The election poster of the Polish Women's Party (Partia Kobiat) features seven naked candidates. The image stands for freedom and women’s rights in a country that has been besieged by narrow doctrinaire thinking of the Catholic conservative variety.

Manuela Gretowska, who founded the party offered some insights when speaking with AFP news agency ...

This poster is intended to shatter stereotypes in the anachronistic world of politics, which is more often dominated by uncommunicative men with their black tie outfits. We are beautiful, nude, proud ... our faces are intelligent, concerned, proud.

Given the reactionary climate in Poland of late, the poster makes a bold statement. It is sure to anger the Catholic nationalist types whose reactionary views threaten to drag the country back into the middle ages.

Mercifully, the Kaczynski twins have shown no sign of countering with a nude election poster of their own.

The recent trial of Conrad Black confirmed the suspicions of people who have long viewed him as a corporate crook. It also provided satisfaction to people who resented him, envied him and those who for political reasons would like nothing more than to see him roast in hell. He still has a few supporters but they're increasingly hard to find.

Back in 1998, Black’s National Post stormed onto the scene as an alternative to the standard newspaper fare in Canada. His personal style was far from typically Canadian. He didn’t hide his ambitions or his wealth or pretend to anything approximating humility. He assumed airs and graces that many Canadians found offensive. He was a union basher. Chased after titles. Threw lavish parties. Dismissed his critics with verbose attacks.

Black’s love of pomp and circumstance had a bit of a pantomime aspect to it. On one occasion he made an appearance as Cardinal Richelieu with Barbara Amiel at his side dressed as Marie Antoinette. He looked as though he was in his element when he posed for a photographer decked out in the finery of a British Lord.

It's difficult not to see some of this behavior as well ... childish. Behind the facade of the media baron there was a side of Black that never really grew up. The dress-up charades, aristocratic pretensions and titles seemed more like the preoccupations of an overgrown kid than activities anyone would regard with any degree of seriousness. The realities that compel most people to compromise and tailor their egos to the demands of an exacting world he was largely able to avoid. He set out on his business ventures buoyed by inherited money, and for many years was able to stay one step ahead of life-altering collisions with reality.

Black wasn’t ‘a team player’ in the usual sense of that overworked term - and of course was reviled for it. Canadians by and large have little affection for people who assume attitudes that appear to suggest they are ‘different’ or god forbid ‘better.' It gets even more personal when you give up your citizenship and head over to the UK to assume a title and a seat in the House of Lords.

Recently much loved Toronto entrepreneur, Honest Ed Mirvish died and a lot of ink was spilled in an attempt to capture the qualities of Saint Ed. One columnist even went to great lengths to make an extended comparison with Conrad Black, in hopes that the refracted light of Saint Ed would somehow show Black up as the vile self-serving toad he really was. This was fairly typical of the loathing extended toward him.

The man drew negative attention like a magnet. He loved to grandstand and the early National Post reflected that approach, even down to his gold newspaper boxes.

When the Hollinger allegations began to gather steam, a lot of the rumor and speculation seemed driven as much by sour grapes as actual facts. From an outsider’s perspective it was hard to know how much of it would hold up in court, how much of it was even believable. It seemed that the attack hounds were going in for the kill because it was Conrad Black ... because it was personal.

Ripping off shareholders isn’t a sin peculiar to Black. Corruption is rife in corporate culture. Bonuses, golden parachutes, any number of internal deals, schemes and ‘understandings’ - not to mention cushy non-jobs of the consultancy sort are part of the fabric of life. Corporations are clubs and as with most clubs, they cultivate their own insider culture, including practices that might be regarded as shady or even outright criminal by those looking in from the outside. There are a number of CEO’s out there who would have difficulty standing up to in-depth scrutiny.

Unlike his peers, many of whom prefer to fly under the radar, Black’s presumption of magnificence led him to act out in ways that were very public and in the end self-destructive. It was as though he was tempting fate... gambling that no matter how far he pushed it, his stars and the presiding gods would ensure that he would vanquish the finger pointers at the end of the day.

One of the shrewdest comments I read in the course of Black’s recent trial, was offered by Donald Trump, who posed an obvious, yet pertinent question - “why did he go public?” That he did and then proceeded to conduct himself as though he hadn’t, speaks to an ingrained naivety which is odd in the context of an intelligence that is nothing if not sophisticated. That odd blind spot made it difficult for him to fathom how he could ever be defined by the rules and regs that apply to the rest of us. His manner of doing business seemed that of a proprietor of a private company, rather than the CEO of a publicly traded company.

Black’s permanently inflated ego was underwritten by a hereditary conviction of entitlement. The affectations were often out of sync with time and place - weirdly anachronistic.

Black was undone by his need to act out aspects of his personality that more cautious players keep under wraps. His use of language is an apt metaphor for the disconnect between his subjective conviction of superiority, and the way the world actually perceived him. His pompous self-regard no doubt made him feel he had the edge over the hacks and commoners who dared criticize him. But his use of language betrayed him in the end also, just as his dodgy money games betrayed him.

The Italian fashion chain Nolita, has come up with a hard hitting advertising campaign targeting anorexia. The campaign coincides with the Milan fashion week.

Ultra thin models showcased by the fashion industry have been a factor in the increasing prevalence of eating disorders among young women. These disorders took on added concern after a 21 year old Brazilian model, Ana Carolina Reston, died from the eating disorder. She stood 5 feet 8 inches and weighed only 88 pounds.

