It’s a fundamental debate in democratic countries: how should society punish murderers? Or terrorists? Or kidnappers?
In some countries capital punishment has been abolished. But it is still used in others. In the US, 39 states have the death penalty and 11 don’t. Different states use different methods of execution: the electric chair, gas chamber, injection of poison. In Russia, capital punishment still exists, but the parliament has started discussions about abolishing it.
At one time capital punishment was used for many crimes (offences). The Bible, for example, prescribed death for at least 30 crimes.
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I can see what you’re looking to find
In the smile on my face
In my peace of mind
In my state of grace.
(Ticket To Heaven, Dire Straits)

A popular singer, a talented musician..!
What do we know about him? What is his original name? There is a joke about George Michael having two first names. It seems there have always been two George Michaels. It’s inexplicable, but he always appears to be creating some new fantasy self, and as soon as it betrays him he tries to kill it off, but then creates a new one to take its place.
George Michael… Neither of the names are really his. He was born into a Greek- Cypriot family and christened Georgius Kyriacos Panuayiotou; by the 1980s he was answering to the name of George Panos, and in 1982 he became George Michael.
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Here is one way of telling someone’s fortune with a pack of cards.
Use a pack of 32 cards. If only you have an ordinary pack, remove the cards numbered 2-6.
Shuffle well and cut with the left hand into 2 heaps (of equal or unequal size).
Put the top card of each pile to one side. These cards are called the Surprise.
Put the remaining cards into 1 pile and deal into 3 heaps of 10 cards each. These represent the past (left-hand heap), the present (center) and the future (right-hand heap).
Spread the 10 cards of the first heap in a row from left to right. Read off the meanings of the cards using the list given below. Some of the meanings will need interpreting! More »

Alfred Hitchcock: The MASTER of SUSPENSE
“… and remember, the next scream you hear maybe your own!”

LET’S IMAGINE A FILM WITH THREE MEN SITTING IN A ROOM. There is a bomb hidden in the room, but the men don’t know about it. Neither does the audience. The men are engaged in small talk, but no one is really interested. Then the bomb explodes. The audience is surprised, but there has been no suspense.
Now let’s change the situation a little. This time, the audience knows that the bomb is ready to go off, but the men in the film don’t. Now the small talk has a dramatic effect. It becomes unbearable. The audience wants the men to get out of the room, but they don’t go. Someone makes a move to leave, and the audience makes a sigh of relief. But someone delays, and the tension builds again.
One of the greatest masters of suspense was Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). He knew how to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats and developed his skill to the point of high art.
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Buckingham Palace – Westminster Cathedral = 666 metres.
Buckingham Palace – Wellington Monument = 666 metres.
Buckingham Palace – Victoria Station = 666 metres.
Buckingham Palace – Houses of Parliament = 1332 metres = 2 x 666.
Downing Street – St Jame’s Palace = 666 metres.
Downing Street – New Scotland Yard = 666 metres.
Downing Street – National Gallery = 666 metres.
Westminster Cathedral – Queen Victoria Memorial = 666 metres.
Queen Victoria Memorial – Duke of Wellington’s Memorial = 666 metres.
St Paul’s Cathedral – Bank of England = 666 metres.
St Paul’s Cathedral – Barbican = 666 metres.
Tower of London – London Bridge = 666 metres.
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Can you imagine life without films or television, cinema’s little sister? Today we can watch television 24 hours a day, we can go to the cinema when we want. We can even make video films ourselves.
But imagine the surprise and the shock that people felt when they saw the first films in 1895! There was no sound, no colour and the films were very short: they lasted from 60 to 90 seconds! Besides, they did not tell a story. They were glimpses of real life: a military parade, a running horse, a boxing match, the ocean… One of the first films showed a train coming towards the camera. The audience panicked and ran away! The frightened people were sure that the train was coming into the theatre.
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Strange, true story Of Dracula
Of course, you are familiar with the famous vampire Dracula. How much of the Dracula that thrills modern readers and film-goers is fact? How much is fiction? Read the story and you will probably understand how legendary figures can develop.
Vampire stories… Hounds howl in the night. A young girl cries out, then is silenced. At dawn her body is found, dead but peaceful, with a faint smile on her face. She is pale, drained of blood, with two tiny puncture marks on her neck. Count Dracula has struck again!
Count Dracula has struck again! During the day he is a corpse. But at night he attacks innocent people, mostly girls, and drinks their blood. His victims die and become vampires themselves.
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