Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

• Prosecutor to parents: Mailing chickenpox illegal

  Parents fearful of vaccinations are being warned by a federal prosecutor that making a deal with a stranger who promises to mail them lollipops licked by children with chickenpox isn't just a bad idea, it's against the law. Jerry Martin, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said he was spurred by reports this week by KPHO-TV in Phoenix and WSMV-TV in Nashville about people turning to Facebook to find lollipops, spit or other items from children who have chickenpox. "Can you imagine getting a package in the mail from this complete stranger that you know from Facebook because you joined a group, and say here, drink this purported spit from some other kid?" Martin told The Associated Press.

• Oakland Cops Send Second Veteran to Hospital

  If the Oakland police department is trying to improve its public image regarding crowd control, it might want to try a little harder. A second war veteran was sent to the hospital last week during clashes between police, Occupy movement protesters and vandals which resulted in more arrests.

• Radical Muslim Nigerian Sect Kills 100

  Since Friday, the radical Muslim sect known as Boko Haram has killed at least 100 people in Nigeria, and suicide bombs and shooting attacks may continue in the country on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

• Saudi aviation switch could speed up airline sale - Transport - ArabianBusiness.com

  Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday ordered the establishment of an independent civil aviation authority and put its head in charge of the board of Saudi Arabian Airlines, a move that could help speed up privatisation of the national carrier. The decision came as part of a series of royal decrees published on state media that separated civil aviation from the Ministry of Defence and Aviation following the death of Crown Prince Sultan, who was also in charge of the ministry.

• Who Needs a Federal Government When We Have Starbucks? | Death and Taxes

  Starbucks is doing a novel thing. Starting on November 1st, it will roll out a program called “Jobs for USA,” in which it will begin accepting donations of $5 from its millions of customers throughout its 7,000 U.S. stores and dedicating the money directly to creating jobs.

• The McRib Contains an Ingredient Most Commonly Found in Yoga Mats | Death and Taxes

  In fact, I almost think the news that the McRib contains an ingredient most commonly found in yoga mats is a plus for fans. It allows them to defy and in a way desecrate the supposedly healthiest, most spiritually enlightening form of exercise while (hopefully) surviving the McRib experience. Gym mats in the bun doesn’t make it gross—it makes it better.

• Fittest Cities, From Denver to Los Angeles - The Daily Beast

  ** Yeah Denver. US' fittest city again, several years running. 1. Denver Ed Andrieski / AP Photo Percentage of residents who performed physical activity in the last 30 days: 83.3% Obese: 18.8%

• Bahrain launches $265m fund to seek food investments - Banking & Finance - ArabianBusiness.com

  A Bahraini sovereign wealth fund has launched a BD100m ($265m) food security fund to invest in agricultural projects in the tiny Gulf kingdom and abroad, an official said on Wednesday. "The fund is based on purely commercial principles," Mohammed Mubarak al-Sulaity, chief executive of Bahrain's Future Generations Reserve Fund (FGF), told Al Arabiya television on Wednesday.

• GCC to spend $25bn on new power generating capacity | Energy, Oil and Gas | AMEinfo.com

  The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) has said that the GCC countries are likely to spend up to $25bn (Dhs91.8bn) over the next decade to install new power generation capacity in order to meet their burgeoning electricity demand, Gulf News has reported.

• US firm wins deal to plan Saudi homes boom - Construction - ArabianBusiness.com

  US-based Parsons said on Wednesday it has been awarded a contract to master plan thousands of new homes in Saudi Arabia. The award of the first package released by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Housing as part of a programme to build 500,000 houses over the next few years comprises 32 million sq m of land.

• Mexico soldiers seize catapults used to fling pot - Yahoo! News

  The Mexican army says soldiers have seized two catapults that were being used by drug smugglers to fling packages of marijuana across the border into Arizona.

• Israel to build housing to retaliate for Palestinians' U.N. moves - latimes.com

  Reporting from Jerusalem— After a successful Palestinian bid to join the U.N. cultural agency, UNESCO, Israel said Tuesday that it would retaliate by issuing tenders for about 2,000 new housing units on land it seized during the 1967 Mideast War. After meeting with his top advisors, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would order construction of apartments in the Jerusalem area and the West Bank settlements of Gush Etzion and Maaleh Adumim. Officials said about 1,650 units would be built around Jerusalem and the rest in the West Bank.

• Qatar to hold first legislative polls

  Qatar plans to hold the first elections to its advisory legislative council in the second half of 2013, HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said yesterday. The election will be the first to the Advisory Council, 30 of whose 45 members will be elected and the others appointed by the Emir under a constitution approved in 2003. All the body’s current members are appointed.

• Syria Reportedly Plants Landmines Along Lebanon Border

  Syria has planted land mines along parts of its border with Lebanon, further sealing itself off from the world and showing just how deeply shaken Bashar Assad's regime has become since an uprising began nearly eight months ago. Although Assad's hold on power is firm, the 46-year-old eye doctor is taking increasingly desperate measures to safeguard his grip on the country of 22 million people at the heart of the Arab world. A Syrian official confirmed to The Associated Press that troops were laying the mines, saying they were aimed at stopping weapons smuggling into the country during the uprising.

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