The photo used in the ad campaign features a 27 year old French woman named Isabella Caro who has been struggling with anorexia since she was 15 years old. She weighs a mere 31 kg (68 pounds) . She admits that for a long time she hid her body, but now she wants to candidly reveal herself for the camera in order to demonstrate how the disease impacts the body.

The Nolita campaign received the backing of the Italian Ministry of Health. However many have been shocked by the graphic nature of the image. Fabiola De Clercq, president of Italy’s Association for the Study of Anorexia considers the image “too crude” and said the model should be receiving treatment in hospital.

The campaign photo was shot by Oliviero Toscani, a photographer who has never shied away from images that many find disturbing. Toscani’s camera captured the powerful image of a man dying of AIDS that was used in a Benetton campaign.

An image of unique power, even though disturbing, can impact viewers in the way pages of text cannot. It has shock value and sometimes people need to be shocked into awareness, particularly when it comes to a ‘fashion disease' that has been wreaking havoc in the lives of women. While anorexia also has a psychological component, there is little doubt that constant exposure to the "ideal of beauty" represented by rail thin models has added to the pressure to appear slim at all costs - even at the expense of health.

A Christian theater troupe - The Miracle Theater - is spending $90,440 on a full page ad in USA Today to target Kathy Griffin for remarks she made about Jesus at the Emmy Awards.

Makes you wonder if Griffin set fire to a crucifix on stage or possibly defiled a bible in some manner that might be considered blasphemous. But no, nothing so extreme. When she received her Emmy for her work on the Bravo reality show “My Life in the D-List”, Griffin simply said "a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

That sounds like candor. The effort that went into being selected as an Emmy winner wasn’t associated in her mind with any supernatural intervention. That seems eminently reasonable. Why on earth would Jesus help someone like Kathy Griffin win an Emmy for her work on “My Life in the D-List?"

Griffin also said "this award is my god now."

Sounds like a tongue-in-cheek remark. A bit of light banter. People sometimes kid about their dream car being their god (small ‘g’) or their dream job or dream house. Griffin didn’t say she was going to place the Emmy in a shrine and chant mantras to it while lighting incense sticks.

No matter, Miracle Theater along with the Catholic League are up in arms. Outraged Catholics even called on the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to “denounce Griffin’s obscene and blasphemous comment." Heavy stuff.

My guess would be that the average Emmy audience is made up mainly of folks who are indifferent to religion or nominally religious at best. There is no law that prohibits the use of Jesus' name in a manner that might offend a minority of touchy believers. It’s a discretionary matter, and if someone does get satirical or irreverent surely ... if the gospel message of Jesus has meaning at all... his followers should be turning the other cheek, shouldn’t they?

Not only should they be turning their cheeks, they should be extending love - not taking out $90,000 ads in USA Today to air their grievances.

Just think of all the charitable work that could have been done with that misdirected Christian money.

He thinks the West’s strategy in fighting terrorism is historically illiterate and counter-productive.

Ashdown from a recent Guardian article:

Our problem is that we have chosen the wrong mindset, the wrong battlefield, the wrong weapons and the wrong strategies to win this campaign. We have chosen to fight an idea, primarily with force.

He adds that the West’s tactics “... have strengthened the concepts of our enemies and weakened our own.”

Ashdown stresses that the threat has been exaggerated and the West’s response wrong headed:

We have chosen language and means which unite the moderates in Islam with the fanatics, when we should be uniting with the moderates in Islam against a common enemy. We have adopted methods ... which undermine the moral force of our ideas and strengthen the prejudices of our opponents. We are seeking to win a battle of values by sacrificing our most precious and most potent value, our freedoms and our civil liberties. We concentrate almost all our efforts on the short-term struggle to prevent the next outrage, and almost none on the long-term task of winning the hearts and minds of moderate Islam.

He adds... "What al-Qaida and its sister organizations are actually engaged in is a battle, not for the west, but for the soul of Islam. They kill and maim in London, New York and Madrid, in order to win in Riyadh, Cairo, Damascus and Tehran."

What Ashdown understands, is that this struggle is primarily a struggle for hearts and minds. The West’s strategy has been alienating those who should have been on-side as partners.

The mens' room in the Minneapolis airport where Larry Craig allegedly made various signs that weren’t Masonic, has become something of a tourist attraction. Travelers have been making special requests to see "the Craig bathroom".

To call it "a bathroom", might be a stretch. It looks like the type of dank outlet you only resort to when running on the spot and crossing your legs is no longer achieving the required result.

The Brits sometimes refer to such places as “a bog” and Larry’s hangout looks a lot like the classic British bog.

It’s unclear if the airport authorities have appointed an official guide yet.

The "security" crackdown in Iran is in part a response to what Tehran views as the increased threat of a pending attack. Where this attack might come from is a matter of speculation.

The Bush administration has lost a lot of credibility as a result of the mess in Iraq but there are those in its ranks who would like the chance to grab some belated glory, despite the risks to global security. The issue isn't only Iranian nuclear ambitions and Iran's subversive hand in the Iraq war, tensions with America go back to the long history of distrust between the two countries dating back to the hostage crisis of 28 years ago.

