Where the need is sorest—The Philippine government has declared it will stamp passports of Filipinos “Not valid for travel to Iraq.” The action came after a Filipino working in Iraq was taken hostage by insurgents and then released. According to Arab News, Filipino workers protested the travel ban. They declared they would rather take the risk in Iraq than die of starvation at home. The paper added that workers from other poor countries are attracted to jobs at U.S. bases for $800 a month. Assuming many hours, that works out to less than $5 an hour.

The ‘open mind’ folks—A judge in Atlanta, Georgia, was due to hand down a decision in a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU challenged a violation of the separation of church and state caused by school officials who permitted creationists to paste stickers into biology textbooks on the science of evolution. The “neutral” stickers admonish that evolution is “a theory, not a fact” and should be approached with “an open mind.”

Did they say ‘stoned’?—The news headline read: “Air Force report calls for $7.5 million to study psychic teleportation.” An Air Force Research Lab officer explains: “If we can’t turn over stones, we don’t know if we have missed something.”

The economy? Hey, no problem!—Des Moines, Iowa—“Food pantries across the state said the number of people seeking help not only with food but rent, clothing and utility bills have increased. The rush started last summer and included an unusually high number of first-timers. Of the 3,000 families that sought food at eight Des Moines-area pantries last month, 556 were new.”—USA Today.

See, things are still pretty good—Roman Coppola, son of Hollywood director Francis Coppola, was top bidder at a Los Angeles wine auction. He paid $49,450 for two bottles of 1941 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley wine—the highest price ever racked up for a California wine.

No weeping there—“Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Rome in support of a strike by teachers that closed many schools across [Italy]. Education unions say Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is planning a two percent cut in school personnel, which would cost about 14,000 jobs.”—November 16 news item.  
 
 
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