Oddly Enough…

The most disgusting aspect of capitalism: Hundreds of people stuck in London and the hotels triple their prices
Hundreds of commuters spent Thursday night stranded in London and some have accused hoteliers of cashing in on the bomb attacks. Prices at a number of London's hotels increased by more than double on Thursday night.
A spokesman said hotel profiteering after a bombing attack was reprehensible. With the transport networks down and no way of returning home, one businessman from Manchester told the BBC he had paid £250 for an £80 room.
Commuters said they were appalled, and thousands chose to walk for hours to reach home rather than stay the night in a hotel. "That type of behaviour has gone, and was never acceptable in the first place. It makes us all look bad." "It's outrageous, and I believe the companies doing this should be named and shamed." news.bbc.co.uk

Man trying to escape "evil cloud"chasing him turns the wrong direction on a one way street hitting 5 vehicles, in other news cocaine is a helluva drug
A driver ploughed his pickup into a motorcycle, a car and a van while headed the wrong way on a busy road and told police that he didn't regret hurting people because "they were trying to stop him from getting away from the evil cloud that was chasing him," according to police.
Vasily Basargin, 28, was high on cocaine and methamphetamine when he caused three crashes involving a total of six vehicles, according to police. Two people were hospitalized. Hurt the worst was a motorcyclist who suffered a broken ankle, a dislocated shoulder and deep cuts, police said. "He's got vehicles dodging, trying to get out of the way, and pulling off to the side."
Basargin didn't have a driver's license. On that day, the city was in the thick of an unusual and intense thunderstorm, with billowing black clouds. adn.com

Husband attempts Tarzan escape through window after wife locks him in room to keep him from drinking with friends, ends up more like George of the Jungle
A Romanian man ended up in hospital after he tried to swing from tree to tree to escape his wife and go drinking. Stefan Trisca, 66, had been locked in the bedroom by his wife who was fed up with him going drinking with his friends. His Tarzan style escape plan backfired when he slipped from a vine and fell 15ft to the ground, breaking his arm, an ankle and a leg. Mr Trisca, of Bacau, said: "I didn't think it would be such a big deal to go from tree to tree and get down to the ground. Unfortunately it was more difficult than it looked in the Tarzan movies." dailytimes.com.pk

Woman wins epic court battle to flash her breasts whenever and wherever she damn well pleases
Elizabeth Book, the stay-at-home mom with a rose tattoo, has won the right to bare her breasts in her ongoing fight to go shirtless anywhere men can. On last Saturday, the 40-something "top-free" revolutionary demonstrated her right to protest by dropping her top at the at an auditorium next to three statues of women nude from the waist up.
"I will be as top-free as the statues," Book said in an e-mail to the nudists and naturists who have gathered to support her cause. "This is not over until Daytona is forced to recognize the unconstitutionality of their ordinances and statutes aimed at the American woman's breasts."
Book's victory in court was only temporary and probably will be appealed. southflorida.com

All these news and thousands more at Fark.com
Compiled by Ahmed Ashiful Haque

Wedded bliss or whimsical blunder?

And then said the prince to the princess, "Let's run away and get married milady!" Ah good old fairy tales- you can't help but get dreamy eyed after reading them. Nor can you help but start dreaming of doing…
Now wait just a minute and hold that thought! Before you start building sandcastles in the air let me just help you understand a thing or two.
If you think the prince asked the princess to elope on a whim then you are greatly mistaken. First of all since both of them were royalty, I'm pretty sure, neither set of royal parents would object to their getting married. Secondly being royalty I'm pretty sure they were both financially stable and could afford to get married. Thirdly and most importantly, I'm quite certain that both bride and groom were legally and officially adults when the prince made the offer.
My point being what- you're wondering? My point being that just because some prince offered to elope in some fairy tale doesn't make it wise for today's generation to do the same. The alarming rate at which my contemporary acquaintances are either eloping or giving into their parents' wish to marry them off has compelled me to write.
To those who have already tied the knot, I ask, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING PEOPLE? Okay before my temper runs ahead of me lets put this into perspective. Over the last two years I have seen more than four people, who are either my friends or acquaintances, between the age group of nineteen and twenty one, either elope or consent to a marriage arranged by their parents. Their spouses, might I add were in the same age group. My question to them is: why?
I mean all those people had a lifetime ahead of them in which to tie the knot. Then why marry now when they aren't financially stable or done with their education? While some of these people have still managed to continue on with their education, a lot of these people have surprisingly become accustomed to the hustle bustle of married life and don't want to bother with education. Others are barely out of high school and some are either expecting or filing for divorce. After all what seems romantic at twenty might seem rash at twenty-five.
I don't find eloping puzzling. But what I do find puzzling is when parents marry off their twenty-year-olds to other twenty-year-olds. I mean it's still understandable when these people elope. But what are their parents thinking? Shouldn't they know better. Duh. I guess not!
Well for now all I can say is this. For those who've already tied the knot, I wished you good luck. And for those who haven't tied the knot, please wait. You have your whole life ahead of you. And for those parents who expect their high school graduate kids to get married, what can I say. I'm too baffled for words!

