some things about communication that really got my act going."

Unlike Scientology's high profile members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Seinfeld had but a brief interlude with the controversial church. And despite a small jab in the episode of Seinfeld spent lost in the parking garage, he doesn't seem to have had any hard feelings either, unlike the guys at South Park, who vented in their controversial episode, Trapped in the Closet. What may be more revealing however is the perhaps unconscious connection Seinfeld made when talking about the church during an interview to promote the new animated film Bee Movie (in theaters Nov 2). Could it have been the hive minded similarities?

In her book, The Scandal of Scientology, author Paulette Cooper reveals how the cult-like religion founded by sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard, targeted celebrities. "Their celebrity chasing goes back to around 1955 when Hubbard invited his followers to write and tell him which celebrity they wanted," writes Cooper in a chapter entitled Children and Celebrities. According to the book, the list of celebs Hubbard hoped to attract included numerous comedians such as Ed Sullivan, Ernest Hemingway, Danny Kaye, Liberace, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Milton Berle and Groucho Marx. The church opened a Celebrity Center in 1969 to cater to the needs of their A-list disciples.

Much of the criticism leveled at the church lies in the numerous reports of difficulties members experience when trying to leave the fold. "Even worse than what happens to an outsider who tries to attack Scientology is what happens to a Scientologist who turns against or displeases the group," says Paulette in a chapter entitled, The Suppressives. Fortunately for Seinfeld, he doesn't seem to have had any problems severing ties with Scientology; Cooper was not so fortunate. After publishing her book in 1971, the author, who was born in the Auschwitz concentration camp, was the subject of an organized campaign of harassment and litigation which was codenamed Operation Freakout and was exposed by the FBI after a raid on Scientology offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. in 1977.

Though out of print now, Paulette's book is highly collectible, with second hand copies selling for up to $115 on Amazon.com. The full text is also available on the internet.

The pet adoption agency at the heart of the Ellen DeGeneres Doggigate saga has created a public relations nightmare with their tough stance against the soft-hearted talk show host. It hasn’t escaped the Daily Mantra’s notice that Ellen’s pooch troubles began shortly after Mercury went into retrograde on Oct 12, an astrological cycle which is said to go hand in hand with adversity and communications breakdowns.

To recap, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and longtime partner Portia de Rossi adopted Iggy, a Brussels Griffon mix dog, on Sept 20th. They spent $3,000 to train and acclimate the pup, but it was boisterous and didn’t get on with the couple’s pet cats. Ellen subsequently gave the dog to her hairdresser and good friend Cheryl Marks, who was in the market for a pup for her two daughters, aged 11 and 12. Cheryl’s children quickly bonded with the dog, and all seemed well –– until mercury went into retrograde and a rep from the Mutts and Moms pet adoption agency called Ellen to see how Iggy was doing.

Ellen was honest and explained she’d had to give up the dog, but had found it a new loving home. The adoption agency took a hard line however, reprimanding Ellen for violating their adoption contract, which stated that the dog had to be returned to them in the event that she gave it up. On Sunday Oct 14th a rep from the agency turned up at Cheryl’s home to remove Iggy. The police were called, but since a chip under his skin still indicated Iggy belonged to the adoption agency, the dog left with their rep (though the LAPD has since indicated to TMZ that they made an error in judgment when making that call). Ellen was so upset she burst into tears during the opening monologue on her October 16th show, and canceled the taping of her show two days later.

"I kept saying, 'If you want to be mad at me, be mad at me, but don't take it out on the family. Don't take it out on the dog," said Ellen in a television interview. “I want my dog back so bad,” said Cheryl’s eldest daughter Ruby, who was clearly distraught. Meanwhile, according to a statement on Petfinder.com, “Mutts and Mom has chosen to temporarily inactivate their website on Petfinder.com because their email inbox and voice mail are overwhelmed.”

Ellen admits she failed to take proper notice of the small print in the adoption contract (which is a classic retrograde snafu), and apologized to the agency on her show, before begging them to return the dog. Meanwhile Mutts and Moms is refusing to return the dog, and things are getting seriously ugly, with angry Ellen fans beseiging the adoption agency and threats flying all round. But how did this situation get so out of hand? Were the planets to blame? We ask the opinion of our in-house celeb-tracking astrologer Maria.

“Ellen has always appeared to be a kind and giving person, and I feel that Iggy’s story will be the launch pad that turns her into a crusader who will campaign to change laws for all homeless pets,” reveals Maria. “As this story broke, Jupiter the planet of giving and higher philosophy was crossing over Ellen’s Sagittarius ascendant. Jupiter was also making a tough angle to the rebellious and unpredictable planet Uranus, dancing through her third house of communication. Ellen is finally coming into her destiny to help and teach others how to heal. She will spend the next twelve years appealing to the masses to change our laws affecting animal rights. She may make no mention of Iggy, however Iggy (and Ruby) will always remain the motivation behind her drive. With Mercury, the planet of communication being in retrograde at the time of this incident, Ellen will further gain justice when Mutts and Moms publicly apologizes to her for making a such a huge mistake and misjudgment.”

Click HERE to get your own reading from our star astrologer.

"And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” Revelation 17:10, 11.

Will Pope John Paul II come back to us, resurrected as an instrument of the Devil as the Book of Revelations plays out? That’s what The World’s Last Chance Ministry claim will come to pass in their latest video, a sequel to last year’s You Tube hit Prophecy of the Century.

The original Prophecy of the Century was produced in response to the fiery apparition of Pope John Paul II that appeared in a bonfire in Poland on the second anniversary of his death. The images appeared in many newspapers and broadcast news reports, and caused hysteria among believers. To put this in perspective however, many holy visions have appeared to the faithful, including that of the Virgin Mary, which appeared on a toasted cheese sandwich, which was subsequently sold to an online casino on eBay for $28,000 dollars after generating 1.7 million web hits. But we digress.

The first video claims that it is prophesied that The Beast of Revelation 17 will come from within the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore they claim that Pope John Paul II is Revelation’s Seventh King, being the seventh Pope after the Holy See was given sovereignty over the Vatican City by the Italian government in the 1929 Lateran Treaty, which effectively made the popes kings of their newly sovereign domain. That makes current Pope Benedict XVI the seventh king. And, according to Revelation “the eighth king is going to be one of the previous seven kings.” Fueled by the vision in the flames, the World’s Last Chance Ministry therefore hypothesizes that Pope John Paul II in the prime candidate to be this eighth king, and “beast that was, and is not.”

"Just think of the sensational excitement generated by the flicker of the image of Pope John Paul II waving in the bonfire lit in Southern Poland. Then imagine what will be the response of the world when we behold the exact impersonation of John Paul II 'resurrected,'" said Dahlia Doss of The World's Last Chance Ministry. In their sequel, the newly released Prophecy of the Century Part II, the ministry sights as evidence the fact that Pope John Paul II was buried in a lead-lined, trapezoidal, vampire-like coffin (the trapezoid also being a sign of the occult). They also claim an insignia on the coffin consisted of an upside down Satanic cross, and the letter M, which the church claimed was for Mary, but the World’s Last Chance claim was in fact a Masonic symbol.

