Mediterranean Living Bizarre
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Bizarre Coincidences

A distraught architect threw himself in front of a train in the London Underground in a suicide attempt.
Luckily, the train stopped inches from his body; in fact, it had to be jacked off its tracks to allow his removal.
When questioned, however, the driver informed officials he hadn't stopped the train.
An investigation revealed that one of the passengers, unaware of the suicide attempt, had independently pulled the emergency brake.
London Transport officials considered prosecuting the passenger for illegal use of the emergency brake but ultimately decided against it.

George D. Bryson, a businessman from Connecticut, decided to change his travel plans and stop in Louisville, Kentucky, a place he'd never visited before.
He went to a local hotel and made preparations to check into Room 307.
Before he could do so, a hotel employee handed him a letter addressed to his exact name.
It turned out the previous occupant of Room 307 was another George D. Bryson.

One three separate occasions - in the years 1664, 1785, and 1860 - there was a shipwreck in which only one person survived the accident.
Each time that one person was named Hugh Williams.

In 1983, a woman told British Rail authorities about a disturbing vision she had of a fatal train crash involving an engine with the numbers 47 216.
Two years later, a train had a fatal accident, similar to the one the woman had described.
The engine number, however, was 47 299.
Later, someone noticed that the number had previously been changed by nervous British Rail officials.
The original number: 47 216.

Several secret code words were devised by Allied military commanders during their preparations to invade Normandy in World War II.
Among them: "Utah," "Neptune," "Mulberry," "Omaha," and "Overlord."
Before the invasion could begin, however, all of these words appeared in a crossword puzzle in the London Daily Telegraph.
After interrogating the puzzle's author, an English school teacher, authorities became convinced that it was sheer, inexplicable coincidence.

Mediterranean Living News Update
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Livingstone backs terrorist's Tube job

Last updated at 16:18pm on 31st October 2006

Together: Mohammed Mostafa and father Abu Hamza at a Trafalgar Square rally. Mostafa worked on the Tube

Ken Livingstone today defended the right of Abu Hamza's son to work for a Tube contractor - despite his conviction for terrorism in Yemen.

Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, 25, from Wembley, was given a security pass and had access to restricted areas - including tunnels under Parliament - during his time as a labourer at nights and weekends on the Underground.

But the Mayor said he doubted the veracity of any conviction from Yemen and said Mostafa had passed Tube security checks.

He said it was wrong to restrict his ability to work simply because he was the son of Abu Hamza. Mr Livingstone said: "Has he broken any laws here in Britain? The answer is no. We are happy to have him working for us.

"No one can be blamed for what their parents do. All we ask is that they respect the law of the land and do not hurt anyone."

His extraordinary intervention came after Tube chiefs were accused of an appalling blunder after allowing Mostafa to work in restricted areas.

He was employed by a sub-contractor working for Tube Lines, the private sector consortia which looks after the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines.

The Jubilee line serves Westminster, the most politically sensitive station on the Underground and where security is supposed to be at its highest level.

Working as a labourer on the Jubilee line would have given Mostafa - jailed in Yemen in 1999 for plotting to kill Western tourists - access to the labyrinth of tunnels at Westminster and where the Tube runs virtually under Parliament.

Mostafa and his father were central figures at the Finsbury Park mosque when it was taken over by hardliners. Hamza, 48, is serving seven years for inciting murder and preaching racial hatred during sermons there.

Labour MP Andrew Dismore said today of Mostafa: "It beggars belief. It wasn't like he was nicked for shoplifting. It was terror offences in Yemen. You would think the Underground would be particularly sensitive to terrorism."

Questions are being asked over the Tube's security checks, which were supposed to have been increased following the 7/7 atrocities. Brian Cooke, chairman of the passenger watchdog TravelWatch, said: "It is surprising that LU does not appear to have greater control over the reference checks of people employed by contractors."

Mostafa was only stopped from working on the Tube when colleagues recognised him and informed bosses, who withdrew his pass. LU chiefs tried to play down Mostafa's employment, saying he was allowed to work because "he has no criminal convictions in the UK".

LU pointed out that he was not Tube staff but was employed by a "minor" sub-contractor. An LU spokesman said it was up to the contractor - which he refused to name - and not LU to make criminal checks.

