Good Morning Lowcountry

News snippets

Polluters. The Associated Press reported that a new interactive online database unveiled Wednesday provides maps, color-coded categories and detailed information about who is putting 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually from power plants around the world. About a fourth of it is from the United States. Find the data on polluters at carma.org.

Regional action. Three Western governors have created regional agreements to cap greenhouse gases and are using nationwide television commercials to actively lobby Congress to act, The New York Times reported. They are Montana's Brian Schweitzer, Utah's Jon Huntsman Jr. and California's Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, nine Midwestern governors and the premier of Manitoba signed an agreement to reduce carbon emissions and set up a trading system to meet reduction targets, the Times reported.

Africa's "Crucible." The New York Times reported that in parts of Angola, Congo and the Congo Republic, hundreds of children are accused of being witches, and are beaten, abused or abandoned by their families, often as a rationale for not having to feed or care for them.

Or until supplies run out. Reuters reported that about 30 members of a Russian doomsday cult have shut themselves in a cave in central Russia to wait for the end of the world. Media reports said the cult members believe the world will end sometime in May.

Backroads. Rancher Bill Inman is riding his horse, Blackie, a 16-year-old thoroughbred/quarter horse mix, from Oregon to North Carolina, AP reported. He started the trek in June and is about halfway across the country.

Buying votes. Twenty percent of students polled at New York University said they'd trade their right to vote in the next presidential election for an iPod Touch, NYU's Washington Square News reported. Two-thirds said they'll do it for a year's tuition. And half said they'd give up the right to vote forever for $1 million.

Islamic law. A court in Saudi Arabia will punish a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, Agence France-Presse reported. Last year, the court sentenced six Saudi men to between one and five years in jail for the rape.

Go where? Budget Travel magazine named the Top 10 places to travel that you've never heard of. They are: Castelmezzano, Italy ... Caraiva, Brazil ... Baranja Region, Croatia ... Estacada, Ore. ... Yirgalem, Ethiopia ... Wroclaw, Poland ... Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, Mexico ... Jura Region, France ... Jomsom, Nepal ... and Sangkhlaburi, Thailand.

Good luck cashing in those miles. The "Seat 2B" column (hey, that's where GMLc sits, too!) column of Conde Nast Portfolio magazine debunks the advantages of airlines' frequent flier programs. "Regardless of how they began," it said, "frequent flier programs today are multichannel marketing vehicles designed to sell you things: credit cards, phones, groceries, mortgages, investment funds, flowers, hotel rooms, car rentals, and, of course, airline tickets."

Ha, ha, ha? Trainees at a Santa Claus course in Adelaide, Australia last month were told they should not say "Ho, ho, ho" this Christmas because the word could be seen as derogatory to women, the Herald Sun, Australia's largest newspaper, reported.

Google masseuse. Bonnie Brown has retired as Google's in-house masseuse after five years. Why? The Google stock options she was paid with for the part-time job have made her a millionaire, The New York Times reported. She has published a book: "Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google."

GMLc

Call 937-5564. Write to gmlc@postandcourier.com. Find the blog at gmlc.typepad.com.