"Revelation 17 proves that the end is nearer than we imagine. From all the apocalyptic prophecies nothing is as clear as this study in revealing that the Second Coming of our beloved Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ will take place in a matter few years from now. And that the next pope, John Paul II impersonated, will also be the final pope before the Second Coming of Christ," concludes Doss. Gripping stuff. We can’t wait for the Hollywood blockbuster movie version and feel Anthony Hopkins would be a good choice for the lead Pope/Beast role. Just don't cast Tom Hanks in this religious epic; he may have triumphed against the Opus Dei dorks in the Da Vinci Code, but he's way too wimpy to save the world from Satan.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a seminal self-help book, selling over 15 million copies worldwide in 38 languages. It encouraged readers to be pro-active, and take action with the end goal in mind using creative visualization techniques. Author Stephen Covey also taught us to prioritize what was important in the long term, rather that addressing quick fixes first. It preached that we should work towards effective solutions using collaborative and synergistic methods, and let all parties win by making sure these solutions were mutually beneficial. Covey instructed us to listen first, before we could expect to be understood or have our advise appreciated by others, and said we should constantly seek self-renewal to “sharpen the saw.” The book influenced a generation (think President Clinton’s third way approach to government), and spawned numerous spin-offs and imitators, the latest of these being Trapper and Mark Wood’s new book Forget The 7 Habits & Break All The Rules.

In their book the authors, who like Covey teach their management skills to executives throughout the world, address time management for today’s work environment. In our ultra-wired society they acknowledge it’s no longer possible to switch off and clock out of work, so they teach us to integrate the various areas of our lives. “The old paradigm is simply this: work / life separation. That doesn’t work very well. Life is too complex,” says Trapper Woods. “The problem is when we draw a line between our work and our personal life we set two in opposition to each other. That drives stress upwards and brings guilt into our daily life.”

Recognizing that it's impossible for us to empty our plate in this over-loaded age, the authors teach us to prioritize and focus, by recognizing and erasing time wasters. They give us tips for making effective use of our time, such as scheduling a meeting in the other person’s office (so you can end it by leaving when you want), and having call-ending lines on hand so phone calls don’t overrun (“Oh! It’s three-fifty! I need to get going”). They also encourage us to avoid over-committing by learning to say no, and to make appointments with ourselves as a reminder to build our own needs in our schedules.

But the self-help words the Daily Mantra found most enlightening were Positivity Blog’s 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People. You can often lean how to do something well by learning what not to do first, which is the philosophy behind their list. So take a look at the habits listed below, and see how many of them apply to you.

7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People
1. Not showing up.
As Woody Allen says, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”


2. Procrastinating half the day.
“Do the hardest and most important task of the day first thing” and “split a task into small actionable steps” so it doesn’t become overwhelming.


3. When actually doing something, doing something that isn’t the most important thing right now.
“One of the easiest habits to get stuck in, besides procrastinating, is to keep yourself busy with unimportant tasks.”


4. Thinking too much.
“You don’t have to examine everything from every angle before you try it.”


5. Seeing the negative and downsides in just about anything.
“When you see everything from a negative perspective you quickly punch a hole in your own motivation.”


6. Clinging to your own thoughts and being closed to outside influences.
“This makes it hard to improve and, for instance, to become more effective.”


7. Constantly on information overload.
“If you just let all information flow into your mind it will be hard to think clearly. It’s just too much stimulation.”

Britney Spears has been getting some grounding maternal advice from Justin Timberlake’s mom Lynn Harless, according to a Sky News report. Apparently the two have remained close since Britney split with her son in 2002. “I love Britney to death,” says Lynn, who’s paid visits to Britney at her Beverly Hills home. "She is a sweet girl. I just hate what she is going through."

Britney, who had her visitation rights with her kids suspended yesterday (Oct 17th), has been in a downward spiral since she split with her Mickey Mouse Club childhood sweetheart. It’s been rumored Justin, who earlier in the year tried help his troubled ex by offering to working on a track with her, asked his mom to keep an eye on Britney, who is apparently keeping an ear out for Justin too. On Monday it was reported that Britney asked a paparazzo from the pack that follows her 24/7 to order one of Justin’s CDs from a local record store. Could it be that Britney has never gotten over Justin? I asked our in-house, celebrity-watching astrologer Maria for her thoughts.

“I feel Britney and Justin will always remain connected to each other,” says Maria. “These two are truly soul mates and were privileged enough to find each other once again at a very young age. With Justin’s south lunar node conjunct with Brit’s moon in Aquarius in her 5th house of romance this is a huge indication that these two were lovers in past lives. That’s why it’s so hard for her to let go. For Brit being with Justin, or surrounded by him in some way, is like coming home. In many ways they are very much alike when it comes to love and emotions; they both have a hard time committing. I would love to see Britney grow up a bit, straighten up her act and be re-united with Justin – they belong together. And Justin deserves to be with the young Britney he first met and fell in love with. He has a huge heart with a very special place for Britney in it. In November (2007) I see these two having a great opportunity to sit down for a heart to heart talk which will help in the healing of both of their souls.”

Click HERE to get your own reading from our star astrologer.

Fans of The Secret may be interested in these deleted scenes, which talk about the building blocks of the universe and the vibrational nature of life.

Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama received the Congressional Gold Medal in an award ceremony on Capital Hill today (see earlier story). In his acceptance speech he spoke about his people’s ongoing struggle with China, the need to protect the planet for future generations, and the holistic nature of the world's problems and their solutions.

“I am deeply grateful for your sympathy and support for Tibet and your firm stand on religious freedom and the cause of democracy….The consistency of American support for Tibet has not gone unnoticed in China, where this has caused some tension in the U.S. China relations. I feel a sense of regret. Today I wish to share with you all my sincere hope that the future of Tibet and China will move beyond mistrust to a relationship based on mutual respect and trust and the recognition of common interests.”

“I believe it is vital for China to have transparency, rule of law and freedom of information. Much of the world is waiting to see how China’s concept of harmonious society and peaceful rights would unfold.”

“On the future of Tibet, let me take this opportunity to restate categorically that I’m not seeking independence. I’m seeking a meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people within the People’s Republic of China.”

“I would also like to restate here that I have no hidden agenda. My decision not to accept any political office in a future Tibet is final. The Chinese authorities assert that I have a hostility towards to China, and that I actively seek to undermine China’s welfare…I always encouraged world leaders to engage with China. I have supported China’s entry into the WTO…I choose to do so with the hope that China would become a more open, prominent and responsible country….To you, American friends, I appeal to you to make every effort to seek ways to help convince the Chinese leadership of my sincerity.”

