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This flash map has 73 different literary locations marked, including this one, from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing:

Interior Ministry statistics showed 12,000 civilians killed by insurgents in the last year and a half, Jabr said. The figure breaks down to an average of more than 20 civilians killed by bombings and other attacks each day. Authorities estimate that more than 10,500 of the victims were Shiite Muslims, based on the locations of the deaths, Jabr said.

Part Sherpa, part butler, part air traffic controller, Mr. Gottesman, 25, is the president's personal aide. It is a job steeped in the minutiae of carrying Mr. Bush's Altoids, Sharpie markers and hand sanitizer, and in the delicacy of handling the check on the rare occasions when the president eats out. Mr. Gottesman also keeps track of the paper flow to the president, logs all his meetings and phone calls, and questions senior aides about grammar and phrasing in Mr. Bush's speech texts.

This blog is full of rants about everyday things, including the suggestion board at Whole Foods ("Since when did you become Zagats Guide to what tastes good? You smell like hot garbage, Sierra Nevada and patchouli."), a book review of the Bible ("So then we get to the New Testament, telling the story of my man JC, and while a lot of it was pretty sweet (water into wine? for shizz), it seemed pretty redundant to me. I mean, Luke pretty much nailed the story of Jesus by his ownself, so I don't really see why Matthew, Mark and John had to crowd onto the bandwagon and cramp the nigga's style."), and movies you should not be quoting, ("I wish you jackass "office comedians" would just go back to posting "Dilbert" and "Cathy" comics outside your cube, like you did before this movie came out. Ignoring you used to be so much easier.").

The Utah researchers have built on this idea, arguing that for some 900 years Jews in Europe were restricted to managerial occupations, which were intellectually demanding, that those who were more successful also left more offspring, and that there was time in this period for the intelligence of the Ashkenazi population as a whole to become appreciably enhanced.

Saddam Hussein could face up to 500 charges at a tribunal, but he will be tried on only 12 well documented counts because prosecuting him on all would be a "waste of time," the prime minister's spokesman said Sunday.

 
 
 
 
 
 Saddam keyrings for sale.

A narrow majority of Swiss voters approved joining a European Union passport-free zone, abolishing checks on the country's border by 2007, according to final results from a two-issue national referendum Sunday.

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About 55 percent of voters favored joining the EU's passport-free "Schengen" zone, indicating that the Swiss favor closer integration with the EU of which Switzerland is not a member. That mean Swiss customs controls would remain in place.

Authorities in Aruba detained two men Sunday in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager, who went missing nearly a week ago while on a high school graduation trip, the attorney general said.

ADVERTISEMENT Caren Janssen called the men "suspects" in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, but declined to provide further details. The men, who were not among the three described Saturday by police as "persons of interest," were being interrogated Sunday morning.

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Police also planned to conduct forensic tests on a bloody mattress found on a beach in eastern Aruba. The mattress was found in thick brush at Grapefield beach, deputy police chief Gerold Dompig said.

Experiments at Yale with teaching monkeys how to use money lead to monkey bank robberies and monkey prostitution, proving the old saying, "The love of money is the root of all evil," applies to rest of the primate world as well.

Police made a surprising discovery when they busted the alleged madam of a prostitution ring called "August Playmates": The woman running the show was an 80-year-old grandmother.

Authorities arrested Vera Tursi last month during a sting operation to crack down on prostitution rings posing as legal escort services. Police say Tursi ran the business from her two-bedroom apartment, taking $60 of every $160 she charged clients for one hour with a call girl.

Law enforcement officials say Tursi admitted her role in the business, saying she took it over a few years ago from her daughter, who had died. Police say Tursi told them she needed money to subsidize her Social Security checks.

The New York Times did an analysis of the formula on middle-class incomes in more than a dozen states to see whether families would have to spend a greater part of their income and assets before qualifying for financial aid than they did five years ago. Though the effects of the formula changes vary from state to state, The Times found that families with the same earnings and assets as in 2000 would typically have to pay an extra $1,749 before clearing the eligibility bar for financial aid in 2005, after adjusting for inflation.

Hollywood star Russell Crowe has been arrested in New York and charged with assault after allegedly throwing a telephone that struck a hotel employee in the face, according to police.

Officers said the New Zealand-born actor was expected to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court later on Monday.

"He was upset because he couldn't get a call out to Australia," said Sgt. Michael Wysokowski. "He threw a phone at the employee hitting him in the face and causing a minor laceration."

Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.

Skip to next paragraph Background: Arguments on Marijuana Case The decision is a stinging defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug's use to treat various illnesses.

Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.

The closely watched case was an appeal by the Bush administration in a case that it lost in late 2003. At issue was whether the prosecution of medical marijuana users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional.

Under the Constitution, Congress may pass laws regulating a state's economic activity so long as it involves "interstate commerce" that crosses state borders. The California marijuana in question was homegrown, distributed to patients without charge and without crossing state lines.

Stevens said there are other legal options for patients, "but perhaps even more important than these legal avenues is the democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress."

"Spamalot," which opened in March to generally good reviews and torrid sales, won three Tonys in all, including one for Mike Nichols's direction, his sixth Tony as a director. Mr. Nichols practically apologized to fellow nominees for his victory. "I guess you're thinking, age before beauty," he said. "Me, too." Sara Ramirez, meanwhile, won best featured actress in a musical for her work as a buxom Lady of the Lake, a star-making turn that featured Ms. Ramirez stealing scenes from her male co-stars: Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce.

It was also a good night for "Doubt, a Parable," John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about suspected child abuse in a Roman Catholic school. It picked up four Tonys, including best play, best direction (Doug Hughes) and best actress in a play, Cherry Jones, who portrays an accusing nun.

Bill Irwin, meanwhile, whose role is that of a long-suffering and sharp-tongued professor in the revival of "Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,' " was a surprise winner in the best leading actor in a play category. Out of breath and beaming, Mr. Irwin thanked his cast, his producers and his family, before exhorting people to come to the show. "This is Broadway!" he said. "We do this every night."