Where will the Virgin Mary pop up next?

Pamela Latrimore, a 42-year-old woman from Florida, plans to sell an MRI scan of her brain - a scan in which some say they can see the Virgin Mary. Perhaps what we are looking at is the blessed mother's hypothalamus. But how should I know? Then again, what we might also be looking at is a sign of the times. Latrimore has cancer and liver ailments. On top of this she also has no health insurance. She blames her condition on dioxin exposure. For that reason alone, it might be worth bidding on this medical scan, if and when it goes up for auction on eBay.

Sony to cut 8,000 jobs

Sony has announced plans to cut 8,000 electronics jobs - 5% of the division - as well as shutting 10% of its manufacturing sites. The company said the jobs would be cut by April 2010, but did not say in which countries the staff would go. Sony said it would also cut at least 8,000 temporary and contract staff jobs in the same sector. It said it had been trying to reduce production because of the downturn, but warned it still had to do more. The news came as Japan said its economy had shrunk between July and September by much more than initially estimated. The Cabinet Office said the economy had shrunk at an annual rate of 1.8% in the quarter, compared with its original estimate of 4%. Sony said the cost-cutting plan was aimed at responding to "the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment". Sony aims to generate cost savings of about 100bn yen ($1.1bn; £730m) by the end of the next financial year. It will cut its investment in electronic operations by 30% and shut down about 10% of its 57 production facilities. "The number sounds big, but this staff reduction won't be enough," said Katsuhiko Mori, a fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments. Last month, Sony reported a 71% fall in net profit for the three months to the end of September, compared with the same period in 2007. Its net profit for the quarter was 20.8bn yen, down from 71.8bn yen for the same three months last year. Sales were down 5% at 2.1 trillion yen.

Pirate Threat Forces Cruise Ship Evacuation

In Berlin a cruise ship will evacuate passengers before sailing past the Somali coast and fly them to the next port of call to protect them from possible pirate attacks, German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd said Tuesday.Hapag-Lloyd said the detour was a "precautionary measure," given rampant piracy off the coast of lawless Somalia that has targeted cruise ships as well as commercial vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million in crude and a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and other weapons.In addition, Pirates last week fired upon a cruise liner carrying 650 passengers and 400 crew members. Luckily the massive ship outran its assailants. Other ships have not been so lucky.An official with the European Union's anti-piracy mission said separately that it would station armed guards on vulnerable cargo ships. The first such deployment of military personnel during the international anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

Mind if I light up, Officer?

Police said a woman was arrested after asking a state trooper whether she could smoke — and then trying to light up a marijuana joint. Honesty Knight, 32, was a passenger in a vehicle that Trooper Eric Perkins pulled over for a traffic violation early Friday. While the trooper was talking to the driver, Knight obtained the trooper's permission to smoke.Police say Perkins then asked to see the cigarette, which contained marijuana, not tobacco.Knight faces a preliminary charge of possession of paraphernalia. She was released from jail on bond.

Obama Wins!

Sen. Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States after defeating Republican candidate Sen. John McCain on Tuesday night. Obama, who will be the first African-American to lead the White House, defeated his opponent in both popular and electoral votes, though with significantly different margins. He led McCain 349 to 147 in electoral votes, but only 52 percent of the popular vote, as of press time. The victory of the Illinois senator was due in large part to huge shifts in the outcome of traditionally red states such as Virginia and New Mexico. He also carried swing states including Florida and Ohio. After Obama's clear win John McCain thanked his supporters and congratulated Obama. At the end of the night there was one main topic both candidates hit on. This was the unifying of our nation. Hopefully this comes to pass.

Election Day!

From the get go today was a crazy day. It seemed the election was weighing on the minds of every person I came in contact with. No matter what room I walked into, the election was topic of discussion. Voting wise for me wasn't that difficult. I only really ran into one major difficulty. I filled out a mail in ballot about a week ago and happened to include a copy of my Texas driver’s license not knowing it was my school ID i really needed. To fix the problem I had to hand deliver a copy of my school ID to the court house before the polls closed. While at the court house I noticed things were going pretty smoothly. There didn't seem to be any misunderstanding or long lines to deal with. Together I think it was a successful day for all who participated.