“Another area where we need US leadership is the environment. As we all know, today our earth is definitely warming up and many scientists tell us that our own action is to a large part responsible. So each one of us must, in whatever way we can, use our talents and resources to make a difference so that we can pass on to a future generation a planet that is a least safe to live on.”

“Many of the world’s problems are ultimately rooted in inequality and injustice, whether economic, political or social. Ultimately this is a question of the wellbeing of all of us. Whether it is the suffering of poverty in one part of the world, or whether it is the denial of freedom and basic human rights in another part, we should never perceive these events in total isolation. Eventually their repercussions will be felt everywhere. I would like to appeal to you to take a leadership role in an effective international action in addressing these problems, including the huge economic imbalance. I believe the time has now come to address all these global issues from the perspective of the oneness of humanity and from a profound understanding of the deeply interconnected nature of today’s world.

“In conclusion, on behalf of six million Tibetan people, I’d wish to take this opportunity to recognize from the depth of my heart the support extended to us by the American people and their government. Your continued support is critical. I thank you again for the high honor that you have bestowed on me today.”


Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

After a private meeting between the Dalai Lama and George Bush on Tuesday, the exiled Tibetan leader is set to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in a public ceremony on Capital Hill in Washington D.C. today. George Bush will attend the ceremony, and is expected to deliver a brief speech.

The award and George Bush’s planned public appearance with the Dalai Lama, has raised the ire of the Chinese Government, who see this as a diplomatic challenge to their authority over Tibet. “We are furious,” Tibet’s Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, told reporters during the 17th National Congress. “If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world.”

"We solemnly demand that the US cancel the extremely wrong arrangements," China's foreign minister Mr. Yang told reporters in Beijing. "It seriously violates the norm of international relations and seriously wounded the feelings of the Chinese people and interfered with China's internal affairs."

Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, responded to the Chinese accusations by saying, "We in no way want to stir the pot and make China feel that we are poking a stick in their eye for a country that we have a lot of relationships with on a variety of issues." Deputy press secretary, Tony Fratto, qualified the meeting further, adding, "This is a meeting with a spiritual leader. It is not a meeting with a head of state."

“What we demand from the Chinese authority is more autonomy for Tibetans to protect their culture," said the Dalai Lama in a TV interview on Monday. The leader has long taken a “middle way” stance on the Tibetan situation, and urged his people to accept Tibet as part of China. The Dalai Lama's special envoy, Lodi Gyari, was a little more forthright however, telling reporters, "I have no doubt this will give tremendous encouragement and hope to the Tibetan people.” Adding it also, "sends a powerful message to China that the Dalai Lama is not going to go away."

Born in 1935, Tenzin Gyatso became the 14th Dalai Lama at the age of 15. The People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in 1950. After a brief uprising, the Dalai Lama fled over the Himalayas to India, where he established a government in exile. Earlier this year, the Chinese government issued a directive, which became effective on Sept 1st 2007, banning Tibetan Buddhist monks from reincarnating without prior permission from four governmental departments, in what was seen as a further attempt to control the destiny of Tibet.

In 1989 the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his consistent resistance to the use of violence in his people's struggle to regain their freedom.” In 2006 he was made an honorary citizen of Canada. This latest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, is the highest civilian award that can be bestowed by the U.S. Congress. Previous recipients include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Tony Blair, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Howard Hughes, The Wright brothers, Walt Disney, Irving Berlin, George Washington and Robert Kennedy.

On October 25th the Vatican Secret Archives are releasing a 300-page volume entitled Processus contra Templario (Latin for "Trial against the Templars"), which includes a reproduction of a key document known as The Chinon Parchment, which formally absolves the Knights Templar of heresy. The Chinon Parchment had been “misplaced” by the Vatican for many years, and was rediscovered by Professor Barbara Frale, a medievalist at the Vatican’s Secret Archives in 2001.

"The parchment was cataloged incorrectly at some point in history. At first I couldn't believe my eyes…This was the document that a lot of historians were looking for,” says Frale in an interview with the UK’s Daily Mail. “There was an archiving error, an error in how the document was described," Frale elaborated in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from her home in Viterbo, north of Rome. "More than an error, it was a little sketchy."

The Templar Knights, or the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon to give them their full name, were born out of the free for all that was the First Crusade, a holy war launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II in an effort to unite the Christian world behind the Roman Catholic Church. With his Deus Vult (God wills it!) rallying cry in their ears, his coalition of willing Christians from all walks of life piled into the Middle East to seize the Muslim held Holy Lands. Many peasant crusaders also began persecuting Jews throughout Europe at this frenzied time, blaming them for the crucifixion of Jesus, in what was later called the First Holocaust.

Founded by French knight Hugues de Payens shortly after the Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, the Templar Knights’ mission was to ensure the safe passage of the mass of European pilgrims heading east. They were named after the headquarters they were given by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem on Temple Mount, which is said to be the site of the Temple of Solomon. This location was, in part, what gave rise to the various legends (as portrayed in the book Da Vinci Code) that the Templars were guardians of hallowed relics such as The Holy Grail and The Ark of Covenant (which proved to be as elusive as WMDs). It has also been theorized that they found manuscripts that revealed that Jesus was a man rather than a deity, who preached a form of spirituality that was in line with Judaic and Egyptian traditions, which directly contradicted Roman Catholic doctrine.

After the Templars were endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1129 the organization’s size and wealth increased dramatically. They were the charity du jour amongst the European nobility, who joined their ranks and swelled their coffers, and were given further papal protection in a 1139 order which excepted them from local laws and taxes. The Templars ventured into banking and financial management; issuing an early form of traveler's checks to nobility who didn’t want to tempt thieves by traveling to the Holy Lands with their wealth in their pockets. The Templars would also manage the estates of the nobility while they were away, and thus they became the world's first multinational, full-service financial institution. By developing such an infrastructure, the Templars amassed unprecedented power and wealth above sovereign laws (thanks to those handy papal orders), which ultimately lead to the organization's downfall.

In 1187 Jerusalem was captured by Saladin, the Muslim Sultan of Egypt who was widely admired, even in the Christian world, for his chivalry, a concept the Templar Knights brought back to Europe. After more than a century of skirmishes, the Templars lost their final foothold in the Holy Lands in 1303, and with it their fundamental purpose. Their infrastructure in Europe remained, and as the continent’s leading bankers they loaned King Philip IV of France money for his war with England –– money the spendthrift monarch had no hope of repaying. Seizing on rumor and innuendo centered around the monastic military order's slightly bizarre initiation rituals, which included spitting on a cross, on Friday October 13th, 1307 the King issued orders to arrest Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay and his fellow knights. Charged with heresy, among other things, they were tortured, and false confessions were extorted. The enterprising King charged the order for the privilege of board while their knights were imprisoned. Under pressure from Philip, the vulnerable Pope Clement V, who just a couple of years later fled a hostile Rome and set up court in Avignon, issued an order instructing Christian monarchs to arrest the Templars and seize their assets. A further papal order officially disbanded the organization, whose reputation was irrevocably tarnished, in 1312.

