On August 15, our lead story asked the question, Was Blackout Due to Nuke Plant Sabotage? Now Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for last week’s power blackout in the Northeast.

They claim to have hit two major power plants, but won’t reveal how they did it. Al-Qaeda says, “We heard amazing statements made by the American and Canadian enemies which have nuclear physics universities and space agencies, that lightning hit and destroyed the two plants. And we are supposed to believe this nonsense. If the blackout occurred in one or two cities, their lie would have been credible. But the fact is that the blackout hit the entire East and part of Canada.”
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New research shows that people who have a particular genetic variation are more likely be inactive. And these people also get fewer of the benefits from the exercise they do get around to doing. It’s harder for them to lower their blood pressure, cholesterol and body fat.

For instance, people with the lazy gene (called a melanocortin-4 receptor) who do weight training get significantly less muscle growth from it. “If you have a really, really bad biological predisposition to be inactive, then the physicians won’t waste too much time on trying to activate you,” says geneticist Tuomo Rankinen. “They will try to find other ways to control health risks, such as diet or medication.”
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On August 27, Mars will be closer to Earth than it has been since prehistoric times. To scientists, this is a chance to send satellites into space to take pictures of the planet. To Hindu priests in India, it means doomsday, because Mars, or “Mangal,” the planet of war in Hindu scriptures, is associated with fire. “Mars will bring terrible bloodshed, riots, epidemics and lawlessness upon mankind,” says temple priest Lakshmi Narayan Shastri.
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There’s a worldwide epidemic of arsenic poisoning from water wells, with tens of thousands of people developing skin lesions, cancers and other symptoms. Many of them have died. High levels of arsenic have been found near the river Ganges in India, one of the most heavily populated areas on the planet. Maybe people should stick to soft drinks instead?except that in India, both Coke and Pepsi contain dangerous levels of pesticides.
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