IIIT'S HUMP DAY!!!!
Some things to ponder as we grow fonder of the finer things that appease and appeal our tingling
intellectual feelings...Bon Jour!

Iraqi Shias abducted and killed
Topic: WORLD
The victims were reported to be members of the same extended family, living in the mainly Sunni town of Latifiya, about 30km (20 miles) south of Baghdad. Meanwhile, a web statement attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq said it was holding five Sudanese hostages, and would kill them unless Sudan cut ties with Iraq. READ MORE--->

Because of Attacks, Israel Declares Part of Gaza Off Limits
Topic: WORLD
JERUSALEM, Dec. 28 - Israel on Wednesday declared the northernmost part of the Gaza Strip a "no go" zone for Palestinians and pounded the area with artillery shells in an attempt to halt the persistent Palestinian rocket fire from the area. READ MORE--->

Billionaire Builder of China
Topic: Economy
SHANGHAI, Dec. 28 - There are only 10 known billionaires in China, and he is one of them. His name is Xu Rongmao, and he is no Donald Trump, Sam Zell or Mortimer Zuckerman. He's bigger. READ MORE--->

Armani enters Dubai's high-stakes hotel market
Topic: Society & Entertainment
By Sara Gay Forden Bloomberg News
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Giorgio Armani, who started his fashion empire with an unlined jacket in 1975, is counting on a $1 billion agreement to develop hotels with Dubai's Emaar Properties to help double sales at Armani Casa, his five-year-old homewares business READ MORE--->
The growing power of the Middle East in European fashion

Broadway's Numbers for 2005 Are Strong
Topic: Society & Entertainment
TAKE A PEAK--->

VOTE FOR THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE AT PEOPLE MAGAZINE
2005 SEXIEST MAN ALIVE
14 of PEOPLE's hottest picks, including cover star Matthew McConaughey READ MORE--->

From Mel Gibson to Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington,
check out 20 years of PEOPLE's Sexiest Men
and vote on your favorite

Still shopping? Buy Tickets for Gounod's Rome et Juliet at the Met
Topic: Society & Entertainment
...the final scene, which remains the most radical alteration of the Shakespeare play. In the Gounod version, Juliette, who has pretended to be dead, revives just long enough to sing a long duet with Rom?o, who has just taken poison but is still able to hit a high C. READ MORE--->

Speaking of Romance
Let's end on a romantic note!
Unwind with these fine verses(viewer discretion advised)

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine" --Song of Songs

The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nefwazi
Translated by Sir Richard Burton:
"Know, O Vizir (God be good to you!),
that this chapter contains the most useful instructions
--how to increase the intensity of... "Read More--->

and other romantic/sexual text

Necessity is the mother of invention or is it just a mother ******?
Topic: Society & Entertainment
LET'S VISIT THE GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS!

Largest Artificial Island
The Mega-Float island at Yokosuka Port, Tokyo Bay, Tokyo, Japan, is 1,000 m (3,280 ft 10 in) long, 121 m (396 ft 11.7 in) wide, and 3 m (9 ft 10 in) deep. It was opened to the public on August 10, 1999.

Largest Bubble Wall
Fan Yang (Canada) created a bubble wall 47.7 m (156 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft) high, with an area of around 371 sq m (4,000 sq ft) at the Kingdome Pavilion, Seattle, Washington, USA, on August 11, 1997. The bubbles stayed up for 5–10 sec.

Longest Sand Sculpture
The longest sand sculpture was named The GTE Directories Ultimate Sand Castle. It was 26,375.9 m (86,535 ft) long, and was built by more than 10,000 volunteers at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA on May 31, 1991.

Tallest Snowman
Residents of Bethel, Maine, USA, and surrounding towns, built a snowman measuring 34.63 m (113 ft 7.5 in) tall, over a period of 14 days, completing him on February 17, 1999. Building Angus the snowman was no mean feat for the people of Bethel, especially when they were working in below-zero temperatures. "People had their doubts. But when we started putting some height on it, we changed their minds," said volunteer David Berry. "We began to see the light at the end of the tunnel." Some townsfolk wanted to give Angus a traditional "corncob pipe", but the local chamber of commerce decided against it because it didn't want to promote smoking. WANT TO KNOW MORE? Originally the residents of Bethel wanted to complete Angus in time for their winter festival in early January 1999, but there wasn't enough snow. Most of it was created using a snow gun similar to the ones used at ski resorts. His unique features were made using four wreaths for eyes, 1.8 m (6 ft) of chicken wire and muslin for his nose, and six automobile tyres for his button mouth. His arms were two 3-m (10-ft) trees.
CLICK FOR MORE AMAZING FEATS--->