By Riyana

Shout out

Hey people!
We have some serious Howlers this week, if you know what I mean. They are dramatic and oozing with emotion: just the kind we're looking for. For the less informed, Shout will allow you to tell people how much you dislike them; but not for long. So take advantage of the opportunity and send in your shouts to shout13@gmail.com By the way, just make sure the language in your 'angry' shouts is not over the top or they will see the editor's scissors before you can say Quidditch (the Potter spirit sure is catching up!). We will continue to print all kinds of shout as usual.

To Raya Mahbuba (the person who is responsible for all the bad things which is happening to me) I trusted you, I thought you were my best friend, but you have
traumatized me and I am scarred for life. I have never said this to anyone before but I HATE YOU, that's right I completely loathe you. I regret the day I first sat beside you in class but little did i know that by doing so you will ruin my life. I never want to see you again and I hope you get a piece of your own medicine.
From your ex-best friend Farina Mahmood

Hey Yafs,
Just because you are my miss doesn't make me scared of you! You were probably
eating while God was giving brains because you are so stupid! Ha ha! One Hate!,
MC AMASO
P.S - F1 U Scared Cause I Stole Jahan From Ya HAHA! Fool! Do Sumthin!

Dear JAM,
You are not a bad person, but you did something very bad pursued by some dogs. You colld b by friend but that thing made u not-trustable. I've nothing but pity on u.
spread

Farhana,
I tried to be perfect, it just wasn't worth it, I don't believe it makes me real. It just wasn't easy, my heart is so empty, I guess I knew it all along. If you believe its in my soul, I'd say all the words that I know. Just to see if it worked out, then I should let you know, that you are the girl of my dream.
Banna.

By the Hitch-hiker
[ATTENTION: This column is NOT responsible for negative (or otherwise) outcome of the messages printed in it. Please do NOT abuse the column by using it to play pranks etc. Also, all personal information including email addresses and telephone numbers will be printed at the sender's expense and we do NOT take ANY responsibility for any inconvenience to anyone]

Curry Spice Shuts Down Melanoma

Curcumin, the ingredient that gives curry its yellow hue, blocked the growth of melanoma tumor cells and even stimulated their death in the laboratory, researchers report.
"We could completely inhibit the growth of the tumor if we used a big enough dose," said study co-author Bharat B. Aggarwal, chief of the Cytokine Research Section in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. His report is set to appear in the Aug. 15 issue of Cancer.
Aggarwal and his colleagues exposed three different cell lines of melanoma to curcumin, which is found in turmeric, a spice used in curry dishes. Exposure to curcumin decreased the cell viability of all three cell lines, they found.
They zeroed in on a molecule called NF-kappa B, which is known to be overactive in several types of tumors, including melanoma. The turmeric shut down the molecule and that lead to inhibition of the tumor growth, Aggarwal explained.
In other preliminary research, including some by Aggarwal's team, turmeric has proven useful in treating multiple myeloma, as well as breast and pancreatic cancers.
The new findings were praised by Costas Koumenis, an associate professor of radiation oncology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. "I think it's an interesting and provocative study," he said. "It shows some new insight into how turmeric is working to inhibit the growth of melanoma cells."
Koumenis is studying whether curcumin can be used to enhance radiation therapy in deadly brain tumors called gliomas and other tumors in animals.
The Texas researchers also pinpointed exactly how the spice ingredient works to kill tumor cells, he said. "It gives us a better understanding of the mechanism of how it works to inhibit melanoma growth."
But he cautioned that the study was done in the lab, and the spice must be tested on animals, and eventually people, before it is proven to be effective.
For the past 20 years, Koumenis said, turmeric has been studied, mostly as an agent to prevent cancer. For instance, some researchers have found an association between diets rich in curcumin and reduced rates of colon cancer. But more recently, the focus has shifted to study the spice as a cancer treatment.

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay News

Who's Birthday Is It?

A mother took her three-year-old daughter to church for the first time. The church lights were lowered, and then the choir came down the aisle, carrying lighted candles.
All was quiet until the little one started to sing in a loud voice, "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you..."
English Patient
An English guy was very ill and his son went to visit him in the hospital. Suddenly, the father began to breathe heavily and grabbed the pen and pad by the bed. With his last ounce of strength he wrote a note,
dropped it, and died. The son was so overcome with grief that he didn't remember slipping the note into his pocket. At the funeral, he reached into the pocket of his coat and immediately felt the note. He excitedly
read it thinking it might be something he could recite during the service. It said:
YOU DUMB ASS -- GET OFF MY OXYGEN PIPE!
Perfect loaded Lexus
A lady walked into a Lexus dealership to browse, and spotted the most beautiful, perfect loaded Lexus and walked over to inspect it closer. As she bent forward to feel the fine leather upholstery, an unexpected little burst of flatulence escaped her. Very embarassed, she anxiously looked around to see if anyone had noticed.
Sure enough, there standing behind her was a salesman. With a pleasant smile he greeted her, "Good day, Madam. How may we help you today?"
Trying to maintain an air of sophistication and acting as though nothing had happened, she smiled back and asked, "Sir, what is the price of this lovely vehicle?" Still smiling pleasantly, he replied, "Madam, I'm very sorry to say! If you farted just touching it, you're gonna do a lot worse when you hear the price."