Researchers have finally found evidence for what good Catholic boys have known all along erotic images make you go blind. The effect is temporary and lasts just a moment, but the research has added to road-safety campaigners calls to ban sexy billboard-advertising near busy roads, in the hope of preventing accidents.

The new study by US psychologists found that people shown erotic or gory images frequently fail to process images they see immediately afterwards. And the researchers say some personality types appear to be affected more than others by the phenomenon, known as "emotion-induced blindness".

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s second quarter earnings climbed 35 percent from the second quarter of 2004 (after excluding special items) to $7.64 billion. BP PLC, the world's second-largest publicly traded oil company, said its net income increased 29 percent, to $5.59 billion. At Royal Dutch Shell PLC, second-quarter profits rose 34 percent to $5.24 billion. ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, reported an eye-popping 51 percent jump in earnings, to $3.14 billion.

What's behind those numbers? When oil prices rise, petroleum companies that have long-term contracts or own oil reserves get a huge windfall. After all, they may have invested and developed those oil fields when prices were anywhere from $10 to $25 a barrel. Suddenly prices spurt upward and the companies are awash in profits.

It's time to dust off those canisters of old home movies, so easily forgotten in this digital-dominated age. The organizers of Home Movie Day believe such films -- yes, birthday parties, family vacations, weddings and the like -- are valuable cultural resources worth sharing and keeping for posterity.

The third annual event, planned for Saturday in more than 40 cities worldwide, was launched by a small group of film archivists concerned that amateur footage of the 20th century would be lost without a concerted public awareness effort. Washington's Home Movie Day will be held at the Warehouse Screening Room on Seventh Street NW and will feature 8mm, Super 8 and 16mm movies brought by attendees. Baltimore, Richmond, Philadelphia and New York are among the cities participating.

"We get a lot of people waving," says Amy Gallick, 29, a Library of Congress film archivist who volunteers as Home Movie Day's local coordinator, explaining that travel footage from the 1960s and early '70s dominated the first two D.C. events. She also remembers standout moments such as watching a group of older women learn the twist, and seeing footage of her mother, pregnant with Gallick, that she had never viewed before.

A violent head-on crash along Interstate 81 in Luzerne County killed two people and injured three others..
Tabitha Roberts, 17, and her grandmother, Jean Acres from Denver Colorado were killed. The three hurt are their family members. They are Tabitha's mother, father and another one of their daughters.
A bus and sport utility vehicle collided in the southbound lanes near the Pittston/Dupont interchange. The bus driver was the only one on the bus. He was not hurt.
The crash had traffic in both directions stopped for hours. It happened about 1:45 p.m. The interstate quickly became a parking lot.
The bus headed north went out of control, crossed a grassy median and hit the southbound SUV carrying five people head-on.
Trucker Tim Chapman of Indianapolis saw the whole thing happen. The bus went out of control right in front of him.
"I grabbed a couple of gears and made a real quick stop. I was making sure nobody else got involved. That's all I worried about," he said.
State police questioned the bus driver but said it's too early to speculate what happened.
"The size of this bus, it would take a long time for it to stop, even after impact. It would take a long time to stop," said Trooper Martin Connors of PSP Wyoming.
The crash blocked traffic in both directions at one point, as much as six miles in either direction.
Late in the afternoon state police, along with a towing company, tried to tow the bus away but something snapped. The bus rolled away and workers had to run after it to catch up with it.