On March 8th 1314 de Molay was burnt at the stake in Paris. Legend has it that he cursed the King and Pope as he died in the flames, saying they would both meet him soon before God. As it turned out, Pope Clement and King Philip both died within a year, on April 20th and November 29th 1314 respectively. However, in the Chinon Parchment dated August 17–20, 1308, Pope Clement V recognized that the Templars were not guilty of the heresies they were charged with, and secretly pardoned the knights and their leader de Moley, “restoring him to unity with the Church and reinstating him to communion of the faithful and sacraments of the Church."

“Simply put, the pope recognized that they were not heretics but guilty of many other minor crimes -- such as abuses, violence and sinful acts within the order," says Frale in a Telegraph article. “For 700 years we have believed that the Templars died as cursed men, and this absolves them.”

Only 799 copies of Processus contra Templario will be sold, with the 800th copy going to Pope Benedict XVI. The book carries a hefty $8,377 price tag, and is expected to be bought mostly by academic institutions. "This is a milestone because it is the first time that these documents are being released by the Vatican, which gives a stamp of authority to the entire project," says Frale. "Nothing before this offered scholars original documents of the trials of the Templars."

This cheeky eco-ad is a ploy by Rebel Billionaire Richard Branson to encourage British commuters to Go Greener by using his new tilting Pendolino Virgin Trains, which they calculate use 76% less CO2 than cars or domestic flights.

Talking of public transportation, the world’s first hybrid electric train, built by Canadian company Bombardier, entered service in France on Oct 9th. The dual mode engine can switch between electric and diesel power without stopping, has a max speed of 100 mph, and produces 20% less CO2 than non-hybrid versions. Its batteries are recharged either by electrified tracks or by regenerative breaking. The locomotive will initially run on the Champagne-Ardenne lines out of Paris. Ten French regions have a total of 144 hybrid trains on order (source: Yahoo Green) to be deployed throughout their rail system, which leaves America standing in the dust when it comes eco-friendly public transportation.

Today is Blog Action Day, an event organized by a group of bloggers to raise environmental awareness through the blogsphere. "For just one day, we'd like to unite as many of the millions of bloggers around the world and speak about one issue - the environment," says Collis Ta'eed, an Australian blogger from FreelanceSwitch.com, and a co-founder of Blog Action Day. "We want to display the potential and the power of the blogging community, which is a disparate community but one with an amazing size, breadth and diversity. By bringing everyone together for one day, we can see just how much can be achieved, and how much we can be heard." So far nearly 16,000 blogs have signed up to participate. So, if you're a blog writer share your eco-thoughts online today, and if you're a blog reader click HERE to start reading the 94,000 individual posts.

"I experience numbers in a very visual way, using colors, textures, shape and form. Sequences of numbers form landscapes in my mind. It just happens. It's like having a fourth dimension," says Daniel Tammet, a highly functioning autistic savant, who has incredible math, language and memory skills. He can perform mathematical feats of Olympic proportions, has recited Pi from memory up to 22,514 digits for a National Society for Epilepsy charity challenge, yet claims the answers to complex sums come to him visually and spontaneously. Tammet, who has mastered nine languages, learnt Icelandic, a particularly complex language, in a week when the gauntlet was thrown down for this Channel 5 documentary. During the filming Tammet, who lives in Kent, England, was flown to America for tests at San Diego's Center For Brain Studies and to meet fellow savant Kim Peek, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film Rain Man.

"You cannot take a future or past breath. The breath is always definitively in the present.” Rabia Hayek, Breathe Together

Breathing is something we do often, but rarely well. It’s one of the few body functions that can be controlled both consciously and unconsciously. Take time to catch your breath with online communal breathing coach BreathTogether.net.

Breathe Together and sister organization Do As One were co-founded by breath coach and yogi Rabia Hayek. They aim to have one billion people breathing in unison via their website by November 11th 2012, to create a mass consciousness and a universal heart. Their site is a worthy addition to your bookmark bar, offering a quick meditative fix and a reminder that breath is a simple luxury that’s not to be taken for granted. Breathe well, with purpose and good intensions, and you’ll likely be doing it for longer too.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 has been awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

“I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Mr. Gore in a statement. “This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis -- a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.”

“My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.”

"Al Gore has for a long time been one of the world's leading environmentalist politicians," said the Nobel committee. "He became aware at an early stage of the climatic challenges the world is facing. His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change. He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."

"By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC and Al Gore, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is seeking to contribute to a sharper focus on the processes and decisions that appear to be necessary to protect the world’s future climate, and thereby to reduce the threat to the security of mankind. Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man’s control."

But despite this Nobel award –– and overwhelming scientific evidence –– global warming continues to be a contentious issue. “Al Gore doesn't understand the science behind climate change or he deliberately misrepresents it. Either way, that should disqualify him from a prize like this,” said Joseph Blast of the Heartland Institute, a US non-profit dedicated to finding “free-market solutions to social and economic problems,” which calls global warming a “snowjob.”

Dr. Jeremy Legget, of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute countered that, “The Nobel committee spoke of the conflict threat posed by climate change. I can't think of a better combination for this award - the previously unsung and much-falsely maligned legion of scientific whistle-blowers, and their tireless chief advocate. Perhaps now the shriveling band of fossil-fuel-funded contrarians and car-enthusiast media stars will finally have the good grace to shut up with the ignorance they pedal about the threat we face.”

Nobel Prizes have been awarded annually since 1901. Al Gore joins an elite list of Nobel Peace Prize winners which includes Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Henry A. Kissinger, UNICEF, Amnesty International, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela.

The Daily Mantra finds it amazing what American's will pour water on and call tea. Even worse are the over-packaged, and over-priced wizened pieces of bitter foliage that masquerade as so-called fine teas, and are sold by some of the biggest names in the beverage world. We recommend you give your taste buds a treat, and invest in some real fine tea. Two of our favorite tea purveyors are Tokyo's Lupicia and Paris' Palais Des Thés, which both have excellent online stores.

For a simple, yet stunning green tea, try Palais Des Thés' Gyokuro, from the Japanese province of Uji. Only the tenderest buds are selected and handpicked for this delicate tea, which, when brewed, is the most vivid of jade greens. If you're looking for something a little more exotic, try their Thé du Hammam, which was inspired by a traditional Turkish recipe; a Chinese green tea base is infused with orange flower water and green date pulp, with red fruits and exquisite rose petals adding a delightful scent and color. For something a little lighter try Thé Des Alizes, a green tea mixed with white peach, kiwi and watermelon, which is refreshing when served either hot or cold. Lupicia also offers some exceedingly good teas. We like their delicately scented Vietnamese Lotus tea, and their two high grade Jasmin teas. Their Jasmin Dragon Pearl tea is made from new shoots thick with white hairs from the Tailao Mountain in the Fujiang province of Japan, and their light and fragrant Chinese Jasmin Chun Hao is a staple in our cup.

