Topics of interest: Week ending Oct. 27

Admittedly, I read a lot of news sites. I especially love to scour the most-emailed or most-viewed lists that a lot of news sites offer now. There are a lot of fun and compelling and well-written stories out there. Following is a wrap-up of media stories that struck me as interesting (for whatever whimsical reasons) over this past week:

Look past the halo: Saints had sinful starts
Chicago Sun-Times
Columnist: I bet most of you didn't know that there were whoremongers, boozehounds, swindlers, and card-carrying sociopaths among the heavenly hosts?

Crossing the colour divide
The Sydney Morning Herald
Barack Obama doesn't think his colour is a big issue, but it just might be the thing that gets him elected to the US presidency.

China history unravelled by mummies
Aljazeera.net
In a find that could turn conventional history on its head, scientists using genetic testing have discovered that Caucasians lived in western China's Tarim Basin a thousand years before East Asians arrived.

Following faith and fashion
Aljazeera.net
The abaya ... is the traditional form of hijab, or modest Islamic dress, for many countries of the Arabian peninsula. But for many women, the abaya is worn with style and purpose. It is another form of expression that offers advantages over Western outfits.

The Barbers, Identical Twins, Are Not as Alike as They Look
New York Times
The Giants and Buccaneers play on Sunday — the latest, and likely last, head-to-head meeting between Tiki and Ronde Barber. In a few months, they will become even more different, no longer linked by profession.

Punjab farmers seek Canada bonanza
BBC
It's a realisation that is dawning across a whole generation of Punjabi farmers. With real estate developers eyeing vast tracts of farmland across Punjab, many here are tempted to sell their land and move on. ... AND ... Many farms in Canada are being abandoned because their owners are too old and the next generation has switched careers or migrated to the cities.

Why Madonna is going on Oprah
BBC
Madonna is a big enough star to pick and choose where she appears. So why has she turned to the TV talk show platform to make her point?

Blogs - the new diplomacy?
BBC
The attack on the government of Sudan by the UN's envoy Jan Pronk has perhaps pointed the way to a new kind of direct diplomacy - the diplomat's blog.

UK gets face transplant go-ahead
BBC
A UK team has been given permission to carry out what would be the world's first full face transplant.

Unlucky roots of Friday the 13th
The Scotsman
The day Friday and the number 13 have been associated with bad luck for thousands of years, but it is only in recent history that the two have been amalgamated.