Updates • The Yaohnanen tribe on the South Pacific island of Tanna believe their true ancestral god is Britain's Prince Philip (based on photographs of him with the queen during a 1974 visit to Tanna's mother nation of Vanuatu) and believe he promised he would return for good on his 89th birthday (June 10, 2010). Although the prince has kept in touch, he failed to show up for the grand celebration, but fortunately, Scottish university ...

Lead Story A recent surge of neo-Nazism in several countries -- including, improbably, Israel, and Mongolia (where some dark-skinned natives are rabidly anti-Chinese) -- has generally been denounced, but Corinna Burt credited it with rescuing her from a life of acting in pornographic videos. According to a hate-group watchdog, the Portland, Ore., woman is "the most prominent National Socialist Movement organizer in the Pacific Northwest." In an August interview with Gawker.com, the white-supremacist Burt (a ...

It's Never Sunny in North Korea • North Korea's World Cup adventure began auspiciously with a hard-fought 2-1 loss to a superior Brazil team, leading the government to release photographs of the North Korean coach supposedly receiving long-distance telepathic strategy signals during the game from Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il. With the country's hopes up, the team was embarrassed in two subsequent games and dispatched from the tournament. Back home in July, the players were paraded ...

The Outer Frontiers of U.S. Immigration Policy The $125 million Jay Peak ski resort in Vermont, with 120-room hotel, ice arena, golf course and the Northeast's largest water park, is just months away from completion, thanks to half-million-dollar investments from each of 250 foreign nationals from 43 countries who, as part of the deal, were given conditional U.S. "green cards" (for permanent residency). At the other end of America's immigration conundrum, prosecutors in Snohomish County, ...

Lead Story Among the promotions offered by New York City's upscale Marmara Manhattan hotel is a "birth tourism" package exploiting the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. For about $35,000, a foreign expectant mother with a visa can spend her delivery week in luxury accommodations (including medical care) -- and assure her baby automatic U.S. citizenship. (That child could then become an "anchor," subsequently making it easier for the parents to acquire "green cards.") Also, The Washington ...

Recently an outbuilding at a nuclear power plant received a glancing blow from a tornado. Fortunately no real harm was done, but it started me wondering: are nuclear power plants built to withstand a direct hit from a tornado? -- Dee Barnett, Fort Worth

I read a letter to Dear Abby from someone who had served cupcakes made with Kahlua liqueur. Abby said enough alcohol remained to affect someone with alcohol sensitivity. In my opinion, the woman claiming to be drunk from a cupcake was just trying to get attention. How much alcohol is there in spiked cupcakes? How many people are so hypersensitive that one cupcake would make them drunk? Finally, what products would those people need to avoid? - Charlie in Alabama

In the Donald E. Westlake novel Drowned Hopes, character Tom Jimson says Oklahoma remained dry following the repeal of Prohibition and was so feisty about it that officials arrested a bartender serving drinks on a through train. In revenge, the passenger railroads pulled their trains out of Oklahoma, with the result that old railroad towns became ghost towns-even Amtrak didn't provide service. Is there anything to this?  -- Anthony Creech

Recently my roommate told me about the 1932 "emu war" in Australia. He said 1932 was a dry year that made 20,000 emus restless, causing them to invade a residential neighborhood en masse. The Australian military had to take them out with heavy artillery. Is this true? -- Evan, Greensboro, North Carolina

I've been hearing about the positive effects of binaural beats and how they can alter your state of mind. Can listening to a strange tone for hours on end really put me in a different mood other than annoyed? -Liam, Singapore

Best Overall Restaurant, Best Downtown Restaurant: Cha Bella 102 E Broad St (912) 790-7888     Executive Chef Matt Roher’s steadfast devotion to fresh, local ingredients makes eating here a pleasurable adventure. But, as Roher is quick to say, "the key is consistency." With their own three-acre vegetable farm, Roher’s built-in fan base from his stint at the Landings Club, and an awesome location bookending the Historic District, Cha Bella is a big ...

Best Local TV News Anchor: Sonny Dixon Former state representative and current media hot property on WTOC. Runner-up: Tina Tyus Shaw   Best Local TV Sports Anchor: Frank Sulkowski WJCL/Fox 28's go-to guy on the sports desk for the past three years. Runner-up: Rick Snow, WTOC   Best Local Meteorologist: Pat Prokop WTOC stalwart is a voice of calm and reason in a frenetically hysterical ...

Best Bed & Breakfast: Ballastone Inn 14 E. Oglethorpe Ave. 912/236-1484 Luxury in a four-story antebellum mansion that has all the modern conveniences, with all of yesteryear’s charm - that’s the Ballastone Inn. The inn was once a private house built in 1838 by a cotton factor and banker. "The original owner had 12 children," says the Ballastone’s evening manager Melissa Williams. "We have 16 rooms in all. They needed ...

Best Charitable Organization: Coastal Pet Rescue Andy the terrier mix is one lucky dog.  On May 1, the twelve pound, five month old puppy was adopted by Patricia and Curt Knight of Georgetown.  “He has learned to fetch a ball, his bathroom habits are improving daily,” says Patricia Knight. “He’s got a lot of brains.  He’s outfoxed Curt and I several times.” Knight found Andy through Coastal Pet Rescue (CPR), the all-volunteer ...

Most Eligible Bachelor: Bobby Deen After a hectic day at The Lady & Sons Restaurant, Savannah's most eligible bachelor Bobby Deen prefers to head for the dock behind his house instead of hitting the town. Deen, 39, is co-owner (with brother Jamie) of the restaurant that's put his family on Savannah's tourism map. "I spend all day around so many people in the store, on my off time I like to ...