10-Year-Old Writes Advice Book
Libby Rees wants to help other kids cope with their parents' divorce

She's not the youngest author ever, but at 10, with one book under her belt and two more commissioned, Libby Rees is one of the most prolific young authors around.

Her 60-page book is designed to help kids survive their parents' divorce. Because, as all kids know, splitting up is hard to do. "Hope, Help and Happiness" began as a list, a kind of self-help guide Libby used to help her cope when her own parents decided to split more than three years ago.

She got the idea when she was out with her mom walking the dog. Throwing a stick for the dog to fetch, she said, was the same as throwing away something that bothered her. Returning home, she expanded on that idea and e-mailed her list to a couple of publishers.

Aultbea Publishing in Inverness, Scotland, liked the list so much the company flew the student over, and a deal was made. Libby lives in Hampshire, outside London.

Charles Faulkner, who runs Aultbea, said he was astonished by Libby's ability to put thoughts into words and described her as an unbelievable talent.

Libby's grandmother, who is visiting for pre-Christmas celebrations, said she knew her granddaughter was bright, but "I am surprised. This is quite an achievement." Eileen Loughnan said Libby wasn't too happy at the time of her parents' split. But she said Libby worked through it and would now like to help other kids do the same. "I know I'm sounding awfully proud, grandmotherish," Loughnan said. "Libby is such a kind girl."

Some of Libby's tips:
- Read a favorite book or see a film.
- Think of funny phrases that make you laugh out loud.
- Think positive.
- Most important, let it all out. Just scream, shout, stamp your feet, whatever, until you feel better!

Some of the money from the sale of Libby's book will go to the Save the Children Charity.
 
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Swingers clubs don't harm society, top court rules

Clubs that allow group sex and partner swapping do not harm Canadian society and should not be considered criminal, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the beginning of January.

The high court, which was ruling on two Quebec cases, said Canadian standards can tolerate the activities, even when they are done amid spectators.

The judges, in a 7-2 ruling, said the test for indecency is the harm it causes, and not simply community standards.

The cases involve two swingers clubs in Montreal that allowed sex acts, including swapping. One case involved James Kouri, owner of a club called Coeur a Corps. He was convicted by a lower court on two counts of keeping a common bawdy house and fined $7,500.

The other case involved Jean-Paul Labaye who ran a members-only club called L'Orage. He was convicted of keeping a bawdy house and fined $2,500.

At the Court of Appeal, however, the cases took different turns. Labaye's conviction was upheld (поддержана) while Kouri's conviction was overturned (опровергнута). Now the Supreme Court has given a favourable ruling in both cases.
 
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Soccer parents upset about swinger party held in their Orlando hotel

Some teenage players and their parents got to see more than they bargained for while attending a Disney soccer showcase, all courtesy of about 200 swingers who were having a New Year's party at their hotel.

Paul Camporini brought his wife, seventh-grade daughter and eighth-grade son from Safety Harbor, Fla., and said he had to "delicately explain to my Catholic school children that swingers change partners during the evening." "My biggest gripe is that the hotel had two distinctly different groups under the same roof," said Camporini, 49. "A soccer team and middle-aged swingers should not have been booked together."

The families said the sexually adventurous partygoers sometimes flashed breasts and bare buttocks in front of the children as they sashayed through the hotel atrium. The parents described the dress at the Crowne Plaza Hotel-Airport in Orlando as "raunchy, despicable and worse than prostitutes."

"We thought we were coming to Orlando, not the Las Vegas Strip," said Mark Gilbert, the father of a boy who plays on the Clearwater Chargers, a group of 13-under players from Florida.

The teams booked the $92-a-night rooms for Disney's Soccer Showcase, and said hotel management did not tell them about the swingers' party or try to keep the partygoers away from the children. Hotel managers did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday. All of the swingers had checked out of the hotel by late Sunday.

"We're not prudes by any means," said Rob Young of Greenville, S.C., who said his two daughters, Leah, 13 and Lauren, 11, asked questions he struggled to answer. "We would have liked to have been informed when we checked into the hotel so we could have made other arrangements.
 
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