While you're shopping, ween yourself off un-eco-friendly (and more expensive per cup) tea bags, and pick up a decent tea pot to brew your loose leaf tea in. Make sure the pot you choose has a removable strainer, so you can take the leaves out before your tea gets over-brewed and turns bitter. Bear in mind, many of the finer teas only need to be immersed in hot water for as little as 30 seconds, depending on the type of leaves. And since all the teas we've recommended have not a hint of bitterness when correctly brewed, leave off the sugar and don't even think about milk. Finally remember, tea is more than a drink; it's a ceremony, a treat and a time. Find a china cup you like and savor the moment along with the tea.

Image from left to right: Jasmin Chun Hao, Thé du Hammam, Jasmin Dragon Pearl, Gyokuro, Lotus Tea and Thé Des Alizes

Perhaps those druids weren't so dexterous after all. Michigan retiree Wally Wallington is constructing a replica of Stonehenge in his backyard virtually single-handed. He makes moving large hunks of rock look so easy it makes you wonder what all those other druids did in Wiltshire, England back in 3100 BC. Change light bulbs and make the tea?

Last month The Daily Mantra brought you Mormon's On A Mission, a calendar in which a dozen LDS beefcakes posed topless to strip away misconceptions about their faith. This month a group of morticians are challenging stereotypes and turning heads. The Men of Mortuaries calendar features a selection of hot bloodied morticians, who are displaying their buff bodies to raise money for breast cancer. The Daily Mantra is particularly looking forward to March and July 2008, which are graced by part time cowboy and apprentice funeral director Travis Barton and the appropriately named Kevin Devine, respectively.

The calendar was the brainchild of funeral director Kenneth McKenzie, of McKenzie Mortuary in Long Beach. After the success of his 2007 edition, McKenzie held a nationwide competition to find models for 2008. The drop dead gorgeous guys featured in the 2008 calendar were selected from over 400 hopefuls. Proceeds from sale of the calendar, T-shirts, and upcoming book and DVD will go to Kamm Cares, a non-profit McKenize founded after his sister discovered she had breast cancer. The organization is dedicated to the care and assistance of those going through treatment for breast cancer. Funeral Homes from across the nation will be throwing signing parties to promote the calendar, and many are offering free mammogram testing during the launch.

The Daily Mantra loves Tees For Change’s collection of shirts bearing positive messages such as Stay Strong, Laugh Often, Chase Dreams, Seek Balance, and Choose Happiness. “The first one I did said, ‘Be Courageous.’ That was the one I wore throughout my pregnancy,” says company founder Andreea Ayers. “I felt so strong and more positive every time I would think of the phrase.”

The Colorado mother found the inspiration for her shirts while pregnant. She had always wanted to give birth naturally, but was surrounded by negative thoughts when she spoke about it to those around her. "What if something goes wrong?" was all I heard throughout my pregnancy,” says Ayers, who would respond by saying, "What if everything goes right?" Ayers decided to turn the situation on its head by wearing shirts with messages that would remind her to think positively every time she was confronted by such negativity. “I was able to change my negative thoughts into positive ones just by wearing the shirts I had made,” says Ayers. Her company was born after her son Nathan in the spring of this year.

The shirts are made in sweatshop free conditions from 100% organic cotton, or a blend of 70% bamboo / 30% organic cotton. They’re colored with eco-friendly dyes and are screenprinted with non-toxic water-based inks. What’s more, the company will make a donation to American Forests' Global Releaf so the organization can plant a tree for each shirt sold at retail price, making this truly life-affirming apparel.

Lilly Allen has downsized, dropping four dress sizes thanks to brain reprogramming techniques. The British songstress, who’s best known here for her hit "Smile," has reportedly sought help from Harley Street hypnotherapist to the stars Susan Hepburn, who has reprogrammed Allen to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Hepburn has also helped Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and The Duchess of York with their weight issues.

"After the hypnotism, I want to go to the gym every day, otherwise I feel really bad,” says Allen in an interview with the UK’s Daily Mail. "I just want to get more toned and healthy. I'm really good about everything at the moment - I've never been happier."

Hepburn has been practicing hypnotherapy for 20 years, and claims a 96% success rate for her weight loss and smoking cessation therapies. Sadly Allen was in the unlucky 4% when it came to smoking, and has been unable to quit, but Hepburn’s book and companion CD Stop Smoking In One Hour has helped numerous people kick the habit. “Willpower is not required," says Susan on her website, "because if you had the willpower, you would not need my help".

The Daily Mantra considers ourselves to be fairly eco friendly. We use energy efficient light bulbs, drive the same smallish car we’ve driven for ten years, walk instead of drive when possible on short journeys, recycle our shopping bags as trash bags, use organic products, and go to the farmers market most weeks, but after taking Ecofoot’s ecological footprint test we’ve realized that it’s still not enough. Our footprint covered 10 acres, whereas the average American’s is 24. However, with the current global population there’s only 4.5 biologically productive acres available per person, meaning that even if everyone had a footprint of just 10 acres like us, it would still take 2.3 planets to sustain our current lifestyle. Obviously, since we’re not going to find an extra 1.3 planets anytime soon, we’re going to have to try harder to reduce our footprint.

The World Without Us, a website which promotes a book of the same name, offers insight into how the planet would do in the absence of us carbon guzzling humans. Within two days of humans disappearing, the New York subway would have flooded with no one left to operate pumping equipment. Within 20 years the Panama Canal would have closed up, reuniting the Americas, and common garden vegetables would have reverted to unpalatable wilder strains. In 100 years, with no human predators, the elephant population would have increased 20 fold. In 300 years, cities such as Houston, built on river deltas, would have washed away. And in 500 years, in temperate climates forests would have taken over the suburbs. In 35,000 years, lead deposited by us would be cleaned from soil, and in a 100,000 years CO2 levels might have reverted back to pre-human levels.

One way or another, with or without us, the planet will take care of itself. The choice is still ours…..but time is running out.

Two weeks ago we brought you a story called Ocean of Trash about the build up of carelessly discarded garbage, that after being swept into our seas and channeled by its currents has collected in a slowly-revolving mass in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The area taken over by this garbage patch is now estimated to be nearly double the size of Texas. We recently Stumbled Upon an excellent Greenpeace animated map, showing the journey of trash and this massive trash vortex. Click HERE to view.

Pamela Anderson married Paris Hilton’s video camera-wielding ex Rick Salomon in a ceremony at Las Vegas’ Mirage Hotel on Saturday night. OK Magazine reported that celeb pals Tobey Maguire and My Name Is Earl’s Ethan Suplee attended the brief ten-minute service, along with Anderson’s two sons from her first marriage to Tommy Lee. It’s Anderson’s third marriage and Salomon’s second. The One Night In Paris sex tape stud was previously married to Charmed 90210 actress Shannen Doherty.