It's doubtful Bush could get the support required from Congress to stage an attack on Iran, but it’s entirely possible he may seek a casus beli ... attempt to provoke Iran in order to justify military action.

He has been ratcheting up the rhetoric with talk of "nuclear holocaust." This could be viewed as giving the high sign to Israel to take whatever action it sees fit.

The danger of overestimating Iran's nuclear threat and launching an attack, is that it could lead to a regional war that would make Iraq seem like a picnic.

Despite international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and Bush's rhetoric on the topic, Americans don’t trust his administration on this. Only one in five Americans in recent polls supports bombing raids on Iran. Bush is a man who would take the world to the brink in order to satisfy his own hubris. It’s like being driven by someone over the legal limit who is pressing hard on the accelerator with little clue what is around the corner.

Chuck Hagel’s assessment of Bush’s recent Iraq policy is right on the mark. He referred to it as “a dirty trick”.

“It’s not only a dirty trick, but it’s dishonest, it’s hypocritical, it’s dangerous and irresponsible. The fact is this is not Petraeus’ policy, it’s Bush’s policy. The military is ... certainly very clear in the Constitution ... is subservient to the elected public officials of this country.. but to put our military in a position that this administration has put them in is just wrong, and it’s dangerous.”

Iraq isn't in great shape despite the gloss Bush has been putting on it lately. War with Iran, should it ever escalate to that point, opens up another Pandora’s box. It would almost certainly require an American draft. It would destabilize the region and draw in other regional players. The consequences of an attack at this stage could wind up being a lot worse than any dangers posed by Iran's alleged nuclear threat.

Iraq seemed like a slam dunk when the Americans went storming in - then they found the mother-of-all-hells in the making. An attack on Iran risks turning the entire region into chaos and if that happens all bets are off because nobody can predict where that might lead.

Few people can throw darts like ex-Canadian prime minister, Brian Mulroney. He has a deep attachment to his grudges and likes nothing more than taking the time, as he did in his recent memoirs, to haul them out for a bit of spit and polish.

Mulroney has always been big on playing up his Irish credentials. As an emigre Irishman I have to confess that I felt uneasy when Mulroney got up on the stage with Ronald Reagan at the Shamrock Summit in Ottawa and began to croon When Irish Eyes are Smiling. He looked more happy than might be considered natural. At the time I thought the drinking song Whiskey in the Jar might have suited his mood better.

Mulroney’s love-of-the-grudge isn’t really typically Canadian. Of all the places I’ve lived in my life, Canada is one of the least hate-centric. One of the great gifts of Canadians is their tolerance and their ability to broker a compromise. If there is a hell, I’m confident Canadians who end up there will be able to broker a power sharing arrangement with Beelzebub and his minions.

Mulroney could broker alright - mostly by schmoozing and arm twisting. There is no question he had the deal maker instinct going on. That is an Irish talent also, especially though when combined with a long fertile memory seeded with an extensive grudge history, so that when making the deal you inadvertently manage to screw a few undesirables in the process.

Unsurprisingly, number one on Mulroney’s grudge list is Pierre Trudeau. The reasons he presents for his deep loathing of PET seem rational at first glance. Trudeau’s great abomination as stated in Mulroney’s recent memoirs, was to oppose the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. But Mulroney’s dislike of the man goes deeper than mere political differences. It is visceral even after a lot of time has passed and with Trudeau ten under. Why such animus after all these years? Well I'm sure it's in part because Pierre Trudeau is still the pre-eminent Canadian icon, loved and respected at home and abroad. A deceased Trudeau is regularly accorded higher popularity ratings in polls than an alive-and-kicking Mulroney.

Lucien Bouchard is another exhibit in the Mulroney grudge museum. He is branded a traitor for founding the Bloc Quebecois. Writers Stevie Cameron and Peter Newman are skewered for having the temerity to question his veracity and in Newman’s case for “betrayal”. One of Newman’s crimes was revealing ‘phoneman’ - one of Mulroney’s less public personalities that surfaced when engaging in intimate wired chats with people he believed to be reliable confidantes.

Mulroney’s grudges even extend to members of his own party. Especially those who had the gall to vote for Joe Clarke back in the day. Then of course there is Jean Chretien who is also given ‘the treatment’.

Mulroney can be very entertaining. Another Irish gift. He’s the kind of punter who would be great at the craic back in the oul sod - tweed cap shoved back on his head quaffing a pint of Guinness in a Dublin bar. If he had been around in James Joyce’s day, I have no doubt that Jimmy’s ear for well oiled blarney would have perked up and resulted in a short story or two. The gift seems to have been passed to his son Ben Mulroney who is actually an excellent host on Canadian Idol.

For a man who is deeply concerned about fame and acclaim, Mulroney may have been happier if he had gone into a different profession. I think he would have made an engaging stand-up comedian who I’m sure could have had them lining up at Yuks Yuks. In that capacity his popularity rating might even have exceeded that of Trudeau’s.

Those who are familiar with facebook claim there is plenty of material on its pages that might be deemed offensive by some people. Everything from people posing in skimpy thongs to racy prose. Compared to that type of material a photo of a mother breastfeeding her infant seems innocent. Not by the standards of facebook apparently. It has been busily deleting photos of breastfeeding moms.

This has ticked off the women who set up a new facebook group named - “Hey facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!” On last check the group had 10,200 members and is growing.

It’s no surprise women have been angered by the crackdown. Could anything be more inoffensive than an image of a mother breastfeeding her child?

