OFFBEAT MAIL

"Produce a baby, instead of raising a dog." This was the call of psychologist Frieda Birnbaum, a 60-year-old American mom who gave birth Tuesday to a twin sons through a Cesarean section at Hackensack University Medical Center. While most of the older folk prefer to raise dogs or adopt children, the mother of three just decided to become pregnant, instead. At least, it's one best way of sacrificing one's time to a fruitful endeavor than to take care of animals like dogs to erase boredom or loneliness at home. Many would agree that a dog is a man's best friend. But pragmatically, there's nothing much better than rearing a human being, especially he or she is your own. Just consider the amount of time and money that one will spend to keep the dog in tip-top shape. Why don't consider the idea of adopting or better yet to under the same process Birnhaum did to have a baby? However, not many will be sold to the idea owing to some health risks involved in the

The Lebanese government has vowed to crush the Islamic militants who are sowing chaos by recruiting new members and amassing weapons and ammunitions inside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camps near Tripoli. As this developed, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has set his mind by seeking military aid from the United States as a means of beefing up the stock of arsenals that the Lebanese military has while it seriously battles the Islamic militants who are threatening the peace and order situation in the host country. And caught in the crossfires are the refugees, particularly the women and children, who are believed to have fled the refugee camps on foot, bringing with them a few belongings. While others moved out aboard whatever vehicles they could have just to flee from the unrest that now plagued the once peaceful refugee camps, whose occupants heavily rely on dole outs and relief goods in order to survive. Siniora could be right when he said that what the military was fighting the Is