An OK Magazine source claims the pair may have married in haste because Anderson is pregnant. “She definitely looks like she's got a bit of a bump. And this wouldn't be the first time Pam has rushed off to get married because there's a baby coming." It is rumored that Anderson married second husband Kid Rock in 2006 after she found out she was pregnant; she filed for divorce just eleven days after miscarrying their child.

So what does the universe have in store for this new union? Do Anderson and Salomon have more in common than a top selling sex tape each? (Anderson made her own infamous video with well-endowed rocker Lee.) How does Solomon measure up to Anderson’s previous husbands? And did they indeed marry because Anderson is pregnant again? We asked our resident psychic and astrologer Maria for her thoughts.

While America is still deciding whether girls should routinely get HPV vaccinations, an expert from Cancer Research UK is calling for boys to be vaccinated too. “It is a bad public health message to be giving out that you should only vaccinate girls and not boys against a sexually transmitted disease,' said Dr Anne Szarewski, a clinical consultant for Britain’s leading cancer charity, in an interview with GP Magazine.

In trials Gardasil, an HPV vaccination manufactured by Merk & Co., was found to be 100% effective against the four most common strains of HPV, which cause 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. The drug received FDA approval in June of last year, but states are still struggling to implement vaccination programs because of pressure from the conservative right who are concerned that vaccinating young girls against HPV will somehow encourage promiscuity (which is akin to saying seat belts encourage road accidents).

The issue of vaccinating boys is all the more relevant since many states are including opt out clauses in their HPV vaccination legislation; In a country where religious convictions prevent so many girls from getting the lifesaving vaccination, it becomes all the more important to vaccinate as many potential carriers as possible, with males being described as a ‘hidden reservoir’ for the disease. In addition, studies with rubella found that it was only when males were vaccinated too that a herd immunity developed.

It is estimated that men and women have an 80% lifetime risk of contracting HPV. As well as protecting against cervical cancer and genital warts, the HPV vaccine can also prevent both anal and penile cancers. And a recent John Hopkins study found that HPV infection via oral sex was the leading cause of throat cancer, which affects 11,000 Americans each year, adding further weight behind the argument to approve the vaccination for use in males, and include young men in public HPV vaccination programs.

The Daily Mantra has always felt that chocolate is a medical necessity for women once a month. Sadly, our health insurance company doesn't see eye to eye with us on this issue, so we don't get any preferred provider HMO or PPO discount on our monthly supply. Luckily the folks at Charles Chocolates understand our needs, providing an essential monthly shipment service for their PMS assortment, which costs $18 for a one-off fix, $98 for a 6 month prescription and $185 for a year's worth of monthly doses.

Charles Chocolates are a San Francisco-based company, owned by chocolatier Chuck Siegel. The artisan chocolates are made with the finest ingredients. High cacao chocolate (with more of the PMS busting compounds us chicks require) is mixed with natural and organic ingredients, which are locally sourced where possible. The confections contain no artificial preservatives and must be consumed while fresh. The intense flavors challenge the palate, blurring the lines between bitter, sweet and saltiness.

This month our PMS supply included caramelized almond clusters in a rich and creamy 41% chocolate, roasted pistachio and candied lemon clusters bathed in a 70% bittersweet coating, and a mocha java bar made with real beans and 65% bittersweet chocolate. Needless to say, after taking our prescribed medication, we're feeling much better.

For PMS prescriptions shipped right to your door go to: http://charleschocolates.com/pms.html

Researchers from the US Air Force’s Wright Laboratory have the somewhat dubious honor of receiving this year’s Ig Nobel Award for Peace. They won the award for their gay bomb, a proposed chemical weapon that would arrest enemy troops’ lust for fighting by replacing it with an irresistible urge for homosexual sex. Documents tracked down by CBS News and the BBC show the Dayton, OH Air Force lab put in a budget request for $7.5 million to the Pentagon in 1994 to develop the weapon.

Though the Daily Mantra is all about love not war, we could see a Karmic application for this love bomb, which is teachnically a weapon of peace, being described by the U.S. military as “distasteful but completely non-lethal.” After Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent anti-gay comments at Columbia University, where he told students, “In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country," we can think of one direction we might like to point a little chemically enhanced love to provide a little instant karma.

Sadly, the author of the love bomb study couldn’t be tracked down to receive the award in person at last night's ceremony. Now in their 17th year, the Ig Nobel Awards aim to “first make people laugh, and then make them think." Organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, the ceremony is held each year at Harvard University's Sanders Theater. Traditionally, the formalities end with the catch phrase, "If you didn't win a prize—and especially if you did—better luck next year!"

TGIF. But if your week’s not been challenging enough, try this BBC brain teasing sense test. The results really are surprising. Click HERE to start.

A new report by researchers from Cardiff University and auto consultants Thames Clifford says the Smart Fortwo Roadster is the greenest car. The team judged vehicles based on their CO2 and nitrous oxide emissions, their construction, the energy consumed in production, and end of life recycling and disposal costs. The Prius only came in twelfth place, surprisingly being beaten by the Mini Cooper D, which was placed eleventh. Sadly, most of the cars towards the top of the chart aren’t even available in America. with European brands such a Smart, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat filling the top slots. Volkswagen's Polo won out on emissions, but failed to place in the top twelve after other factors were taken into consideration.

The chart was dominated by the superminis, which are prized by European city drivers for their fuel economy, maneuverability and ease of parking in tight spots (they don’t rely on valets for parking across the pond). In European cities such as London, where congestion is an issue (due in part to older and narrower roads), and the average driving speed is just 10 mph, higher horse power is less of an issue. Consequently, even American built cars are sold there with much smaller engines, allowing better fuel economy even for traditional non-hybrid vehicles, with European carmakers building souped-up versions of their cars for the U.S. market.

Take for example the Mini Cooper, which is now owned by BMW. The European Mini Cooper D, which is unavailable here in the US, does 50.03 mpg (60.1 miles per UK gallon which is slightly larger) in urban mode, 67.19 mpg (80.7 miles per UK gallon) in extra urban mode, providing a combined fuel efficiency of 60.28 mg (72.4 miles per UK gallon). Meanwhile, the standard U.S. Mini-Cooper only does 32 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway. The difference in fuel economy is quite staggering.

But with rising fuel prices and eco-awareness, the American consumer is demanding more efficient cars. Daimler Chrysler will be launching the green chart-topping Smart Car in America in 2008, and are already taking pre-orders on their SmartUSA.com website. For just $99 smart customers can pre-order a car. Prices start at under $12,000 with deliveries expected in the first quarter of next year. The question is, will Americans be prepared to sacrifice power, size and space? Just how eco are we prepared to go?