The spokesman added: "The question of whether the checks were tight enough is a matter for the Government to address. We don't do criminal checks on every single individual who comes on to London Underground."

It was claimed that Mostafa had worked only for "a few weekends" on the network. Asked if LU checked the contractors to ensure they were carrying out the specified vetting procedures, the spokesman added: "There is an assumption that criminal checks are made." He said there were "spot checks" - but not as a regular and ongoing process.

The security blunder by the company was described as "appalling" by the father of one of the victims of the 7/7 bombings, in which 52 commuters were murdered. John Taylor, who lost his daughter Carrie, 24, in the attacks, said he was "shocked and stunned".

The security manager from Billericay said: "This man is a convicted terrorist and he has been allowed access to some of the most sensitive areas of the Tube."

Mostafa had previously attempted to forge a career in rap, with lyrics describing waging holy war and dying for Allah.

Mediterranean Living News Update
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Fish oil 'helped children manage anger'

31st October 2006

Children with severe behavioural problems were better able to control their angry outbursts during a six-month trial of fish oil supplements, it was revealed today.

Eaton Hall School in Norwich recorded a 68% reduction in the most extreme type of attack while pupils ate a healthy diet and took eye q fish oil supplements.

The school provides specialist education for boys with severe behavioural, social and emotional difficulties. The trial was carried out on 28 pupils aged 10-16.

During the six months before the trial began, the pupils were involved in 112 incidents of outbursts that required physical management to prevent a child harming themselves or others.

This dropped to 36 during the trial. Three pupils who exhibited the biggest change in behaviour were involved in few or no incidents at all.

Lisa Christensen, Norfolk County Council's director of children's services, said: "This is the first time that a study of this size just on children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties has been carried out.

"It was a unique opportunity because there was already detailed information about individual pupils' behaviour from before the changes in their diet and the introduction of the supplements."

Lianne Quantrill, the project co-ordinator at the school, said: "These statistics suggest that as a result of the new health programme and supplements, the children were able to control their anger better, so while outbursts still occurred, they were less extreme, requiring minimal physical intervention from a teacher."

Headteacher Valerie Moore said: "This was a worthwhile study. For some children it made a positive difference.

"Even if it had only helped one child, it would still have been worthwhile. Within the wide and varied behaviour modification methods we use at Eaton Hall, this was another strategy well worth exploring."

Mediterranean Living News Update
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Spain to hit "Costa del Crime" with UK hotline

31/10/2006

MADRID (Reuters) - British and Spanish police, struggling to track down expatriate fugitives and break into a web of foreign traffickers and fraudsters, have asked charity Crimestoppers to set up a tip-off hotline on the Costa del Sol.

Both countries hope Crimestoppers Costas, launched on Tuesday, will become an key intelligence source from the 350,000 expatriates living around the southern city of Malaga -- a group difficult to tap because of the language barrier.

For years British criminals have used the Spanish Costas as the perfect place to disappear among English-speaking expatriates and tourists, but British police are increasingly concerned it is being used by drug traffickers as a base for British operations.

A series of adverts in local papers and on the Crimestoppers website: www.crimestoppers-uk.org/wanted/spainwanted/ aims to hunt down criminals wanted in Britain for a range of crimes including fraud, trafficking, kidnap and murder.

Tip-offs passed to the charity in Britain help solve an average 17 crimes a day and one murder a week, and its head of operations Dave Cording said that until-now weak links between Spanish police and expatriates meant the pilot scheme could make an immediate impact.

"There is good information out there to be had and it’s just a question of coordinating the whole thing to bring these people back into the British crime justice system," he told Reuters.

Crimestoppers’ anonymous freephone number -- 900 555 111 -- will route calls directly to its London call centre and information will then be passed to Spanish police.

Ronnie Knight, jailed for one of Britain’s biggest-ever cash robberies hid on the Costa del Sol as did Kenneth Noye, who helped melt down millions of pounds of stolen gold from the Brinks Mat robbery and was jailed years later for stabbing to death a fellow motorist in a road-rage attack near London.