GUESS WHO
Topic: Society & Entertainment
IT was so glorious out in the country; it was summer; the cornfields were yellow, the oats were green, the hay had been put up in stacks in the green meadows, and the stork went about on his long red legs, and chattered Egyptian, for this was the language he had learned from his good mother. All around the fields and meadows were great forests, and in the midst of these forests lay deep lakes. Yes, it was right glorious out in the country. In the midst of the sunshine there lay an old farm, with deep canals about it, and from the wall down to the water grew great burdocks, so high that little children could stand upright under the loftiest of them. It was just as wild there as in the deepest wood, and here sat a Duck upon her nest; she had to hatch her ducklings; but she was almost tired out before the little ones came; and then she so seldom had visitors. The other ducks liked better to swim about in the canals than to run up to sit down under a burdock, and cackle with her. 1 At last one egg-shell after another burst open. “Piep! Piep!” it cried READ MORE--->

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS COVERS THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Topic: Society & Entertainment
Looking for a sweet, soothing tale to waft you toward dreamland? Look somewhere else. The stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s serve up life as generations of central Europeans knew it—capricious and often cruel. The two brothers, patriots determined to preserve Germanic folktales, were only accidental entertainers. Once they saw how the tales bewitched young readers, the Grimms, and editors aplenty after them, started "fixing" things. Tales gradually got softer, sweeter, and primly moral. Yet all the polishing never rubbed away the solid heart of the stories, now read and loved in more than 160 languages. READ MORE--->

READ THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

TALES FROM AFRICA
Topic: Society & Entertainment
THE KINGS MAGIC DRUM(NIGERIA)

THE STORY OF LIGHTNING AND THUNDER(NIGERIAN)

The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (I)(ETHIOPIAN)

KWANZAA GREETINGS

The Seven Principles (Nguzo Saba) of Kwanzaa are:
Umoja (oo-MOH-jah): Unity
Success starts with Unity. Unity of family, community, nation and race.

Kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-goo-LEE-ah): Self-Determination
To be responsible for ourselves. To create your own destiny.

Ujima (oo-JEE-mah): Collective work and responsibility
To build and maintain your community together. To work together to help one another within your community.

Ujamaa (oo-jah-MAH): Collective economics
To build, maintain, and support our own stores, establishments, and businesses.

Nia (NEE-ah): Purpose
To restore African American people to their traditional greatness. To be responsible to Those Who Came Before (our ancestors) and to Those Who Will Follow (our descendants).

Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah): Creativity

Using creativity and imagination to make your communities better than wh
at you inherited.

Imani (ee-MAH-nee): Faith
Believing in our people, our families, our educators, our leaders, and the righteousness of the African American struggle.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KWANZAA

Israeli planes attack militant base in Lebanon
Topic: WORLD
Agencies Jerusalem: Israeli aircraft attacked a Palestinian group's training base south of Beirut early on Wednesday in response to rocket attacks on Israel, an army spokeswoman said. "This is in response to the firing of projectile rockets last night toward Israeli communities," the Israeli military said. It said it views such attacks with "extreme severity" and holds Lebanon responsible. The strike was the deepest in Lebanon since June 2004 and there was no immediate information on casualties or damage. "Israel has a right to defend its citizens. The Lebanese government is responsible for not dismantling terror organisations," the spokeswoman said. The base is operated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a small, Syrian-backed group that has been waging a decades long fight against Israel. Late on Tuesday, three rockets were fired into the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona from Lebanon, slamming into residential areas and wounding one, the army said. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

ABC NEWS PEOPLE OF THE YEAR
Topic: HEALTH/SAFETY
US COAST GUARD READ MORE-->

A 12 MILLION DOLLAR BRA AND OTHER FANTASY GIFTS
Topic: Society & Entertainment
Some people need a solid gold Zippo cigarette lighter almost as badly as the rest of us need to convulsively laugh that such a product even exists. Indeed, Zippo's 18-karat gold lighter, on sale for $3,500, is among the many fantasy gifts available for the holiday season. Nearly every retailer and manufacturer has at least one item so outrageously expensive, it's probably designed more for the PR value than for actual sales. Still, some people will actually buy the $175 crystal PEZ dispenser, available with the face of some of your favorite cartoon figures. READ MORE-->

Dozens charged over Katrina fraud
Topic: CRIME
Forty-nine people are facing criminal charges over their involvement in a scheme to steal Red Cross funds meant for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Many of those indicted worked at a Red Cross call centre in California and are accused of helping family and friends make false claims for relief money. READ MORE--->

HAVE A BALL IN NEW YORK IN THE NEW YEAR!
Topic: Society & Entertainment
Dec. 28 - New York City is preparing for the annual New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square with traditions dating back almost a century. Penny Tweedie reports. Each year hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Times Square to welcome the new year and watch the traditional descent of special celebratory ball. The ball has been a central part of the celebrations since 1906. READ MORE--->

Powell on Iraq, Domestic Spying and Baseball
Topic: GOVERNMENT/DEFENSE
Former Secretary of State Visits 'This Week'
Dec. 25, 2005 — On a special holiday edition of "This Week," former Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed Iraq, the current debate on domestic spying and life after the State Department. Following is a transcript of his interview wtih George Stephanopoulos. READ MORE-->