The sight of a mother nurturing an infant in the time honored fashion is humanizing. It touches the heart. Have we become so oddly hypersensitive that there are people who now actually consider the act of breastfeeding in public to be somewhat pornographic or even obscene?

A number of Canadian women were impacted by the facebook decision. Karen Speed from Edmonton had five of her photos deleted and her account closed down. Others are fighting back. Sarah Kaplan, is the owner of Evymama, a breastfeeding and maternity wear shop in Toronto. Kaplan points out that the World Health Organization recommends breast feeding until the child is two years of age. She has been working to help make breastfeeding more socially acceptable.

Kelli Roman, a Californian mother of two, also fell victim to facebook policing. Several photos were deleted from her personal profile.

There is inconsistency in the facebook policy on this issue. An article in the Toronto Star points out that there are currently photos of breastfeeding moms on facebook. These can be found in groups such as La Leche League, Canadian Breastfeeding Mommies.

It would appear that facebook is drawing distinctions between breastfeeding pictures with breast and nipple in evidence, and those in which the 'offending parts' are partly covered. Facebook spokesperson, Meredith Chin, reportedly said - “photos containing an exposed breast do violate our terms and are removed.”

Facebook is sending the wrong message with this approach. After all a lot of these pictures appear in the context of a group with members who have a shared interest in breastfeeding. If the group was named “Hot Lactating Chicks” I could see there might be an issue - but “Breastfeeding Moms” is about as user friendly as it can get.

A controversial German talk show host, Eva Herman, has been fired by the German public broadcaster, ARD, for praising Adolf Hitler’s family policy. Herman has long been promoting the view that women should stay home and have babies, or else in her opinion, Germany will run out of Germans. However using the Third Reich as any type of example of good family planning is more than a little odd, not to say offensive.

Eva Herman has acquired a certain notoriety in Germany as a talk show host. She succeeded in infuriating feminists with her book “The Eva Principle" which argues that the German race is in danger of extinction unless German women drop out of their careers and get back into the reproductive and parenting business. Herman’s views have been publicly endorsed by the far right National Democratic Party which is known to have links to neo-Nazi groups.

In the Hitler-era's clinic-based Lebensborn program women were treated somewhat like cattle. They were selected for their ‘Aryan traits’ in hopes that they would birth lots of blond, blue-eyed children. Some 8,000 children were born in Germany, and around 12,000 in Norway as part of the a fertility 'offensive' aimed at increasing the Aryan birth rate and purifying the race.

Prospective mothers were selected with great care. Around 60% of them were unmarried. They had to provide proof of their Aryan background going back to their grandparents. Reichsfuhrer, Heinrich Himmler. actively encouraged even married members of the SS to 'spread their seed' in Lebensborn clinics.

The Lebensborn program was part of the greater Nazi agenda and has to been seen in the context of ‘purification policies’ which included the killing of children born with defects and the forced sterilization of those with hereditary disease.

Despite Herman’s efforts to detach her praise of Hitler era family policies from the atrocities associated with the Reich, her employers at the public broadcaster ARD would have none of it. Program director, Volker Herres, said Herman had been fired “with immediate effect."

The disappearance of Madelaine McCann while on a family vacation in Portugal, has generated more news coverage than some regional wars being waged around the globe.

The fascination with this story is understandable as it is offensive. It’s understandable because an innocent child was allegedly abducted while on vacation. What makes it offensive is the fact that thousands of children go missing with barely a mention. For example in the UK alone hundreds of black children have gone missing over the past few years according to British police. Many of these cases have only received scant mention in the press.

The McCann case has attracted attention of soap opera proportions for a couple of unfortunate cosmetic and status related reasons. The parents are an attractive looking couple, both white and both doctors. Madelaine herself is photogenic and has the type of face that seems to attract media attention like a magnet.

The disappearance occurred while the family was on vacation in an up-market Portuguese resort, adding an exotic touch to what has really become a sort of reality who-done-it show, with people taking sides and pointing fingers.

The perception that the case was being given special priority by the media for all the wrong reasons, was underlined in comments made to the press by Jose Miguel Judice, a former head of Portugal’s bar association. He said the extraordinary attention and effort devoted to the case was because the little girl is “English, white and the daughter of doctors”.

It has also become a case of ‘us against them’, with some British commentators on blog threads making their prejudiced view of Portuguese authorities crystal clear, while displaying uncritical support for the parents.

Some news outlets have presented a version of events that frequently understates or glosses over important facts. While acknowledging that the McCanns may indeed be the victims of a rumor mill and unusual circumstances, I think it is important to state what is factually known about the events before and after Madeleine went missing without spinning it to suit a ‘pro-McCann’ prejudice.

The picture painted in some media outlets of devoted parents who have been wronged, on the face of it doesn't seem altogether accurate. First of all, devoted parents don’t abandon their young children in a vacation apartment and head out for the evening. This fact has been glossed over by those who have become fixated with the abduction theory. As anyone who has raised a child knows, this is something you simply don’t do - especially when the children are small, easily frightened and in a strange place. Moreover this wasn’t the first evening the McCann’s left their kids in the apartment alone. The evening prior, they headed out to dinner with friends and according to a neighbor in the apartment complex, Pamela Fenn, left the children in distress - she used the word “screaming”.

