NEWS IN BRIEF SUNDAY 12TH OCTOBER

There's not a great deal in this weekend's Rag. Unsurprisingly, the current financial crisis takes up most of it. Turns out, the mammoth 700 billion rescue package may not actually be enough. Ouch.
I should point out, though, that the rescue packages from the various governments (US, British, German, Icelandic...to name but a few) aren't a product of the goverments' benevolence as they would have one believe. No, this is taxpayers' hard earned money that is taken from them.
And now it's being used to protect banks. Banks. Remember them? Those MFs who rip us off at every turn.
Now they're in trouble and good old Joe Blogs is having to bale them out. Then, when they reright themselves, it'll be back to stroking their benefactor.
Is this the definition of irony?

There's a piece inside the Rag which tells of "$7 Trillion wiped out by mad panic". Global shares it seems, have taken a battering. The US market fell by 18% - the worst weekly performance since 1914 apparently. The spite in me takes a certain amount of satisfaction from the knowledge that the rich aren't so rich anymore (mind you, they'll survive - they always do).

Britt Lapthorne, the Australian backpacker, has been found in the sea off the coast of Croatia. The headline of the story says, "Murdered and dumped at sea...). Further reading reveals that she was missing her arms too. A shark taking the limbs has been discounted which goes to add a rather macabre element to the already disturbing story. The parents are as one could imagine, devastated.

Returning to an old story, there's a small side piece entitled "Risk to obese mums". This article tells of the 45% increase of diabetes in the last ten years. Experts attribute such an increase to two things - women having children later in life and obesity. Frankly I think the later childbirth thing is simply to soften the blow for the fatties. I can't possibly see how having a child in later years can cause diabetes but obesity on the other hand is well known and proven to cause just that.

"Aww, don't vilify the fatties...it's not their fault. (Let's give it to the bastard smokers instead!!)"

Further in...a bit about the US Government investing heavily in banks, therefore extending the 700 billion package, and in effect nationalizing some. As I said, interesting times ahead.

Sarah Palin's in the news again (mind you it's an election year so she'll be in there every day for the duration...). This time she's accused of abusing her authority when she attempted to have her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, sacked by using her husband's contacts in the Governor's office.
Yeah...whatever, I'd still eat chips out of her pants!

The Pope has offended Jews apparently - by supporting declaring his controversial WWII predecessor Pius XII, a saint. Controversial because he refused to condemn the Holocaust.
The Pope offending someone??? Surely not!!!

That's about it. Some domestic stuff for which I can find no interest, the pretty people at parties, and that's all folks!