The complete list of the Greenest cars, as published by What Car, is as follows:


1 Smart Roadster
2 Smart Fortwo cabriolet
3 Citroen C1 1.0i
4 Peugeot 107 1.0
5 Citroen C1 1.4 HDi
6 Fiat Panda 1.2
7 Ford Ka 1.3
8 Toyota Yaris 1.0
9 Fiat Panda 100hp
10 Peugeot 206 1.4
11 Mini Cooper D
12 Toyota Prius 1.5


Source: Cardiff University/Clifford Thames

Society generally dictates that gossip is a guilty pleasure, but psychologists and anthropologists are discovering it may have a far more profound purpose.

“Popular usage defines gossip as small talk or idle talk, but gossip is hardly inconsequential or without purpose,’ says Temple University’s Professor Emeritus Ralph L. Rosnow and colleague social psychologist Eric K. Foster in their joint paper on the subject of gossip. “It has been theorized that gossip played a fundamental role in the evolution of human intelligence and social life and that it continues to play an active role in cultural learning and as a source of social comparison information.”

“Gossip appears to be a very sophisticated, multifunctional interaction which is important in policing behaviors in a group and defining group membership," says Professor David Sloan Wilson, who teaches biology and anthropology at the State University of New York. In his book, Darwin's Cathedral, Wilson views society is an organism, and agues that religion is evolution at work, having important biological functions, which furthered mankind through increased social function, with gossip serving as a tool.

So where does our hankering for celebrity gossip fall into this elaborate social equation? Well consider that hundreds of years ago, before societies got so vast in size, and before we had such a plethora of media streams, common social references were easier to come by. 16th century villagers for example, would know everyone in their community. But now, those kind of everyday universal social references are harder to come by, so celebrities fill the void, providing easy points of reference and common benchmarks.

Furthermore, gossip is an important social tool, allowing us to make easy, non-threatening connections with strangers in social situations and providing fodder for everyday human interaction. “It’s a social skill, not a character flaw,” argues Frank McAndrew, a professor of psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. “It’s only when you don’t do it well that you get into trouble.”

If everyday social situations, such as parties or business conferences, fill you with anxiety, surely it’s better to go armed with a handful of gossip than a handful of pills or the indiscriminate courage gained from a bottle of booze. Also, a conversation about a remote celebrity rather than someone you actually know is far less prone to pitfalls. Since you’re talking ostensibly about a remote third party, it’s a non-threatening way of testing boundaries and establishing common values, in order to get to know someone -- or decide if you want to.

But, though celebrity gossip and gossip in general may serve a purpose, it’s no substitute for developing relationships based on real intimacies. “Celebrity gossip, of all the gossip along with sports conversations, which is a form of celebrity gossip, are the least intimate conversations one can possibly have, which doesn't mean it's not useful as a social tool. But if the conversation ends there, what one has an achieved is a false sense of intimacy,” warns Los Angeles-based psychotherapist and relationship expert Martin C. Novell.

“You may have had a good time that night, but if the relationship becomes dependent on gossip and more gossip, it will evaporate like cotton candy. Real intimacy is when a relationship develops a sense of trust, where there's an idea that you won't be injured in the relationship, when you get to know yourself and others as dynamic human beings who have boundaries and growth potential, through conversation and deeds. Gossip alone doesn't give you this unless you use it as a touchstone for safety and are willing to leave that touchstone for something more personal in nature and interject the idea of the true you into the conversation. Obviously the skill of gossip is much easier to develop than the skill of sharing and caring, which carries a greater degree of responsibly and thoughtfulness, but also higher emotional rewards.”

What we love about this video clip is that the world gets to see what the smooth-looking jerk in the very expensive pussy-magnet is really like. He's not looking so hot now. We'll stick to giving hunks in hybrids the eye.

Environmentally and socially conscious consumers are a rapidly growing army, flexing their eco muscle with each dollar they spend. American corporations are rapidly catching on to this, providing eco-friendly options to court this new mass of earth-savvy customers.

EcoGeekLiving.com are vying for your green bucks, having recently relaunched their website which sells everything from natural rubber yoga mats and hemp yoga straps to energy efficient light bulbs and solar light switches. But there seems to be no limit to what the green tag can sell. It seems that eco-aware homes are even able to withstand the mighty forces of the current housing depression, with sales of solar-powered homes outstripping those of traditional new homes in some markets, according to a recent article in the LA Times.

Across the country, the New York Times reports that Fair Trade products are rapidly picking up momentum, with fair trade certifiers Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International reporting that consumers spent $2.2 billion on certified products in 2006, a 42 percent increase over the previous year. The java barometer confirms this, with Starbuck buying 50% more Fair Trade coffee in 2006 than in 2005. The paper also reports that McDonalds in New England now sell exclusively Fair Trade coffee, and that the mighty Sam’s Club are expanding their Fair Trade range. Though not all Fair Trade products are organic, this trend improves the lives of millions of people in the developing world.

With Toyota’s hybrid Prius topping one million sales worldwide this summer, marking a new level of potency for the planet-positive consumer, the green dollar is finding some strange bedfellows. Gambling website Casino Del Rio for example, is claiming they’ve entered the green era by becoming the first online gaming venue to promote environmental awareness. The company promises to plant a tree for each new customer, and has redesigned many areas of its operations with a goal of becoming 100% carbon neutral in mind –– though this is one green trend we aren’t encouraging.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has gone public with his fears for talented but troubled singer Amy Winehouse after she pulled out of a support slot on the Stones’ Big Bang world tour. “Amy is a brilliant artist who makes fantastic music. She has class,” said Jagger. “But I’m worried she might die if she goes down the road that she has taken.”

Winehouse and Jagger performed together early this year at the Isle of Wight Festival on June 10th. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the songstress was lured on stage with a promise of doing body shots with hell-raising guitarist Keith Richards.

“She would have been amazing on that tour,” said Jagger speaking to a reporter from the Sun newspaper in Germany. “It would have been full circle for the Stones, as she is like some of these classic soul singers from the past that inspired us. To have a woman that sings just like them in this time is wonderful.”

Jagger, who has also has a history of drug use, went on to empathize with Winehouse’s situation. “If only she would sort herself out. It is hard as your mind has to make that switch. If my mind had not always told me that I should not do too much I could have ended up like Amy years ago. But I always had that voice in my head that kept me on my toes and told me to stop altogether in the end. I realised I didn’t want to die young.”

In August, after she was seen and heard by members of the public having a massive row with her husband, which left the pair battered and bloodied, Tanya, our own in house celebrity-tracking physic, expressed similar concerns (see previous story). “Amy is in dire need of help,” said Tanya. “Unfortunately, we shall see another dire situation with Amy, possibly being transported to the hospital in an ambulance, fighting for her life. Sadly, I'm just not so sure she'll win the fight.”