The decision to leave the children alone in the apartment is hard to understand. A local company, Mark Warner, offered babysitting services for just ten pounds a night. Hardly too pricey for a well heeled professional couple. The entire cost of babysitting for the duration of their vacation would only have amounted to only 140 pounds ( 280 US dollars).

There are also reports about the way the children were handled that have raised eyebrows. Allegations have been made that the parents sedated Madelaine to put her to sleep since she could be difficult around bedtimes. There is also an allegation that a syringe was found in the apartment. The parents deny this.

It seems odd though that the twins, Sean and Amelie, slept through the ruckus following Madelaine’s disappearance. This has led to speculation that they had been sedated. Kate McCann is a GP and a trained anesthetist. She would certainly have known the type and quantity of drug to administer, if in fact sedation was involved.

The tapas bar where the McCanns went for dinner and drinks is some 65m from the apartment. A longer distance than the McCanns initially claimed. There is no way they would have been able to hear the children crying or even screaming for attention at that distance, especially when seated in a noisy bar.

Kate McCann returned to check on the children at 10 pm. For some reason she didn’t bother alerting local management or police when she discovered Madelaine was missing. Instead she returned to the tapas bar crying “they’ve taken her ... they’ve taken her”. Her use of the plural struck a number of observers as odd. At this point she couldn’t have known if the child had simply wondered off. Nor could she have known if Madelaine had hidden away somewhere in the apartment. Children can do unexpected things if they feel alone and scared.

After the initial discovery why would an abductor immediately spring to Kate McCann’s mind before taking time to vet the scene properly and alert security. Moreover why refer to abductors in the plural as “them”, without anything to go on that might lead a person to believe that.

Various inconsistencies come into play around the time of the alleged abduction. The McCanns' claim that whoever took Madelaine broke into the apartment. However there was no evidence of any break in.

The McCanns claim they raised the alarm within 10 minutes of discovering Madelaine was missing, but local police claim that they didn’t receive a call until 10.50 pm. Moreover the offer of a neighbor to make an emergency call was rejected by Kate, who told the neighbor she had already placed the call, whereas she in fact waited for another 40 minutes before placing the first call. The McCanns reject this version of events.

In the strangest twist of all, traces of Madelaine’s blood or possibly bodily fluid, was discovered in a Renault Scenic rented by the McCanns. The evidence was examined by the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham. The odd part though is that the Renault was rented by the McCanns 25 days after their daughter’s disappearance. Not surprisingly, the police are interested in knowing why it was rented and how Madelaine’s DNA ended up in the vehicle.

Recent news reports are now say that a "substantial" amount of Madelaine's hair has been discovered in the vehicle.

The discovery of Madelaine’s DNA suggests that she was in the car at some point 25 days or more after her disappearance - either dead or alive. A more benign explanation, is that some article with traces of her blood or bodily fluid made its way into the car and was responsible for leaving the traces. Let’s hope the latter is the case.

The inconsistencies in the story as reported and the rumors that have been circulating should not be used to leap to rash conclusions at this point. People can have memory lapses and behave in a manner that is out of character when under pressure of this sort, especially with the intense media coverage the case has been receiving It’s entirely possible that the McCanns are the victims of unusual circumstances and misunderstandings - perhaps even of police misconduct. They have certainly steadfastly maintained their innocence throughout the ordeal. However the above mentioned inconsistencies coupled with forensic evidence do raise legitimate questions.

As matters stand, the Portuguese police have submitted their case against the McCanns to the public prosecutor who will decide what charges, if any, will be brought against the couple.

In the early years computer hacking was pretty much limited to individuals who acquired unconventional skills and the software to apply it. Over time hacking became more organized, with organizations employing hackers to engage in a variety of cyber crimes. These days the hacking art has become almost an institutionalized resource in an information war that is being waged by nations at the highest political levels.

Despite denials of culpability, China has been repeatedly fingered as one of the worst culprits when it comes to the smile-and-hack routine.

Recently German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was toasted in Beijing by a smiling Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, as they praised relations between the two countries. While this show of affection was going on, in the electronic corridors of the internet it was a very different story. Chinese cyber bandits have had considerable success in placing spy software on computers located in the German Chancellery and foreign ministries.

A recent Der Spiegel article describes the techniques used by Chinese hackers. A favorite method is to conceal espionage programs in Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint files, which infect IT installations when opened. German investigators have tracked the source of the attack to Lanzhou and Canton provinces - also to Beijing. Investigators believe the operations were being directed by the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA), and that the programs were being routed via computers located in S. Korea in an attempt to disguise the origins of the attack.

The PLA has also been targeting the Pentagon’s computer systems. A recent attack, described in some reports as "an onslaught" went on for several months and eventually succeeded in penetrating the system, forcing officials to shut down the part of the network that had been compromised.

Given its extensive international connections, Pentagon computer networks are vast. It operates 3.5 million computers across 65 countries, including 35 internal networks.

The most secure network used by the Pentagon is Siprnet. It handles top secret information. According to official sources high end Siprnet security has never been breached. The part of the network which the Chinese have succeeded in piercing is Niprnet, which mainly handles non-classified information. According to a Pentagon source, China has downloaded 10 to 20 terabytes of data from Niprnet. There are around three million daily scans of the GID or Global Information Grid, the Defence Department’s main network artery.

