Stories below the fold from yesterday

Why would anyone oppose a UN disability rights treaty? because of the fine print, including this problem with UN treaties:

the misinterpretation of UN treaties has become a major concern of UN member states. Compliance committees, also known as treaty monitoring bodies or treaty bodies, routinely act ultra vires by purporting to issue rulings in a quasi-judicial capacity. These entities expand the meaning of international instruments, without consultation or agreement by member states, disregarding the sovereignty of the nations that constituted them. Ratifying the Convention would be seen as United States approval for this modus operandi.

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Researchers ask 'Do aliens use hairspray?'

Som says the detection of CFCs and other artificial greenhouse gases may provide clues as to how advanced a planet's civilisation is.
"If you find a planet that is right on the edge of a habitable zone and you find it has a lot of greenhouse gases in it, chances are that planet is being actively terraformed."

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Pakistan probably saved lives by turning off cellphones (used to detonate bombs) and increasing security during the Shiite processions for the Ashua holy days.

but one result was that Sunni radicals have attacked the crowds in person, and have now filed "blasphemy" charges against at least 200 worshippers who protected themselves.

some militant Sunni extremist organization, "Sipah-i-Sahaba," tried to block or divert the procession of Shiite worshipers, saying that part of the journey was not authorized.
The outcome of the clashes between Shiites and Sunnis: 10 injured and 222 complaints. It seems that the Shiite threw stones at the flags and banners where the name of the Prophet Mohammed was written and are therefore guilty of blasphemy.

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