25. april 2003

DUI in a wheel chair A 46 year old Norwegian woman is charged with driving under influence in her wheel chair. The woman was on her way out of the hospital when she crashed into the gate of a newsstand, and as she was pretty much unable to make herself understood, she was arrested for driving under influence. Morten Hole of the Narvik police did not manage to remain serious while talking to the press about the incident. The woman is charged for driving under influence, but the police is not really sure this rule applies to wheel chairs. That will be a legal challenge, Hole admits. (From a Norwegian article in VG) 11:50:51 PM    comment []

DNA discovery at 50 Today it's 50 years ago the groundbreaking article on the structure of the DNA was published in the journal Nature. The discovery by James Watson and Francis Crick has been considered the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century. The ultimate goal, to stop people developing cancer, is still evading scientists. 9:49:50 PM    comment []

US forces intercept Turkish special forces in Iraq According to Time magazine, US forces has arrested a team of Turkish special forces that had made its way into Kurdish areas of Iraq. The soldiers wore civilian clothes and attempted to get in under a humanitarian pretext, but US forces had been tipped about the attempt to infiltrate Kirkuk, and arrested them at a checkpoint. U.S. brigade commander Col. Bill Mayville has no doubt about their intentions: "They did not come here with a pure heart. Their objective is to create an environment that can be used by Turkey to send a large peacekeeping force into Kirkuk." Turkey has repeatedly irritated the US administration over Iraq and Kurdistan. It will be interesting to see the US response to a deliberate attempt by Turkey to provoke a war in Kurdistan to justify an invasion. Turkey has obviously shot themselves in the leg by refusing US forces to open a northern front, and by continuously provoking the US. The Kurds, on the other hand,  have seized on the opportunity to align themselves closely with Washington. They no doubt hope that this will be the first conflict in the region where the Kurds get the upper hand. Provided, of course, that the US remembers who have been their friends, and who have been their enemies. 8:38:29 PM    comment []

War journalists' fringe benefits When reporters weren't loudly condemning the looting of Iraq's cultural treasures to the audience back home, they took part in the looting themselves. One, Boston Herald reporter Jules Crittenden, got off without prosecution because his taste in art hadn't made him steal anything really valuable. He also gave the good old schoolboy excuse, according to a customs official: ''He didn't think it was a big deal. He said all the embedded reporters were doing it.'' We'll bear that in mind the next time we read a newspaper report chiding the US military for not properly protecting the museums. 7:39:52 PM    comment []

Helicopters, farmers and tall tales Remember the story about the Iraqi farmer who downed an Apache helicopter with his old carbine? Of course, the story wasn't true. Suspecting that, a Kuwaiti newspaper set out to hunt down the farmer, Ali Abid Minqash (picture), to ask him about the story. He told them that he had been surprised to find the helicopter in his field, and had went to contact the local authorities. The local Baath party officials had immediately come out with TV cameras and a tale for him to tell about how he shot down the advanced fighter helicopter with his old gun, and in hours the story was spread all over the Arab news, and thereafter the world. Ali has also become the butt of quite a few local jokes after his sudden stardom. One of the stories told is that the US had decided to withdraw its warships from the Gulf once it learned that Ali had gone fishing. 7:26:27 PM    comment []

God is not a creationist The creationist organisation Answers in Genesis is trying to build a museum to show off their quack beliefs, but the Almighty is not at all helpful. Progress with the building is being slowed down by bad weather and a sagging economy. 3:45:26 PM    comment []

US-NK talks: bluster and nukes Nobody had high expectations about the talks between the US, China and North Korea, so few will be disappointed. The best part is that the parties agreed to keep talking. So worst case did not happen. The Chinese hosts described the talks with these words: These talks permitted all parties to express clearly their positions, fully exchange views and increase mutual understanding. That is diplomatese for a quarrel. Perhaps of most concern was North Korea's representative Li Gun's private confirmation to James Kelly that the country has at least one nuclear bomb, and that the country would "prove" this "soon." He strongly hinted that North Korea would test a weapon, somerthing that would seriously escalate the situation. North Korea has been known to bluff and lie, so it's anybody's guess what will happen. 1:58:18 PM    comment []

Florida court strikes down 'scarlett letter law' The problem the law intended to address was that fathers of women who had set up children for adoption could later sue for custody and thus break up adopted families. To solve this problem, lawmakers came up with an absurd solution: to set up children for adoption, mothers who did not know the father of the child would have to put in an advertisement in all relevant local newspapers, listing her full name and contact information along with all details about men who might be the father. Thus, women, including the underaged and rape victims, would be forced to reveal emberrassing personal sexual information to the public. A number of women's right groups and the ACLU challenged the law in court, and when it went to court the state's lawyers refused to defend it. One of the law's sponsors, Democratic state Sen. Walter Campbell, muttered something about "unintended consequences" and otherwise didn't comment. It scares me that such a badly considered idea can be put into law. Did none of the lawmakers actually think through the obvious consequences? The Fourth District Court of Appeal struck down the law for violating privacy rights, and lawmakers are now planning a new solution to the problem in cooperation with adoption agencies. Obviously, nobody had considered the women's rights earlier, only the rights of the anonymous fathers. 1:13:06 PM    comment []

"A Danish perspective" A beautiful picture taken by the crew on the international space station, on a rare clear day over Northern Europe. In the middle of the map is Denmark, with Norway in the background. Check out the larger versions here. 9:51:39 AM    comment []

Tariq Aziz captured Saddam Hussein's long time ally and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is in coalition hands. He was the face of the Iraqi administration during the first Gulf war, and through his work as foreign secretary and at the UN he became the most recognizable face of the regime to a western audience. Tariq Aziz (picture) was the most senior Christian in Iraq. He is the most senior Iraqi yet captured, and especially since his face is so recognizable in the west, this is a great scoop for the coalition. Sources are scarce about how he was arrested, but BBC seems to believe he gave himself up voluntarily after some failed negotiation to strike a deal. Aziz, as a member of the top leadership and Saddam's deputy for more than a decade, will have extensive knowledge about all aspects of the Iraqi leadership and its activities. Many US conservatives should know him well. He was responsible for negotiating US support in the Iran-Iraq war, and met Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1984. 7:59:53 AM    comment []

New vitamin discovered Japanese scientists have discovered that pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), which was discovered in 1979, should be categorized as a vitamin, most likely in the B group. Tests on mice show that deprivation of PQQ causes loss of fertility and roughened fur. Experience is that vitamins tend to work the same way in mice and humans. Today, multi-vitamin tablets do not tend to include PQQ. Foods that are rich in the new vitamin includes parsley, green tea, green peppers, kiwi fruit and papaya. 6:59:51 AM    comment []

Why you are spammed A group of researchers set out to find out what attracts the most spam to your mailbox. They found that e-mail addresses posted on websites or in newsgroups attract the most spam. Sometimes research confirms what we already know. 6:36:21 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2003; 02:59:35.