Experts have different views on how the Chinese managed to pull off these attacks. One of the more likely scenarios is that hackers obtained access to a less secure computer and then exploited its flaws in order to extend the attack to other computers higher up in the network.

US officials are well aware of Chinese cyber espionage. It’s been going on since 2003 and has included ‘sweeps’ of US intelligence, gathering everything from flight information to aircraft plans. The Americans even coined a name for the Chinese hacking raids - Titan Rain - and tracked the origins of most of them to Guangdong where there is known to be a large PLA presence. Attacks have also been directed at government networks in the UK. The British Foreign Office network was singled out for special attention.

Despite Chinese denials, there is little doubt that intelligence gathering operations have official sanction. Chinese writings over recent years attest to a keen interest in cyber warfare. Some of these books offer theories that almost amount to a doctrine of information warfare. A book entitled Unrestricted Warfare, authored by two PLA colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, offers the following insight ... “The new principles of war are no longer ‘using armed force to compel the enemy to submit to one’s will,’ but rather are ‘using all means, including armed force or unarmed force, military and nonmilitary, and lethal and nonlethal means to compel the enemy to accept one’s interests.”

Information wars are rapidly becoming a major feature of life in the 21st century. Chinese denials that they engage in this activity are contradicted by a white paper in which there is explicit reference to “informational armed forces” - described as one of the three pillars of Chinese military strategy.

John Tory, the Progressive Conservative leader in Ontario, has a lot of people wondering what happened to his former self. Up until recently Tory projected an image of a pragmatic politician concerned with issues of accountability. There didn’t appear to be anything weird about him. No inherent freakiness that might undermine the confidence of the middle-of-the-road voter. Good old solid John Tory - the Tories’ Tory.

Then something strange happened. John stopped making sense and left people scratching their heads. In an age when progressive democratic societies are attempting to move toward an inclusive secular model in which religion, although a part, is a much less dominant part, John Tory began advocating for religious schools in Ontario.

Far from seeking to bolster a badly underfunded public school system in Ontario, Tory’s proposed support for religious schools undermines the public school system still further. It provides an inducement for students to leave the system in order to become sequestered in private religious schools. Moreover Tory has proposed the offer of $400 million to help fund the 53,000 students who are currently attending Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Christian and other religious schools.

We also learned this week that Tory supports the teaching of creationism in funded religious schools. Initially he didn’t specify which subject areas should include the creationist point of view. After the outcry that greeted his remarks he appeared to backpedal and said creationism should only be a part of religious classes.

The fantastical claim that the earth was created in seven days by some hypothetical deity resembles a fairy tale more than anything else. The myth includes a garden where the first woman was allegedly created from man’s rib and where a talking serpent made the rounds, waiting to seduce the unwary into eating fruit from a tree of good and evil. The Genesis myth is just one of thousands of such creation myths from different parts of the world. All of them different. All of them equally lacking in credibility when viewed from a scientific perspective.

The only account of our origins that has any credibility is the complex account provided by science. Neologisms such as “scientific creationism” and “intelligent design” are meaningless from a empirical scientific standpoint.

Last month in Iran, the police cracked down on women wearing revealing attire and targeted men with Western hairdos. This type of fashion policing doesn’t go on in America - right?

Well, it depends on where you happen to be. If you are a female and have a preference for tight fitting outfits and fly Southwest Airlines, there is a chance you will be targeted by a flight attendant doubling as a dress code cop. It certainly happened to a 23 year old San Diego co-ed, who boarded a Southwest flight to Tucson, Arizona. Kyla Ebbert was confronted by a male flight attendant concerned about her “revealing attire”.

If I had been on the flight I would have been more concerned about possible explosive devices, in particular shifty eyed fliers with bulky looking jackets. An attractive young woman attired in a chic outfit would rank somewhere last on my list of concerns. Dress code issues wouldn't even come into it. How are 20 something co-eds supposed to dress during the summer?

Ms Ebbert was on a one-day round trip and had a doctor’s appointment scheduled. She wasn’t carrying additional luggage with a change of clothes. Nonetheless, the male flight attendant who asked her to leave her seat for 'dress review', had the gall to suggest she go to a gift shop to buy clothes prior to boarding a later flight.

Ms Ebbert was understandably mortified that she had been targeted in this high handed manner with other fliers looking on, even though the 'dress review' was conducted in a walkway leading back to the terminal. Embarrassed by the flight attendant’s unwelcome attentions, she offered to pull the top of her sweater over her breasts and pull her skirt down as far as possible. A compromise that was finally agreed upon.

Southwest is an airline that caters to clients who like to save money, many of them students. This episode happened at a time of year when a lot of co-eds opt for casual outfits. There was nothing about Ms Ebbert’s outfit that could be regarded as offensive, except perhaps to really sheltered folks who don’t get out much. The flight attendant was clearly making an arbitrary judgment based on personal prejudices.

His decision to ask Ms Ebbert to ‘adjust’ her attire wasn’t part of any clearly defined dress code policy on the part of Southwest. It couldn’t be, because on the return flight, far from receiving the same treatment, Ms Ebbert was in fact complimented on her outfit by a different attendant.

Kyla Ebbert was hoping for an apology from Southwest that hasn't been forthcoming. She is presently considering a lawsuit.

