Dispel the Illusion

A former Children's Hospital anesthesiologist who fell asleep in the operating room must prove he's clean before practicing medicine again. Thomas Ho admitted to falling asleep during surgery in December 2005 after taking a prescribed medication. Ho admitted that he "was under a great deal of personal stress," the state said in its complaint against him.

China's "official church" has rejected the Pope's demand that Beijing should stop appointing bishops without approval from the Vatican. The Pope also said he is willing to sort out the differences between the Vatican and the Chinese government over restoration of diplomatic ties that were severed way back in 1949.

Shell has produced a stunning financial performance over the second quarter of the year with profits soaring by 20% to $7.6bn (£3.7bn) on the back of very high refining margins and despite a fall in production. The record results – amounting to some £1.5m an hour – underlined Shell's current supremacy over arch-rival BP which barely lifted its profits when measured on the same basis.

Using marijuana increases the risk of one day developing a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, according to a study that provides some of the strongest evidence yet linking the drug to a mental disorder.

"I was not aware how serious the problem was of the sexual activity that is taking place in the bathrooms in public places and parks around Broward County, particularly in the city of Fort Lauderdale," Naugle told reporters Tuesday. "I've been educated on that and I want to apologize to the children and to the parents of our community for not being aware of the problem."

Here's a tale of two gutless newspapers which explains why more and more people are Googling rather than turning pages ...

The original Ruthless Rockefeller - John D. managed, by bribery, coercion, violence, dynamite explosions and sabotage to crush or control any and all local oil refining competitors within a year ... Rockefeller became the epitome of a corporate capitalist. Not to suggest that members of congress were on the take, but well-placed campaign contributions to character-challenged individuals benefited Rockefeller's Standard Oil. Things have certainly not changed!

Lingdi Zhang said she felt a chill on Sept. 26, 2005, when she opened her email inbox to find a message from an officer of a university club she belonged to. "According to reports from some other students and the investigation done by the association's cadre, you are still a Falun Gong practitioner," read the email, warning her to "watch out" for herself. It was a sobering moment.

Patterson expressed outrage that the public can't seem to get near the Montebello summit when corporate executives have personal access to Harper, Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderón ... Canadian opponents are alarmed about the possibility that the process could chip away at Canadian sovereignty, weaken regulatory standards and lead to a loss of control over natural resources.

A multinational business agenda is driving the upcoming summit meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, according to a document obtained through an Access to Information Act request in Canada. The memo shows a secondary focus of the leaders' meeting in Montebello, Quebec, Aug. 20-21, will be to prepare for a continental avian flu or human pandemic and establish a permanent continental emergency management coordinating body to deal not only with health emergencies but other unspecified emergencies as well.

In remarks on July 20 to a Freedom 21 conference in Dallas, Texas, conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly declared that the Chinese communists intend to exploit development of a North American Union in order to bring more cheap goods into the U.S. and destroy more American jobs ... Schlafly, president of Eagle Forum, highlighted the role of Democratic Party foreign policy specialist Robert Pastor in the unfolding plan. Pastor helped lead the campaign to surrender U.S. control of the Panama Canal through the Panama Canal Treaty.