HOPE.

An excerpt from a CNN.com article:

Israeli Web site advises using wisdom of Quran

HAIFA, Israel (CNN) -- A new Web site launched by an Israeli university professor and his Bedouin students aims to address life's everyday quandaries from the perspective of an ancient sacred text: the Quran.

Organizers of the site, Quranet.net, say they hope it will serve as a "bridge between Islam and the West" by applying the wisdom of Islam's holiest book to modern-day problems.

"We try to transform the Quran into a modern and useful tool, so that every person can find a Quranic answer to modern psychological and educational queries," said Ofer Grosbard, professor at the Academic Arab College for Education, affiliated with Haifa University.

Quranet divides chapters of the Quran into topics such as "Loss, Illness and Tragedy," and provides answers to such questions as, "Is loss an excuse for aggression?" and "What can we say to someone who refuses to accept a gesture of peace?"

The questions are answered with a relevant Quranic verse, followed by an educational-psychological explanation of the issue.

Quranet seeks to illustrate "the beauty of the Quran," said Grosbard, who believes the book's positive messages have been overshadowed by Islamic fundamentalists who've manipulated the text as a justification for terrorism.

I hate the ocean...

But I want this boat!

Resembling the jaw and eye socket bone structure of big oceanic mammals, the ‘Oculus’ is an awe-inspiring yacht that promises to revitalize your holiday cruise. The luxury vessel is 250-foot in length and can accommodate about a dozen guests comfortably. Featuring a combination of elegant designing and structure balances, the stylish yacht is basically designed for stretched cruises with a maximum speed of 25 knots. The interior of the Oculus moves around the 12 foot high ceiling in the main salon and is complimented by a cylindrical double height dining room. Apart from that four freestanding tubes, housing bath and storage spaces, separate the living areas and bedchambers. And the floor and ceiling lights in the cabin illuminates the seating spaces.
(Source: http://www.thedesignblog.org/)

Freaky.

This is a report from CNN.com:

Prosecutor: Trio used bat, knife, belt on shackled teen

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- The three alleged abusers of a 17-year-old teen, who escaped captivity with a shackle on his ankle, tortured him with a bat, knife and belt, court documents released Thursday contend.

A 14-page criminal complaint adds more chilling details to the bizarre tale that shocked the central California city of Tracy.

The teen escaped a year of captivity Monday and walked into a fitness center in Tracy, bruised and battered, wearing only boxer shorts and with his bloody ankle shackled, police said.

Police arrested Caren Ramirez, 43; Kelly Layne Lau, 30; and her husband, Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, in the case. Lau and Ramirez did not enter pleas as they made their first court appearances Thursday. Bail was set at $ 2.2 million each, a court official said.

Ramirez is scheduled to appear in court at a later date, the official said.

The judge also issued a gag order for people connected to the case, Tracy police said.

Authorities this week have been trying to piece together how the teen ended up shackled in the home of Lau and Schumacher in Tracy, about 70 miles east of San Francisco. Watch how the strange case unfolded »

The teen was being held at the couple's home, about 500 feet from the fitness center, and he apparently was able to get over a wall and onto the center's property, police said Wednesday.

Lea Leonardo, assistant manager of the center, said the boy came into the facility and begged her to hide him.

"He was very dirty. He looked very young, very skinny and was wearing nothing but men's oversized boxers," Leonardo told CNN's Nancy Grace. "He was terrified."

She said she was shocked to see the chain on the boy's ankle and that his foot was swollen. She said she hid the child and called 911.

The boy initially had been removed from his parents' custody in Sacramento, California, by social workers because of abuse and was placed with Ramirez. Police earlier had said that Ramirez was the teen's aunt, but now say she is a family friend.

The teen was sent to a group home after Ramirez was charged with felony abuse against him, police said. He escaped the group home about 18 months ago.

Authorities believe the boy returned to Ramirez, but aren't sure when or why, said police, who also were trying to figure out the connection between Ramirez, Lau and Schumacher.

Last time I mention her.

Even I am starting to get sick of her....but only after this...because it is EPIC.

5th Row today!

Now I need to catch up on sleep from the long drive...buggin'

Who knew she had good pipes?

A song from Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" which I saw this weekend on Broadway with Adeel. Recognize the lead?

Revolutionary.

Here is an excerpt from a BBC.com article:

Scientists have halted the advance of heart disease in mice - and even reversed some of its effects.

The study provides hard evidence that tiny pieces of genetic material called microRNA can play a key role in the development of heart disease. The therapy, featured in the journal Nature, targets and blocks microRNA in heart cells. A US specialist said that, with trials under way in other animals, human tests may be only a few years away.

The importance of microRNAs to heart disease - and a host of other diseases - has already been suggested by other scientists. Their job is to regulate the activity of our genes, but with many different types present in the cell, scientists are trying to establish which plays the biggest role. The US and German scientists are focusing on one type labelled microRNA-21, and their role in a type of heart cell called the cardiac fibroblast, which helps provide the structure of the organ, and plays a critical role in the progressive scarring which stops it working properly in heart disease.

Until recently, that process was thought to be an irreversible one. The researchers found that cells in a failing heart had higher levels of this microRNA, and linked it to a chemical signalling pathway which leads to the tissue damage found in the condition.

I love this table.

By Design: John Brauer.

Meet Aaron Goldman!

Aaron's work has appeared in over 55 national publications and has been featured on the covers of such magazines as Time, Forbes, Smart Money, and Business Week.