This has been a bad week for Bush. During his recent speech at the Sydney Opera House, he thanked Aussie PM Howard for being a fine host for the "OPEC summit" - whereas in fact it is the "APEC summit". He then went on to refer to Australian troops serving in Iraq as "Austrian troops". This slip was recorded on tape, although the official version released by the White House switched it to "Australian".

Earlier in the week Bush was overheard telling Aussie Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile, that "we're kicking ass" in Iraq. With everything we now know about the Iraq campaign - what kind of leader comes off with an adolescent "we’re kicking ass” type remark?

This is football coach talk. How long does Bush propose to kick ass? Six months ... a year... a decade? Will kicking ass help heal the internecine divisions in Iraq or guarantee any type of long term solution? No it won't - any American gains have to be sustained by initiatives on the part of the Iraqis themselves.

This is yet another display of braggadocio. A while back Bush apologized publicly for using the terms “wanted dead or alive” and “bring it on” when referring to the enemy in his war on terror. Now he’s back to the “kicking ass” rhetoric again. Nothing like fanning the flames to gratify your own ego.

Even if your military is securing the edge in a struggle of this sort (rights and wrongs of the campaign aside for the moment) , isn’t it incumbent on the leader to show some dignity - even a touch of humility? Especially so after a campaign launched on a litany of lies... especially after thousands of dead and wounded, with Iraqi families displaced, children psychologically scarred for life and reports of mothers forced to prostitute themselves in order to feed their families. In a land where internecine hatreds and divisions have been unleashed, shouldn’t you be treading softly, rhetorically speaking when you’re wielding the big stick?

Isn’t this the same President who stood on the deck of USS Abraham Lincoln and declared “victory”. Now after the deaths of thousands Americans and untold numbers of Iraqi civilians he’s back pumping the old fist again with the outcome in Iraq still murky, at best. This uncouth remark confirms every prejudice people have ever held about this campaign, the attitudes that launched it and the hubris of the man himself - hubris that not even prayer, his self-confessed weeping episodes and bouts of self-pity can mitigate apparently.

If he feels the need to make adolescent ‘come on’ remarks along the lines of “we’re kicking ass” - maybe he should save it for coffee time with Cheney.

Dr Cecile Rose is a pulmonary specialist who also offers her services as a consultant to the food industry. She has been investigating a condition known as ‘popcorn workers’ lung’ for a number of years.

Some popcorn plants have been shown to contain high levels of diacetyl. Diacetyl, a byproduct of the fermentation process, has a buttery, butterscotch-like flavor that is ideal for improving the taste of popcorn. Problem is, there are health risks associated with exposure to diacetyl.

There have been cases of workers in popcorn factories who have been diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans - a serious lung disease. Researchers have good reason suspect that it is exposure to diacetyl that is the problem, because many of the workers who suffered lung problems were young non-smokers, with few other risk factors. The courts appear to agree with these findings. In July, 2005, a popcorn worker in Missouri was awarded $2.7 million as a result of developing bronchiolitis obliterans through exposure to diacetyl in the workplace.

Dr Rose came across a case that involved an American man who was a self-confessed popcorn addict. He would eat microwaved popcorn at home as often as twice a day and had the habit of inhaling the fumes from the popcorn as he removed it from the microwave. Over time the man developed severe breathing problems.

Tests showed that the level of diacetyl in the man’s Colorado home was similar to the levels Dr Rose had found in popcorn plants. When he was put on a microwave popcorn-free diet, the man dropped 50 pounds and his lung function improved.

Given the numbers of workers in popcorn plants who have sustained serious lung damage, regulators need to do more to crackdown on unacceptable diacetyl exposure. The work of Dr Rose indicates the risks associated with diacetyl exposure also extend into people’s kitchens.

Over the years there have been rumors about Bush’s mood swings and tantrums. There has been speculation that psychological problems might be involved. Some recent confessions in an interview with John Draper make you wonder if Bush is coming apart at the seams.

As his supporters bail out left and right, it now looks as though the pres is attempting to put distance between himself and unpopular positions he has staked out in the past. Bush rarely confesses to mistakes. His approach is to show his weepy side, indulge in self pity and talk a lot about his relationship with “God”.

Bush was interviewed recently by John Draper for the ironically named book about his Presidency entitled Dead Certain. Given the President's admissions in the interview Draper might want to consider renaming the book Dead Uncertain.

Bush confesses to serial bouts of weeping. It must be reassuring for Americans to learn that the commander-in-chief spends at least part of his waking hours balling his eyes out. His wife Laura has been doubling as comforter and counselor (when God’s shoulder isn’t available). By his own admission Bush claims to have shed “more tears than you can count”.

Weeping is not something that is attractive in a leader. It gets even more alarming when the teary eyed one begins to talk about ghosts coming out of walls in the White House. According to Bush the White House is a “creepy place” Once while approaching the Lincoln Bedroom, he claims he saw ghosts coming out of the wall. I’m not sure if weeping can induce hallucinations, but the President is in no doubt that he works in a haunted mansion.

You have to wonder how much of this is guilt... what some new agers might refer to as bad karma. By his own admission the President indulges in bouts of self-pity and has to be chivvied up by his wife, who also seems to double as personal trainer of sorts.

George Bush: “This is a job where you can have a lot of self pity.”

No kidding.

It isn't often that you read about someone with the guts to cut across 'conventional wisdom' on the subject of prostitution. So it was a welcome surprise to learn about the work of Jody Paterson and the innovative thinking she brings to the crisis situation currently being faced by sex workers in British Columbia.