Spain curbs Romanian, Bulgarian workers

October 31 2006

Spain on Tuesday joined Britain in saying that it would restrict access to its labour market for Romanian and Bulgarian workers. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Spanish foreign minister, said the country would limit access to its market for two years when the two countries join the European Union in January, as it did with other new entrants in 2004.

Spain has one of the highest immigration levels in Europe and is a favourite destination for Romanian workers, whose language is similar. An estimated 400,000 Romanians and 160,000 Bulgarians already live in Spain, about half of them illegally.

Romania and Bulgaria have protested against the UK’s decision to limit immigration of their workers, disputing the notion that their EU membership would prompt a huge influx of workers to other European countries. They have threatened reciprocal restrictions.

Emilia Maslarova, Bulgarian labour minister, said she was “disappointed” by Britain’s decision to limit immigration from Romania and Bulgaria after adopting an open door policy with other EU entrants.

Ms Maslarova insisted the outflow of Bulgarian migrant workers would be small, citing an opinion poll carried out in August by Gallup International that showed only 46,000 Bulgarians of working age were seriously considering working abroad. Spain and Germany were the top destinations, while the UK ranked sixth, with only about 3,100 to 3,400 intending to go there.

It is debatable how much impact restrictions would have, since any EU citizen with a valid passport is free to go and live in another EU country for up to three months, and self-employed citizens are often not covered by job restrictions.

Representatives of Romanian and Bulgarian workers in Spain argue that restrictions will simply force the thousands of existing workers in the country to continue working off the books.

Gelu Vlasin, spokesman for the federation of Romanian associations in Spain, told Spanish daily El Pais this week: “Fears of an avalanche of immigrants is baseless. What is true is that Romanians work here...and they want to do so legally and to pay taxes.”

Spaniards have become increasingly concerned by the tide of immigrants, despite the fact unemployment between July and September hit its lowest point in 27 years. In a survey published last week, 60 per cent said immigration was their main worry, up from 28 per cent in May last year.

Mr Moratinos gave no indication of the kind of restrictions Spain intended to impose, but Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Spain’s deputy prime minister, said last week any curbs would be less tough than those promised by the UK, which aims to place strict visa requirements on skilled workers.

Focus on terrorists, not tactics

It's easy to defend against what they planned last time, but it's shortsighted.

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I came across this on security...it's dated 13th August, so bear that in mind when reading dates and timings.

Author:
Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author of "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World."
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By Bruce Schneier
Minneapolis Star Tribune
August 13, 2006

Hours-long waits in the security line. Ridiculous prohibitions on what you can carry onboard. Last week's foiling of a major terrorist plot and the subsequent airport security graphically illustrates the difference between effective security and security theater.

None of the airplane security measures implemented because of 9/11 -- no-fly lists, secondary screening, prohibitions against pocket knives and corkscrews -- had anything to do with last week's arrests.
And they wouldn't have prevented the planned attacks, had the terrorists not been arrested. A national ID card wouldn't have made a difference, either.

Instead, the arrests are a victory for old-fashioned intelligence and investigation. Details are still secret, but police in at least two countries were watching the terrorists for a long time. They followed leads, figured out who was talking to whom, and slowly pieced together both the network and the plot.

The new airplane security measures focus on that plot, because authorities believe they have not captured everyone involved. It's reasonable to assume that a few lone plotters, knowing their compatriots are in jail and fearing their own arrest, would try to finish the job on their own. The authorities are not being public with the details -- much of the "explosive liquid" story doesn't hang together -- but the excessive security measures seem prudent.

But only temporarily. Banning box cutters since 9/11, or taking off our shoes since Richard Reid, has not made us any safer. And a long-term prohibition against liquid carry-ons won't make us safer, either. It's not just that there are ways around the rules, it's that focusing on tactics is a losing proposition.

It's easy to defend against what the terrorists planned last time, but it's shortsighted. If we spend billions fielding liquid-analysis machines in airports and the terrorists use solid explosives, we've wasted our money. If they target shopping malls, we've wasted our money.

Focusing on tactics simply forces the terrorists to make a minor modification in their plans. There are too many targets -- stadiums, schools, theaters, churches, the long line of densely packed people before airport security -- and too many ways to kill people.

