That Britney Spears would pose topless is hardly surprsing. The star is famous for being very explicit and public about her sexuality and sexual appeal. I think however, it raises a question about gender, equality and and empowerment. Can a woman expose her breasts while pretending to be a stripper and still be an empowered woman? This is the issue Spears raises.

Six weeks after public health authorities on the Caribbean island of Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles) impounded the Scientology cult's 440-foot luxury liner "Freewinds," the ship remains locked down. Experts advise that decontaminating the ship would cost millions of dollars and may not even be possible. Meanwhile, the cult continues to solicit funds for cruises that will not happen.

The oil giant Shell finds itself in an embarrassing and bizarre predicament.

The world’s biggest energy project of its kind, the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 project in Russia, has been damaged by devastating leaks and allegations over the past two years made to a non-commercial website www.royaldutchshellplc.com recently described by the Financial Times as being anti-Shell

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!
(Quote from Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832)

The Royal Dutch Shell Group is once again caught deceiving the public.

David Greer, Project Director and Deputy Chief Executive of Sakhalin Energy responsible for the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 project owned by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, has resigned after being exposed as a plagiarist after circulating a motivational memo. Greer, a Royal Dutch Shell Executive, was on assignment to the project.