Before I get to Ms Paterson’s plan for a co-op brothel in Victoria, I’d like to touch on some of the problems facing sex workers in Canada.

Canadian sex workers are exposed to extraordinary dangers as a result of flawed legislation. The act of prostitution, although legal in Canada, is hedged in with legal restrictions that far from regulating the trade successfully, place sex workers at high risk. These liabilities are a violation of s.7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, since these laws arguably deny sex workers the right to liberty and security.

The ‘two-tier’ sex trade in Canada ensures that the youngest and most vulnerable females are exposed to the highest risk. Women, in most cases older than 18, who operate out of licensed premises of the escort agency type are relatively safe from abuse and harassment. By contrast the ‘black market’ street trade often involves young runaways, many of them under 18. A percentage of these teens are controlled by pimps. They are exposed to abusive clients and are at high risk when it comes to STD’s - in particular HIV. Many get involved with drug use. In some cases this isn’t voluntary, but is a control tactic used by their handlers to make ‘girls’ dependent and easier to manipulate.

The trial of Vancouver area pig farmer, Robert Picton, who stands accused of kidnapping and murdering sex workers, is just one example of how easy it is for criminals to prey on sex workers and get away with it - in some cases for years. Picton’s is far from an exceptional case. Project Kare in Edmonton is attempting to get to the bottom of the disappearance of some 80 women who worked in ‘high risk professions’.

In Ontario, Valerie Scott (Executive Director of Sex professionals of Canada) and associates are taking the plea for fair play all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. They intend to seek the constitutional invalidation of s.210 (the bawdy house law), s.212 -1-j (living off avails) and s.213 -1-c (communicating for the purpose of prostitution).

Punitive measures aimed at controlling the trade simply don’t work. Prostitution is called ‘the world’s oldest profession’ for good reason. It isn’t going to go anywhere any time soon. Instead of forcing these women into the shadows and turning a blind eye to the recurring stories of murder and abuse, isn’t it time to look at pro-active measures that acknowledge the reality of prostitution and that seek to accord rights and protections to women who are most often victims - rather than criminals.

This is where Jody Paterson comes in.

Paterson at one time ran a newsroom at an area newspaper and had a regular column that appeared in the Victoria Times-Colonist. As a result of the stories she wrote dealing with the sex trade, Paterson was able to get an insight into the struggles and challenges faced by women in the trade. She eventually moved out of the newspaper business and became executive director of the Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resources Society (PEERS).

Paterson, a mother of three grown children, was at one time against prostitution and in favor of eliminating it. As a result of her work with PEERS she got an insight into the concerns of women in the trade, and it became apparent that most weren’t interested in getting out of their line of work, so much as improving health and safety standards.

Together with PEERS associate, Lauren Casey, the decision was made to take on the brothel project. When the facility opens in Victoria it will likely be registered as an escort agency. A number of other brothels in Victoria currently operate as escort agencies. The difference with Paterson’s project, is that the brothel is a co-operative effort with sex workers a part of the planning process. Moreover profits from the brothel will go to PEERS and will be used to help improve health and safety standards for sex workers - including helping women leave the trade, if they choose to do so.

The time for moralizing about prostitution has to end. In an era of internet pornography and a much more open attitude to sex in general, it is absurd to continue to force sex workers into the shadows where they are exposed to unacceptable risks.

As Paterson correctly stated in a recent Toronto Star article - none of the 'legal solutions' to prostitution have been successful.

I recently did a post on elective genitoplasty - here - a surgical procedure available for women who are unhappy with the appearance of their private parts. Vaginas aren’t the only source of cosmetic anxiety these days. Increasing numbers of the aesthetically concerned are turning their attention to their derrieres.

As most know who are even passingly familiar with human biology, going to the washroom over the years leaves a trace that even the best bar of soup can’t erase. This unflattering stain has been causing mortification for people who err... bend over a lot in the course of their various activities.

Anal bleaching is all the rage in British high society apparently. Although the term “high” is probably debatable. The London Times has used the term “celebutarts” to characterize some members of this group - the type of club deb occasionally seen lolling on the arm of Prince Harry.

In Hollywood there is speculation about who has become a bleach bum. Katie Holmes was recently photographed coming out of a Sherman Oaks boutique called Pink Cheeks, that offers the full cheek treatment. Ms Holmes' publicist has denied that there was any winkie work going on.

As far as treatment goes there are a few different options. You can go see a cosmetic surgeon and get a prescription. Some bleaching products are similar to acne creams such as Retin-A or Azelex. These creams are most often prescribed for a condition called Melasma which causes skin discoloration. Over-the-counter bleaching creams are also an option. Some people claim that a 2% solution of Hydroquinone works quite well. There are also anal bleaching creams marketed under discreet brand names that retail for around $9 US.

Keeping your rear end in prime condition is an ongoing challenge according to the experts. To prevent future discoloration, they advise using a ‘moist wipe’ after going to the washroom, rather than toilet paper. Cottonelle Moist Wipes is one of the preferred options.

At first glance anal bleaching seems seriously weird. But I suppose if you are into a lifestyle that exposes your tush to critical scrutiny, it’s only natural to want to look your best. There is also the thought that if everyone else in your social circle is bleaching and you’re not, people may start coining unflattering nicknames for you.