7. juni 2003

Why do psychics need a phone, anyway? A funny article about a journalist who took a job as a phone psychic, giving advice to gullible people paying $2 a minute essentially to unload their minds. I bet many of the callers were so impressed with the accurate Tarot readings. The ultimate irony must be that the psychics themselves were screwed over by the company running the phone service. I bet none of them saw that in the cards. 9:13:31 PM    comment []

Almost all Baghdad antiquities accounted for The press was full of stories about how the priceless collection of antiquities in the Baghdad Museum had been looted at the end of the war, and the US forces were chided for not protecting them. Investigators have concluded that the vast majority of objects are safe in the museum. Initial press stories listed as many as 170,000 artifacts as missing. The number of items currently reported as missing is 47. 6:05:54 PM    comment []

Quote of the day "Anyway, I never dreamed that the day would come when not just some but all - well, 90% - of my best male friends would be gay. That day has now arrived. There are various reasons for this. One, I live in Brighton!" (Julie Burchill in the Guardian) 5:28:58 PM    comment []

Hamas will continue violence "The militant Islamic group Hamas repeated on Saturday it will keep up suicide attacks on Israelis unless Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas retracts recent peace pledges he made at a U.S.-led summit." (Reuters) And if he should retract those statements? Of course, they'll continue the violence then, too. 4:30:44 PM    comment []

Monogamy a mark for extinction Ecologist Justin Brashares of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver investigated a large number of characteristics to find out which of Ghana's animal species was most threatened by extinction. He came up with a surprise answer: monogamous species were much more vulnerable to hunters that the species that sleeps around. It's not clear why monogamy might put a species at risk. Perhaps if all of the animals are in pairs, there are no spare males to fill the gap if one is killed, leaving females unmated, suggests Brashares. It may also be that small groups are easier for hunters to sneak up on. And in species such as colobus monkeys, if a monogamous male loses sight of his mate, he goes to investigate - often with fatal consequences. "Hunters tell me that if they kill the female they can nearly always get the male too," says Brashares. At any rate, this new information can help conservationists predict which species may become threatened in the future. 2:19:53 PM    comment []

Burmese democrats can expect little help from Asian powers Hopes are dim for democracy in Burma if we have to trust the Asian governments to put pressure on the junta, argues Patrick Chalmers. United Nations envoy Razali Ismail hopes to get help from other ASEAN powers in putting pressure on the military rulership, but these nations are not intending to be helpful. On the contrary, they see Burma's leaders as "one of their own" and dispises outside pressure, in particular from US and other western powers. Naturally, for most of them, democracy is not exactly top of the list of priorities. Even India and Japan have no interest in putting pressure on Yangon. Ironically, the best hope may well be China, which has serious leverage with the Burmese military rulers and, after Hu Jintao came to power, seems more willing to cooperate with the United States. Ultimately, it seems any hope for democracy in Burma rests with the western powers, in particular the US and Britain. As always. 12:06:02 PM    comment []

— No-fly zones should not apply to bigots The airspace over Disney World has been closed since March due to terrorist fears. The government holds that as it is a major international symbol of US culture, it may well be a terror target. And indeed it is. It's not only Bin Laden that detests the idea of Gay Days in the theme park, so does institutions like Family Policy Network, a Christian fundie group that insists on flying over the park with anti-gay banners, or, as they choose to put it, tell "the truth that Christ can set them free from the sin of homosexuality." They are now suing to have the ban lifted, claiming the security measure is a violation of their free speech. The worst part is, these bigots are often the first who claim to be patriots. 11:08:58 AM    comment []

MSF: Aid more needed outside Iraq Norway's board chairman at Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) Atle Fretheim sees Norway's pledge of humanitarian aid to Iraq as a misuse of the term "humanitarian." The MSF has long been worried about the focus on Iraq's needs and in the end of April, the organization's international leader, Norwegian Morten Rostrup, called the humanitarian crisis in Iraq exaggerated, fearing catastrophic consequences in nations being overlooked. The warnings have not been heeded. As much as a third of Norway's public budget for humanitarian aid this year will go to Iraq. The reason, as Fretheim sees it, is political. Norway is among the countries which are deeply concerned about the minor role given to the United Nations in Iraq, and channelling humanitarian aid through the UN is one way to increase the organisation's presence and prestige in Iraq. The price for this misuse of humanitarian aid is paid by poor and suffering people elsewhere, in particular Congo. 9:49:45 AM    comment []

Isaf hit by Kabul blast An explosion near a bus carrying several members of the international peace keepers in Afghanistan reportely left several dead. The incident happened near a base used by German and Dutch troops. 7:12:01 AM    comment []

Penis englargement works! Yeah, right. And if you believe that, you may be one of the dumb suckers who contributed to three Arizonans making $70 million from selling bogus breast- and penis enlargement remedies. The bottles were bought for $2.50 each and sold for about $60. In some ads, they "warned" the customers they should stop taking the pill when it reached 9 inches, to not cause injury to their partners. Nifty advertising, eh? The same product was apparently sold to both the customers wanting a bigger penis and those wanting larger breasts. However, the threesome got a bit too greedy, drawing the attention of prosecutors. Now they have settled, and will only keep a small part of the profit. "This is a case where victims will actually be able to see some of their money returned," Assistant Attorney General Mark Knops said. Prosecutors say C.P. Direct marketed its products through direct mail and newspaper and magazine ads, then expanded to television and radio advertising, including spots on Howard Stern's nationally syndicated show. "Nine out of 10 sales were for the penis-enlargement product," Knops said. Because nobody really believes that size doesn't matter. 4:58:21 AM    comment []

Small aircraft hits LA building A small Cessna aircraft has plunged into a residential building in Los Angeles, making the building burst into flames. Five people are critically injured. No information yet on why the plane crashed into the building. It reportedly had taken off from Santa Monica airport west of the city. 2:22:06 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.07.2003; 00:25:08.