Move over, Harry Potter!

Wow! The fantasy books boom goes on! While the Harry Potter mania is still in full swing - the movie of the fourth part "HP & the Goblet of Fire" will be released this November - J.K. Rowling's famous student of wizardry will get some tough competition:

A year after the English author Michelle Paver secured a record £1.5-million for her first children’s book "Wolf Brother", Ridley Scott, who made the blockbusters "Blade Runner" and "Gladiator", has paid a reported $5 million (£2.7 million) to bring it to life on the big screen. Paver, an Oxford graduate who gave up a successful City career to write, was surprised to have signed one of the largest book-to-film deals in the industry. "Wolf Brother" is the first part of her children book series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness which is set 6,000 years ago in a primeval forest populated by groups of hunter-gatherers. Torak, 12, and his wolf ally battle evil to save their world.

By the way: Paver's agent describes "Brother Wolf" as "Mad Max" for children. Is that a good thing?

CIA predicts grim future for Europe

Thanks god the U.S. intelligence is so concerned about the future of the old continent:

The CIA has predicted that the European Union will break-up within 15 years unless it radically reforms its ailing welfare systems.(..) The report predicts that America’s relationships with Europe will be "dramatically altered" over the next 15 years, in a move away from post-Second World War institutions. Nato could disappear and be replaced by increased EU action. (...) It also largely endorses forecasts that by 2020 China’s gross domestic product will exceed that of individual western economic powers except for the US. India’s GDP will have overtaken or be overtaking European economies.

And as long the U.S. President promises global freedom in god-drenched speeches, we don't have to feel scared, right?

Is Sponge Bob gay?

If I didn't know it was real I would think that it's just a stupid farce:

Christian Conservative groups have issued a gay alert warning over a children's video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon favorites. The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61'000 U.S. schools in March. The makers — the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation — say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.

That's America, version 2005.

The U.S. after 4 years of Bush

While Dubya celebrates his second term with a $40 million inauguration party, the outlook for the average American doesn't look that great - based on what Mr. President 'achieved' in the last four years:

Poverty Rate
2000: 11.3% or 31.6 million Americans
2003: 12.5% or 35.9 million Americans

Stock market
Dow Jones Industrial Average
1/19/01: 10,587.59
1/19/05: 10,539.97

NASDAQ
1/19/01: 2,770.38
1/19/05: 2,073.59

S&P 500
1/19/01: 1,342.54
1/19/05: 1,184.63

Value of the Dollar
1/19/01: 1 Dollar = 1.06 Euros
1/19/05: 1 Dollar = 0.77 Euros

Budget
2000 budget surplus $236.4 billion
2004 budget deficit $412.6 billion
That's a shift of $649 billion and doesn't include the cost of the Iraq war.

Cost of the war in Iraq
$150.8 billion

American Casualties in Iraq
Deaths: 1,369
Wounded: 10,252

The Debt
End of 2000: $5.7 trillion
Today: $7.6 trillion
That's a 4 year increase of 33%.

Via the Numeralist.