Finally. 

Saddam Hussein has been executed according to reports from Al Arabiya and Al-Hurra TV Reports in Iraq.

Hussein was hanged before dawn on Saturday in Iraq, at about 6 a.m. (9 p.m. Friday CST), the U.S.-backed Al-Hurra television reported.

The Iraqi dictator was executed by hanging for killings committed during a brutal strike on Dujail, a mainly Shiite Muslim town 25 miles north of Baghdad nearly 25 years ago. The attack on the village was a retaliation after a failed assasination attempt on Saddam’s life.

Of course his detractors are happy and feel that justice has been done.  But has it?  Since what’s done cannot be undone and those who died cannot rise from their grave.

According to reports from Bloomberg.com, Taiwan was jolted by three earthquakes yesterday, and the tremors has apparently affected several submarine cable systems in Asia, causing Internet service in Asia to slow down.

Several undersea cables were damaged, causing a disruption to Internet traffic and some telephone calls in the region for customers including Singapore Telecom, PCCW, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan’s biggest telephone operator, and KDDI Corp., Japan’s second-largest telephone carrier.

Well, no wonder.  I had a hard time accessing the Internet earlier and missed a paid post because of the crawling speed.  But at least I am able to access this site and post something here.

These are a few healthy resolutions for men and women to consider in 2007 suggested by New York Times best-selling author Jordan Rubin in his latest book, “The Great Physician’s Rx for Women’s Health” (Thomas Nelson, 2006) with co-authors Nicki Rubin and Dr. Pancheta Wilson.

Take one tablespoon of omega-3 cod liver oil every day to boost the immune system, ward off major illnesses, and to promote healthier skin and nails.

Toss unhealthy corn oils and shortening and switch to cooking with healthy fats such as coconut oil, butter and olive oil.

Two ounces of organic dark chocolate a day packs a health punch with antioxidants and bioflavenoids as well as the release of endorphins that act as antidepressants.

Get at least 15 minutes of direct sunlight a day. Our bodies derive vitamin D from the sun, which is crucial for bone health, has cancer-fighting properties and assists with blood cell formation.

Reduce toxins from your environment. “Buy house plants to reduce pollution indoors and water filters to remove chlorine and other harmful chemicals from your water,” suggests Rubin. “And throw away our household cleaners with harsh chemicals that can cause allergies and irritation.”

Forgive yourself and others. “The stress of harboring deadly emotions builds up toxins in the body,” explains Rubin.

Written to address the specific health needs of women, the book offers natural ways to combat common concerns such as weight gain, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, estrogen dominance, menopause and more.

The following was written by actor and comedian Ben Stein, and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

Here at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don’t know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise’s wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It’s not so bad.

Next confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’ t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution, and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her “How could God let something like this Happen?” (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about and we said OK.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.”

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it… no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

According to a report by BBC News, the blogging phenomenon is set to peak in 2007 following technology predictions by analysts Gartner.

The analysts said that during the middle of next year the number of blogs will level out at about 100 million.  The firm has even said that 200 million people have already stopped writing their blogs.

Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer said the reason for the levelling off in blogging was due to the fact that most people who would ever start a web blog had already done so.

He said those who loved blogging were committed to keeping it up, while others had become bored and moved on.

“A lot of people have been in and out of this thing,” Mr Plummer said.

“Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they’re put on stage and asked to say it.”

I wonder if Gartner had considered that all the paid advertising and paid posts could actually increase the trend?  I for one, had gone on to start two new blogs mainly for that purpose.  It’s not so much as everyone wanting to say something now.  But everyone wanting to make some pocket money and advertisers are fueling that interest as well.