I tried to reassure him that no problem could be that bad, and that I would help him if he told me what the problem actually was. But my first efforts were to no avail. I was certain that he was still a high risk for suicide, and required seclusion and almost continuous staff observation.

The next day I renewed my nonstop questioning. Finally he sat up and pointed to a one inch square bandage on his right cheek. "What is it?" I asked. He blurted out, "It's the scar!" It was the scar that was ruining his life. It was too hideous for anyone to see, but it was there, hidden under the bandage, disfiguring, disgusting, making him unfit to be alive.

He explained that other doctors who had seen it had said nothing could be done, that he should learn to live with it. But he couldn't live with it.

Oh, Joy: Britney Has Sex in Public. Again...

They were making weird noises. It was disgusting". Ta-da! Big drum roll, please... Britney had sex with her paparazzi boyfriend in a dressing room? Yes, I'm sure that must have been such a sight... "I couldn't understand a word she was saying. She was slurring and spitting, and talking with a British accent" stated the salesgirl. "Her face was covered with cold sores and acne, and her scalp was patchy. I wanted to help her, but she was so mean that I left her alone. Then she muttered, 'F**k you!' and left the store". I really think that doesn't need any more comments. It's just too classy for words... .

Here is the latest San Joaquin Valley news from The Associated Pres

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) - A 20-year-old Bakersfield man is facing charges after police say he fired a gun at bouncers when he was asked to leave a bar. Officers arrested Jesus Murillo early yesterday morning on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Police say he pulled a gun and fired at three bouncers when he was asked to leave. No one was hit by the gunfire. The bouncers subdued Murillo until police arrived.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) - Kern County supervisors will consider a proposal to increase by thousands of dollars a contract with an accounting firm that audits county departments. Supervisors are considering calling for an audit of all county departments every two years. They are also pressing for a backlog of department audits to be caught up by the end of June. During their meeting tomorrow, supervisors will consider increasing by nearly $175,000 a side contract with Brown Armstrong accountancy to help county staff complete the work.

Fintry's green revolution means power to the people

Without blowing our own trumpet too much, I think this will set the agenda for the village for the next 15 to 20 years. "That amount of money coming into a place the size of Fintry will have a huge effect on it. "It's absolutely the village's money, and it is up to the village to decide what to do with that."In Fintry, there is talk of using the money to convert the sports hall from expensive, oil-fired heating to an environmentally friendly, ground-source heat pump. Fitting insulation, double glazing and solar panels to homes in the village are other options, while, in the future, the money could even be used to pay for hydrogen-fuelled buses to take people to Stirling and Glasgow."The money is significant, but the wind turbine almost becomes totemic in that it is a renewable energy resource helping the village cut its energy consumption as well," Mr Cowtan said.If other areas adopted the Fintry method, it could also "take some of the heat out of the whole wind-farm thing", he said."I think, for a lot of communities, having a wind-farm proposed on their doorstep is the biggest challenge they will have faced for 100 years or so," he said.

Home Dept under fire over Sec 506

While the scenario in the colleges for girls in the city is just like any other day at college, the colleges for boys, on the other hand, present a different sight.

At the SGGS College for Women, Sector 26, one has to look for signs of the forthcoming elections. There is no campaigning and there are no final candidates as yet. We have a quiet affair here when it comes to elections. The students have been asked to submit their nominations and we are still waiting, said the Principal, Mrs Harinderjit Kaur.

The SGGS College, Sector 26, is a riot of colours. Buntings, posters, pamphlets, banners, are all there. With party stickers on every shirt sleeve, students seem to have decided whom to vote for. There are two main contending parties here.

The Khalsa College Students Union (KCSU) which is fielding Harjit Singh Baidwan, alias Bholu, as its presidential candidate.

Senate Poised to Capitulate to Cheney’s Fear-Mongering

Although Cheney touted these companies as patriotic partners in the administration's "war on terror," they are breaking several U.S. laws, including FISA itself, Title III, the Communications Act, and the Stored Communications Act, as well as the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution. Indeed, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation put it, "the real heroes are the companies that refused to help [the administration], like Verizon Wireless" and Quest Communications.

The House of Representatives passed a bill without immunity for the telecoms.

The antidotes to a lame red carpet season

Did anyone within the sound of my keyboard watch the Golden Globes ceremony Sunday night? Nah, me neither.

For one thing, I've had . . . Let's call it “abdominal melodrama," off and on since Wednesday. Consequently, I simply wasn't in the mood for anything at all by Glenn Miller.

Moreover, this writer's strike has sucked the blood out of my beloved red-carpet season. Now, I'm not saying picketing on the part of Hollywood scribes isn't a smidgen necessary. But dangit to Denver, Alexis, I need my fix of what-was-she-thinkin' dresses and shut-up-already acceptance speeches.

I'm still holding out hope for the Academy Awards, for which nominations are announced a week from today at some unholy dawn-rush hour on the West Coast.

In preparation for the Oscars, considered the apex of the awards-show equinox (don't you just love a thesaurus?), I have a little to-do list to help make you, your wardrobe and/or someone who needs help a measure more ready for your own red-carpet moments this year.