News beneath the fold

Depressing news today....and I don't just mean the stupidity of politics.

Was this California mother killed because she was wearing a headscarf? Shame.

And the BBC has an article on staging plays to educate people about the harm to girls caused by a certain treatment to cure Aids...Many times this "treatment" is advised by "traditional healers"....

And the ever helpful BBC is telling the Taliban's side of the story....but then there is this:"There is one other factor that increases Taleban morale. "Few have any education beyond years spent in the madrassas, the fundamentalist religious schools in Pakistan that have produced an endless supply of Taleban for more than a decade. .."

But a little good news can be found in our local e-newspaper :

Before the start of the "Talon Vision" joint military exercises, US Marines and sailors from the Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 (MWSS-172) of Marine Wing Support Group 17 joined soldiers from the Philippine Army's 7th Infantry Division (7th ID) and the local government of Peñaranda in giving free medical and dental care to town residents.

More than 700 patients were treated by a joint team of doctors, dentists, nurses and corpsmen in the town auditorium. While residents waited to be treated, the Marine squadron's chaplain and volunteers distributed clothing and toys to the town's children. The goods were donated by families of US servicemen based in Okinawa, Japan.