OTHER NEWS

LOCAL HEROES: FEDERAL COURT APPROVES RIGHT OF WOMAN TO PROTEST TOPLESS

NBC 6, ORLANDO FL - A woman, who was arrested when she exposed her
breasts to protest laws that bar women from publicly going bare
breasted, can demonstrate topless as part of a legitimate political
protest, an appeals court has ruled. The Seventh Judicial Circuit Court
of Appeals on Oct. 5 upheld a Volusia County judge's opinion that
Elizabeth Book could protest while topless on the city's Main Street
Bridge

http://www.nbc6.net/news/10068660/detail.html

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U.S. MALE TESTOSTERONE LEVELS ARE FALLING

HEALTH DAY NEWS - The testosterone-fueled American male may be losing
his punch. Over the past two decades, levels of the sex hormone in U.S.
men have been falling steadily, a new study finds. . . The reasons for
this trend are unclear, said researchers at the New England Research
Institutes in Waterdown, Mass. They noted that neither aging nor certain
other health factors, such as smoking or obesity, can fully explain the
decline. . . Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and plays an
important role in maintaining bone and muscle mass. Low testosterone
levels have been linked to health problems, including lowered libido and
diabetes. It's normal for men's testosterone levels to peak in their
late 20s and then start to gradually decline, experts say. But this
study found that overall testosterone levels are lower than they were 20
years ago. "In 1988, men who were 50 years and older had higher serum
testosterone concentrations than did comparable 50-year-old men in 1996.
This suggests that some factor other than age may be contributing to the
observed declines in testosterone over time," Travison said.

http://health.yahoo.com/news/168226

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BRITISH SPY CAMS INSPIRE VIGILANTE ATTACKS

SARAH LYALL, NY TIMES - To drive in Britain is to measure out your trip
in speed cameras. As inevitable as road signs and as implacable as the
meanest state trooper, they lurk everywhere, the government's main
weapon against impatient drivers. It is a shame that so many people hate
them.

Among the ways that motorists have made this clear: spraying the cameras
with paint; knocking them over; covering them in festive wrapping paper
and garbage bags; digging them up; shooting, hammering and firebombing
them; festooning them with burning tires; and filling their casings with
self-expanding insulation foam that, when activated, blows them apart.

Visual examples can be seen on the Web site of a vigilante group called
Motorists Against Detection, which displays color photographs of
smashed, defaced and burned-out cameras — pornography for the
anti-camera movement.

In a nation that is estimated to have four million surveillance cameras
— the most per capita in the world, civil liberties groups say — there
are currently as many as 6,000 spots for speed cameras, in the country
and in the city, on highways, urban arteries, suburban streets and rural
lanes. . .

"Speed cameras can't detect tailgating, bad driving, drink driving or
drug driving," said a spokesman for the group, explaining his
objections. An occasional contributor to British radio debates about
traffic regulations, he uses the name Captain Gatso — after the most
common form of speed camera — because, he says, he wants to avoid
arrest.

The government does not keep figures on camera vandalism, so it is
impossible to confirm Captain Gatso's claim that the group, known as
M.A.D., has attacked more than 1,000 cameras, or that its members are
"grown-up people, with normal jobs, who are cheesed off," rather than
hooligans engaging in "willy-nilly childish vandalism."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/world/europe/27camera.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=
9ed90810db12272a&ex=1162008000&pagewanted=all


MOTORISTS AGAINST DETECTION
http://www.speedcam.co.uk/welcome.htm

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BUSH JIHADISTS EXTEND ABSTINENCE CAMPAIGN TO ADULTS - 90% OF WHOM HAVE
SEX WITHOUT BUSH'S PERMISSION

SHARON JAYSON, USA TODAY - The federal government's "no sex without
marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore. Now the government is
targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only
programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will
be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for
2007. The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say
it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual
behavior of adults.

"They've stepped over the line of common sense," said James Wagoner,
president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit
that supports sex education. "To be preaching abstinence when 90% of
people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an
ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health."

Abstinence education programs, which have focused on preteens and teens,
teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable
method to prevent pregnancy or disease. They give no instruction on
birth control or safe sex. The National Center for Health Statistics
says well over 90% of adults ages 20-29 have had sexual intercourse. . .


http://digg.com/politics/Abstinence_message_targets_adults_now

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KATRINA EMERGENCY COTTAGE SEEPING INTO MAINSTREAM

RON SCHERER, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - A model home here that gives
Katrina's displaced an alternative to trailer living is starting to take
the country by storm. The Katrina cottage - with living quarters about
the size of a McMansion bathroom - is now appealing to people well
beyond the flood plain. Californians want to build one in their
backyards to use for rental income to help with the mortgage payment.
Modestly paid kayakers in Colorado see it as a way to finally afford a
house. Elsewhere, people envision building one so a parent can live
nearby.

Flying in the face of a "big house" trend, designers of these tiny
abodes seem to have found a new housing niche. Some experts cite an
interest by some Americans in downsizing their habitats, a reaction to
the supersized home, and note the challenge of heating and cooling a big
house at a time when family budgets are flat. Others note that changing
demographics - more empty-nesters and single adults - may mean a timely
debut of the Lilliputian homes. . .

Commercialization of the concept is limited - but that is about to
change. Late this year, perhaps as soon as next month, Lowe's, a
national hardware and building-supply company, intends to begin selling
the plans and materials for four models in 30 stores in the Gulf Coast
region.

The "Lowe's Katrina Cottage" offerings range from a two-bedroom,
544-square-foot model to a three-bedroom, 936-square-foot house. The
cottages will cost $45 to $55 per square foot to build, Lowe's
estimates, meaning the smallest would run about $27,200 and the largest
$46,800. Estimates do not include the cost of the foundation, heating
and cooling, and labor.

www.cusatocottages.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1002/p01s01-ussc.html

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