Security measures that require us to guess correctly don't work, because invariably we will guess wrong. It's not security, it's security theater: measures designed to make us feel safer but not actually safer.

Airport security is the last line of defense, and not a very good one at that. Sure, it'll catch the sloppy and the stupid -- and that's a good enough reason not to do away with it entirely -- but it won't catch a well-planned plot.

We can't keep weapons out of prisons; we can't possibly keep them off airplanes.

The goal of a terrorist is to cause terror.

Last week's arrests demonstrate how real security doesn't focus on possible terrorist tactics, but on the terrorists themselves. It's a victory for intelligence and investigation, and a dramatic demonstration of how investments in these areas pay off.

And if you want to know what you can do to help?

Don't be terrorized.

They terrorize more of us if they kill some of us, but the dead are beside the point.

If we give in to fear, the terrorists achieve their goal even if they were arrested. If we refuse to be terrorized, then they lose -- even if their attacks succeed.

Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author of "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World."

"Sexsomniacs" puzzle medical researchers

Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:35am ET24

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters Life!) -

Researchers are struggling to understand a rare medical condition where sufferers unknowingly demand, or actually have, sex while asleep, New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday.

Research into sexsomnia -- making sexual advances toward another person while asleep -- has been hampered as sufferers are so embarrassed by the problem they tend not to own up to it, while doctors do not ask about it.

As yet there is no cure for the condition, which often leads to difficulties in relationships.

"It really bothers me that I can't control it," Lisa Mahoney told the magazine. "It scares me because I don't think it has anything to do with the partner. I don't want this foolish condition to hurt us in the long run."

Most researchers view sexsomnia as a variant of sleepwalking, where sufferers are stuck between sleep and wakefulness, though sexsomniacs tend to stay in bed rather than get up and walk about.

While sleepwalking affects two to four percent of adults, sexsomnia is not thought to be as common a problem, according to Nik Trajanovic, a researcher at the sleep and alertness clinic at Canada's Toronto Western Hospital.

But an Internet survey of sexsomniacs carried out in 2005 that drew 219 reliable respondents concluded it was more prevalent than medical case reports alone might suggest.

"Most of the time sleep sex occurs between people who are already partners," Mark Pressman, a sleep specialist at Lankenan Hospital in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, told the New Scientist.

"Sometimes they hate it," added Pressman of the reactions of sexsomniacs' partners. "Sometimes they tolerate it. On rare occasions you have stories of people liking it better than waking sex."

With no cure, addressing triggering factors -- stress or sleep deprivation -- can help, while Michael Mangan, a psychologist at the University of New Hampshire in the U.S. has set up a Web site, www.sleepsex.org, to help sufferers.

Meanwhile Trajanovic is devising a procedure for diagnosing sexsomnia in legal cases where sufferers have been accused of sexual assault.

URGENT - ALERT FOR NEW IE7

Spoofing bug found in IE 7

Description:
A weakness has been discovered in Internet Explorer, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct phishing attacks.

(A phishing attack is where a rogue website attempts to discover secret information about you...credit card details and othe confidential stuff)

The problem is that it's possible to display a popup with a somewhat spoofed address bar where a number of special characters have been appended to the URL. This makes it possible to only display a part of the address bar, which may trick users into performing certain unintended actions.

Secunia has constructed a demonstration, which is available at:
http://secunia.com/internet_explorer_7_popup_address_bar_spoofing_test/

The weakness is confirmed in Internet Explorer 7 on a fully patched Windows XP SP2 system.

Solution:
Do not follow links from untrusted sources.

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More....

Security experts have found a weakness in Internet Explorer 7 that could help crooks mask phishing scams, the type of attack Microsoft designed the browser to thwart.

IE 7, released last week, allows a Web site to display a pop-up that can contain a spoofed Web address, security monitoring company Secunia said Wednesday. An attacker could exploit this weakness to trick people into believing they are on a trusted Web site when in fact they are viewing a malicious page, Secunia said in an alert.

"This makes it possible to only display a part of the address bar, which may trick users into performing certain unintended actions," Secunia said. The company has created a demonstration that shows a Microsoft Web address in the pop up window, but displays content from Secunia.

For more on this...
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6129626.html