See you in my new home: TODAY

My New Address: Today

Mayonnaise, no Ketchup

A Texas woman was sentenced to 10 years in jail for running over the manager of a McDonald's with her car because she wanted mayonnaise on her cheeseburger. Nolan, 37, showed no emotion Thursday as the sentence was read in court following a trial in which the McDonald's manager, Sherry Jenkins, said she gave Nolan the mayonnaise she requested, but she flew into a rage anyway.
"I gave her everything she asked for -- mayonnaise, no mustard, onions, everything I could possibly do for this lady. Mayo, mayo, mayo, and it's still not good enough," Jenkins told reporters outside the courtroom. When she went outside to write down Nolan's license plate number, Nolan ran her over, breaking her pelvis. Nolan testified that she was putting ketchup on her cheeseburger when she accidentally struck Jenkins. (more)

Stolen tombstone returned to Iran

An ancient tombstone stolen from a mosque in Iran has been returned to the Iranian Embassy in London. The Metropolitan police said their arts and antiques unit, which worked with Interpol to find the tombstone, seized it from a London-based antiques dealer who was trying to sell it for £100,000 ($170,000).
The 900-year-old tombstone, or funerary mihrab, is inscribed in Kufic, early Arabic lettering, and marks the death of Abdullah in the Islamic year 533 - or AD 1138. Police believe the stone, which is 73 by 49 centimetres, was shipped to the UK after being taken from a mosque in Yazd. more

Historic maths problem 'cracked'

A 22-year-old student at Stockholm University, Elin Oxenhielm, may have solved part of one of mathematics' greatest unsolved problems. Called Hilbert's problem 16, it has confounded workers for over a century. But in a few hours of inspiration she may have seen the light. Her solution is to be published in a maths journal. Her research into so-called planar polynomial vector fields may have practical applications for computer simulations in science and economics. more

Congo ferry death toll reaches 163

At least 163 people were drowned when two ferries collided on a lake in Democratic Republic of Congo, more than the 50 initially reported missing, the government said on Thursday.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs said 222 people escaped from the disaster involving two ferries carrying an estimated 450-500 people. The accident occurred on Monday during a storm. "It was two boats that collided due to a strong storm. The latest information we received at 8.30 a.m. this morning is that we're talking about 163 dead, that's bodies found, and the search for survivors was continuing." more

Is this Mocondo?

Today we have a new governor in the state of California who is going to fix all of our problems in two hours after we finish our popcorn and soda pop right? Well in this State we just had a firestorm and a very strange hale along with rain which flooded parts of Los Angles in three hours. All this reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Mocondo. I do live in Mocondo don’t I? Firestorm charred the forests and homes. Because of the rain people might need to use boats in LA (like it’s going to make a difference in the flow of the traffic) and who knows what else might happen next. We’ll wait and see.
All I know now is that our Mocondo has a lot of problems and our hero Arnold with his Austrian accent needs a lot of help. Maybe we need to give him a pair of wings or he should be a magician so he can make our problems disappear. Maybe terminator idea wasn’t so bad after all. (shideh, San Diego)

Nathan Pidcock poses with his mother, in their home Monday, Nov. 10, 2003, in Riverton, Utah. The 5-year-old says a toe on his left foot was pricked by a hypodermic needle inside a shoe on Halloween at a Wal-Mart store in Sandy, Utah. His mother is asking the world's largest discount retailer to pay for his HIV and hepatitis tests. Pidcock has not heard from the company about her request. (A.P.)

Iranian-Americans among most educated groups in the U.S.
According to a recent fact sheet released by the Iranian Studies group at MIT (ISG) in Cambridge, MA, an independent academic group focusing on social, economic and political issues of Iran and Iranians, the Iranian-American community is among the most educated ethnic groups in the U. S. Based on the census ancestry data, Iranian-Americans have the highest percentage of people with graduate degrees among the 67 ancestry groups covered by the census. More than 26% of Iranian-Americans have Master's degrees or higher, many Of them PhDs or MDs.

According to the 2000 census, there are 338,000 individuals Of Primary and secondary Iranian ancestry living in the U. S. at the moment. Many community members argue that this number may not represent all of the community, given that the troubled relationship between the U.S. and Iran in the last 25 years has made many Iranian-Americans are uneasy at identifying themselves with their country of origin.

The fact sheet released by the ISG also highlights the Median income-levels of Iranian-Americans, which according to census data are around 20% higher than the national average. The report also emphasizes the role of Iranian-Americans in the U. S. economy, where they have founded or serve in leadership positions in many Fortune 500 companies such as EBay, Verizon, AT&T, Intel, Cisco, Motorola, Oracle, Nortel and Lucent. The value of these companies exceeds US $1000 Billion. more

Worst California Wildfires!

Some of the worst wildfires in California in the past seven decades, based on number of deaths, buildings destroyed or acreage burned:

- October 1999: Jones Fire, near Redding in Shasta County. One volunteer firefighter killed, 176 homes and hundreds of other buildings destroyed, 26,200 acres of land burned. Cause believed to be accidental.

- November 1993: Topanga Fire, Malibu and nearby areas in Los Angeles County. Three deaths; 323 homes;18,000 acres. Arson caused. The fire was among more than 20 that for about two weeks raced through Southern California, killing four. More than 1,000 homes and 193,814 acres of land burned.

- August 1992: Fountain Fire, Shasta County. 636 buildings; 63,960 acres. (Arson)

- October 1991: Tunnel Fire, Oakland hills of Alameda County. 25 dead; 3,276 homes and apartments; 1,520 acres. A fire that was believed contained rekindled when an ember ignited a tree.

- June 1990: Painted Cave Fire, Santa Barbara County. One death; 641 homes, apartment complexes and other structures; 4,900 acres. (Arson)

- November 1980: Panorama Fire, San Bernardino foothills. Four dead; 325 homes; 23,600 acres. (Arson)

- September 1970: Laguna Fire, San Diego County mountains. Six dead; 382 structures; 175,425 acres. Power lines.

- November 1966: Loop Fire, Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County. 12 firefighters killed; 2,028 acres. Power line.

- November 1961: Bel Air-Brentwood Fire, Los Angeles County. 484 homes; 6,090 acres. Cause undetermined but believed accidental.

- July 1953: Rattlesnake Fire, Glenn County. 15 firefighters killed in Mendocino National Forest; 1,300 acres. (Arson)

- October 1933: Griffith Park Fire, Los Angeles County. 29 welfare workers clearing brush were killed; about 47 acres. Cause undetermined.
(By The Associated Press)