“The plan is to infect the Collective's great link with a logical paradox virus. Within months, the Borg will become so obsessed with solving it that they'll be powerless to do anything else.”

Captain Luke Picard, Star Trek Next Generation, Episode I Borg (first aired May 11th, 1992)

The artist responsible for leaving mysterious carved stone heads on the doorsteps of villagers across Yorkshire has been found (see previous story), but the paradox continues. The sculptures, which all arrived with a riddle and bear a cryptic Paradox mason’s mark, are the work of local artist Billy Johnson. A spokesman for Johnson confirmed the heads were the work of the artist in an interview with the Daily Mail, but revealed little else about their creator, saying he was un-contactable and, "out of the country for a few weeks."

A short statement on the artist’s Paradox Carvings website says that “Billy Johnson lives in Yorkshire and spends a great deal of time combing beaches for fossils and rocks which he later uses in his artwork.” In a further statement in the artist’s profile section of The Art House website (an organization that supports both able-bodied and disabled artists) Johnson says: “I work as an hypnagogic fruit picker. I take hypnogogic concepts, such as the Paradox virus and set them in stone and other media.”

Hypnaogogia is a hypnotic state that occurs between being awake and asleep, when lucid dreams can occur. While hypnagogic, a person can appear to be awake but have the brain waves of someone who is sleeping.

The concept of the Paradox Virus has been featured in both Star Trek and the British science fiction TV series Dr. Who. In Star Trek, when a lone Borg is discovered, Picard’s solution is to infect the alien species’ collective consciousness by giving the captured Borg a logical paradox virus, which will distract the Borg from their universal assimilation efforts by giving the collective an unsolvable riddle to focus their shared intelligence on. In Dr. Who, Faction Paradox were a time-traveling subversive cult that would use the Paradox Virus to corrupt history, setting rivals against rivals, for their own ends. The logo for the group bears a striking resemblance to the lettering used on Johnson’s Paradox mason’s mark.

Easter Island-style carved stone heads have mysteriously appeared on the doorsteps of villagers in the North of England. Though all of the statues are different, they all come with a cryptic message, "Twinkle, twinkle, like a star. Does love flourish from afar.”

Arthington artist George Griffiths found a head on his doorstep one morning. “I thought somebody had just dumped it,” he said in an interview in the UK’s Times newspaper. “But then I read the message and thought, it’s queer, this is. I think it’s a publicity stunt.” A second head appeared on Griffiths’ doorstep two weeks later.

Another 12 inch high statue appeared on the doorstep of the Forresters Arms hotel in Kilburn. It took two men to carry the head inside, where it now sits on the bar for patrons to ponder over a drink. “They're made of what we think is local Yorkshire stone,” said hotel manager Fiona Gould to local newspaper The Yorkshire Post. “We all just want to know where they've come from. Everyone's got a theory – some people think it's a curse."

Three more sculptures appeared outside a Post Office in Braithwell. “They are a bit like gargoyles; obviously somebody has taken a lot of trouble if they have been carved. On the back it looks like an occult thing, but we don’t know what any of it means,” said manager Valerie Hoyles in a BBC report.

So far about twenty statues have surfaced in a handful of Yorkshire towns and villages. In addition to the riddle, they all bear a mason’s mark which appears to spell out the word Paradox, and features an early Christian chriho symbol, which is an amalgamation of the first two letters of Christ in the Greek alphabet (Chi and Rho). There is some speculation that the heads may be a tribute the Cult of the Severed Head, a pre-Christian Celtic tradition where the heads of adversaries were cut off and preserved. References to the cult can be found in numerous carvings in the Yorkshire area, which was once occupied by the Celtic tribe of the Brigantes.

Images: Top right: Easter Island stone face. Left: chirho symbol.

A link between tumors and early exposure to DDT, a promising new use for an old drug, and a high tech cancer-detecting bra are just some of the recent breast cancer breakthroughs being reported in news:

A new study, reported in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, has found a cohesive link between breast cancer and childhood exposure to the pesticide DDT. The small study of bay area women conducted by researches from UC Berkeley, found that it wasn’t just exposure, but the age that exposure occurred that was critical. Previous studies have failed to find a link, but these generally measured the levels of DDT in women when cancer was found, which was often decades after exposure occurred, since the pesticide was banned in 1972. What makes this UC Berkeley study unique is that fact that they were able to test blood originally collected between 1959 and 1967, when the women featured in the study gave birth at Oakland area Kaiser Permanente hospitals. This study found that the top third of women whose blood contained the most DDT were five times more likely to develop cancer. None of the women lived on farms, so their exposure came through an urban lifestyle similar to the majority of Americans.

Meanwhile scientists from the University of Manchester in England have found that a drug first used on Alzheimer’s patients offers promise for breast cancer sufferers. The drug, a gamma secretase inhibitor, has been found to attack the Notch gene, which is known to stimulate growth in a wide range of cancers, including leukemia and breast tumors. The team hopes that the drug will be used to prevent cancer from reoccurring, which happens in up to a third of women who initially appear to have been treated successfully.

Also in England, a group at The University of Bolton's Centre for Research and Innovation (CMRI) have developed a Smart Bra that can detect breast cancer in its early stages before a tumor has had a chance to develop and spread. The bra works by using a microwave antenna system, which picks up abnormal changes in the temperature of breast tissue, which occurs as a result pre-cancerous and cancerous growth due to a corresponding increase in metabolic and vascular activity. Data collected is then transmitted to a controller unit, which sets off an alarm if a problem is detected. In addition, it is also hoped the device will be used to monitor the effectiveness of treatment for those already suffering from the disease. The lifesaving bra is expected to go into production within the next two years and will cost between $40 and $60 more than more low tech apparel.

Prevention is always better than a cure however, with experts from Cancer Research UK claiming that one in ten cases of breast cancer could be prevented by adopting a cancer-smart lifestyle, which includes keeping fit, staying trim, drinking less, reducing long-term use of hormone replacement therapy drugs and increasing breast feeding rates.

And after a study at Keel University found that aluminum salts used in many antiperspirants can leach into breast tissue,” Professor Robert Thomas suggests women think twice before routinely using under-arm deodorants in an article he wrote in September for the UK’s Daily Mail. This follows an earlier study by the University of Reading, which found that the aluminum compounds mimic oestrogen in the body, and that preservatives used in deodorants were also found in many breast cancers. Though he admits the evidence is not yet conclusive, Thomas suggests that: “giving up using deodorant could be as effective in reducing cancer risk as a diet rich in disease-preventing antioxidants. This might sound surprising,” he continues, “as we know fruit and vegetables can help keep cancer at bay. But the irony is that women, who are particularly diligent about eating enough fruit and veg, then cover their armpits every day with chemicals that mimic oestrogen, the cancer-promoting hormone.” For those worried about the whiff, Thomas suggests at the very least cutting down use, alternating brands to limit exposure to any one combination of chemicals, and using a natural or crystal alternative.