Ten fetishes you don't want to know about

1) Feederism: Fat-bottomed girls really do make the rockin' world go 'round -- that is, if you're in the world of "feederism," or "erotic feeding." The "feeder" gets off on providing enormous amounts of tasty treats to the "feedee," and both get a sexual high from the whole arrangement. Man, how can I get a piece of this action? (www.feeder.co.uk)

2) Ballbusting: I have been called a ballbuster on many an occasion. But the next time someone calls me that, I'm gonna show them the true meaning of "ballbusting," as defined by the fetish community. And I've got the stilettos to do it right. (www.callnetuk.com/home/busted)

3) Vomit: What do you get when you cross a bulimic with an emetophile? The perfect relationship. Fans of RateMyVomit.com will tell you so. Frankly, this is one fetish that makes me wanna puke. (www.vomitonline.com)

4) Clowns: Send them in, tied and pied, 'cause that's just how clown fetishists like them. After all, what's hotter than a big red nose, massive clown shoes and clown makeup? Oh, that's right -- anything. (www.knottyclown.com)

5) Plushy: Serious practitioners can get specially made plush toys with conveniently placed orifices, like the very popular Japanese-made "Softy" (www.wonderfarms.com). The less devout can opt for sex with a big, fluffy Donald Duck or Pikachu. It's all kinds of wrong. (plushie.info)

6) Robots: Although most robot fetishists might prefer a real robot, they have to settle for men or women who take on a robotic persona while performing sex acts. This is what happens when you're 31 years old and still living in your parents' basement, collecting Star Trek toys and watching reruns of Battlestar Galactica. (www.scifisexnetwork.com)

7) Smoking: Lung cancer and emphysema never looked so erotic. For these people, Philip Morris is the only tool they need for hot sex. You've heard the phrase "Blow it out your ass"? Well, these people really do. (www.smoking-fetish-plus.com)

8) Infantalism: These grown men and women revert to infant behavior for their sexual kicks. They wear diapers (and really go in them), drink from baby bottles, suck on their thumbs. What the hell has to happen in early childhood to cause this? (www.adult-babies.com)

9) Coprophilia: Here's where the shit really hits the fan. I mean, it actually hits the fan. And the couch. And the lamp. And anyone in close proximity. It has to be actual crap, though. Used copies of Mariah Carey's Glitter do not count. (scat-links.com)

10) Ophidicism: Some women do this with snakes. That's as far as I'm going with that description. Let's just say it makes coprophilia look like a tea party.

—Deb Berry

I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.

Albert Einstein
    --The World As I See It

By Paul Salopek Tribune foreign correspondent

Many children seem to be cursed these days in the impoverished hinterlands of Angola - accused of witchcraft by their families, then systematically abused, abandoned and even killed for imagined acts of witchcraft.

In Uige, a sleepy hill town near the Congo border, children's advocates said that a teenager accused of sorcery was set ablaze by a mob that included his own relatives. Another boy was buried alive, beneath the corpse of a man he allegedly hexed, rights workers said.

Some blamed the recent proliferation of fire-and-brimstone evangelical churches in Angola, whose apocalyptic vision of the universe--and profit from exorcisms--meshes nicely with an epidemic of witchcraft.

GOP Survey Question Draws Ire in Asia

GENARO C. ARMAS

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A voter survey mislabels Thailand and the Philippines as countries that "harbor and aid terrorists," say officials from both governments.

The National Republican Congressional Committee's "Ask America 2004 Nationwide Policy Survey" asks: "Should America broaden the war on terrorism into other countries that harbor and aid terrorists such as Thailand, Syria, Somalia, the Philippines, etc.?"

Accompanying the NRCC survey was a four-page letter signed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that seeks money to help "keep the Republican Party in control of the U.S. House."

Officials from both nations say the question came as a surprise since the Bush administration has praised their countries for their roles in the anti-terror war.

Raped Again?

by R. Scott Moxley

Cavallo plays the slut card. Photo by James Bunoan Because she was a minor, the Rancho Cucamonga girl is known in court only as "Jane Doe." Prosecutors allege Gregory Haidl, 18, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both 19, drugged her unconscious and then videotaped themselves having sex with her on a pool table in a Newport Beach home owned by Haidl’s father—Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl. In his motion, Cavallo called the alleged victim a "slut" who "craved" gang-bang sex, was "proud" of her promiscuity, dreamed of becoming a porn star and actually directed the sexual encounter with the defendants while she "feigned" unconsciousness.  Cavallo argued the girl had a well-deserved reputation as a "slut" and so the defendants "conducted themselves accordingly."

"Passion" film prompts another confession

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- A Norwegian man trying to put his neo-Nazi past behind him confessed to bombing a youth group's headquarters in the 1990s, saying he admitted his guilt after seeing "The Passion of the Christ."

Olsen, who was convicted of murder when he was a teenager and served 12 years in prison, said he was moved to his confession by Mel Gibson's film that graphically portrays Christ's crucifixion.

As he entered the courtroom for his detention hearing Monday, Olsen, in a choked voice, told reporters that "Jesus lives" and "I distance myself from my past and neo-Nazism."

Couple injured in ice cream truck turf war

By Lindsay Faber
Staff Writer

A years-long battle over a Harlem ice cream truck route exploded into a violent turf war when one couple assaulted another couple.

The assaulted couple, Luis Marrero, 64, and Juana Marrero, 63, were both in critical condition. Juana Marrero was on life support, suffering from numerous head injuries.

Fernando Esparza, 51, and Librada Veron, 49, were arrested and charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

"They just pull up behind our trucks and sell the ice cream for cheaper and all the kids run there."

Treasury's Snow says jobs coming

By John Byczkowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The outsourcing of U.S. jobs "is part of trade ... and there can't be any doubt about the fact that trade makes the economy stronger," Treasury Secretary John Snow said Monday in Cincinnati.

United State Sec. of Treasury John Snow talks about the economy to Enquirer business writers and members of the Editorial Board. (Michael E. Keating photo)

Snow said outsourcing "plays a modest role at best" in the current jobless expansion.

Investment banker Goldman Sachs last year estimated "offshoring" accounted for 1 million of the 2.7 million manufacturing jobs lost since summer 2000.

Asked about the outsourcing of American jobs - an emerging hot button in the presidential election - Snow at first deflected the question. "What we really talk about is jobs, and the creation of jobs."

"You can outsource a lot of activities and get them done just as well at a lower cost."

KALISPELL, Mont. - Laurie Kollman was tearing up triple-washed spinach Sunday night when her 11-year-old daughter Ashley saw something moving. It was a small tree frog.

"All last week I'd been pulling out handfuls of spinach," said Kollman, who said she'd used the spinach in three earlier salads. "Then last night I was making salad for today's lunch and found it."

Kollman said the frog perked up after it was freed from the fridge and she took it to school Monday to show to her 20 third-grade students.

The students quickly named it Popeye.