28. juli 2003

Brief marriage A man in Saudi Arabia divorced his wife over an argument about a picture taken by the bride's brother in the wedding, now having a strong claim to the shortest marriage ever. In Islamic extremist Saudi Arabia, all it takes for a man to divorce his wife is a repudiation. For women to get a divorce under the same laws, hell must freeze over while the pope dances can-can at the same time. 10:02:10 PM    comment []

Do interns get laid? Slate runs the most elaborate wanted ad I've ever seen. 9:25:05 PM    comment []

Dead end or fast forward The technical quality of "fanfilms," amateur (well, sorta) productions on big budget themes, is improving all the time. Check out Batman: Dead end. Requires QT and decent bandwidth for download(s). Thanks to bboy neko. 8:25:51 PM    comment []

Is the RIAA coming for you? EFF has made a searchable datebase where you can find out if the RIAA bullies have issued a subpoena (this is US only) to get your personal information from your ISP. Read more about it in Wired. Remember that buying a CD or DVD not only supports your favourite artists or filmmakers, but also the assholes in the recording industry. Some dilemma, eh? 7:35:28 PM    comment []

Murderous Africa The death rate due to violence is more than double the world average, according to the World Health Organisation. Africa's violence was also "substantually higher" than Latin America and Eastern Europe, other regions where violence is a major health issue. The death rate due to violence is estimated at 60.9 per 100 000 population (for comparison: the US had a homicide rate of 6.6 in 1998; Norway had a homicide rate of 0.7 in 2001). "Africa's excessively high violent death rate is driven by homicide rates that are twice the global average, and which include the world's highest rates of homicide for children under five years of age. "The toll of violent deaths...also reflects the many war-related deaths, which occur in Africa at a rate six times greater than the global average for this form of violence," the WHO's Africa office said in a statement. Add the fact that Africa, in particular south of Sahara, is also the region most affected by AIDS, malaria, famine and hordes of other issues, and we'll have to agree that this part of the planet is increasingly lagging behind, and no easy solutions in sight. 5:40:26 PM    comment []

And he saying it means what? I was a bit surprised to find serious newspaper coverage of the statement about Saddam's sons from Iraq's former Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf (yes, "Comical Ali"). I doubt the US forces would refuse to even interrogate him if he was in any position to know the makeup of the organised resistance to the coalition in Iraq. 6:17:45 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.08.2003; 01:53:28.