Rangel Calls for Resuming Military Draft - Tue Dec 31, 7:15 AM
NEW YORK - Rep. Charles Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War, says he plans to introduce legislation to resume the military draft in the event of a war against Iraq.
--This will show how serious we are about this war. AND equality! Women better get drafted too, dammit!
N.Y.C. Smoking Ban Set for March 30 - Mon Dec 30, 6:29 PM ET By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - On the eve of the year's biggest party night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg approved one of the nation's toughest anti-smoking laws while Gov. George Pataki toughened the state's drunk driving statute.
The smoking ban, affecting nearly every public indoor space in the city, takes effect March 30, giving smokers one last New Year's Eve to light up in most bars and restaurants.
--If I had the money I would open a private, members only, smoking club in NYC. I would never go there, but I would OWN one!
NEW YORK - On the eve of the year's biggest party night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg approved one of the nation's toughest anti-smoking laws while Gov. George Pataki toughened the state's drunk driving statute.
The smoking ban, affecting nearly every public indoor space in the city, takes effect March 30, giving smokers one last New Year's Eve to light up in most bars and restaurants.
--If I had the money I would open a private, members only, smoking club in NYC. I would never go there, but I would OWN one!
Clonaid Scientist Says Proof of Cloned Baby Will Come Soon - Dec. 30
It was a dramatic scientific claim, and now it's time for proof. A 7-pound baby purported to be the first human clone is due to arrive in the United States today and will face DNA testing as a group that sponsored the birth tries to prove to a skeptical scientific community that the child is indeed a clone.
Brigitte Boisselier, the chief executive of Clonaid, a cloning company affiliated with a religious sect that believes aliens gave rise to life on Earth, told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that scientists will be offered all the proof they required within a week.
--Why does Brigitte Bosselier look more like a retired porn star than a scientist? I love Science!!
It was a dramatic scientific claim, and now it's time for proof. A 7-pound baby purported to be the first human clone is due to arrive in the United States today and will face DNA testing as a group that sponsored the birth tries to prove to a skeptical scientific community that the child is indeed a clone.
Brigitte Boisselier, the chief executive of Clonaid, a cloning company affiliated with a religious sect that believes aliens gave rise to life on Earth, told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that scientists will be offered all the proof they required within a week.
--Why does Brigitte Bosselier look more like a retired porn star than a scientist? I love Science!!
Nominated for quote of the year is the statement made by Representative Dick Armey, who when asked if he had been in President Clinton's place, would he have resigned?
He responded: "If I were in the President's place I would not have gotten a chance to resign. I would be laying in a pool of my own blood, hearing Mrs. Armey standing over me saying, "How do I reload this damn thing?"
He responded: "If I were in the President's place I would not have gotten a chance to resign. I would be laying in a pool of my own blood, hearing Mrs. Armey standing over me saying, "How do I reload this damn thing?"
Wrestler Admits Kaufman Feud Was Fake - Thu, Dec 26, 2002 05:55 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Twenty years after the fact, professional wrestler Jerry Lawler is coming clean about his supposed feud with comedian Andy Kaufman.
Kaufman, who decided to try his hand at wrestling at one point in his career and took on all comers, including women, met Lawler in Memphis. In 1982, the bickering duo appeared together on David Letterman's late night show and erupted when Lawler slapped Kaufman, who retaliated by throwing coffee at him.
While Letterman was not in on the joke, Lawler asserts in his new book "It's Good to Be the King ... Sometimes" that he and Kaufman staged the whole incident.
Kaufman died in 1984.
--You mean a Professional Wrestler actually STAGED something!! Oh The Humanity!!
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Twenty years after the fact, professional wrestler Jerry Lawler is coming clean about his supposed feud with comedian Andy Kaufman.
Kaufman, who decided to try his hand at wrestling at one point in his career and took on all comers, including women, met Lawler in Memphis. In 1982, the bickering duo appeared together on David Letterman's late night show and erupted when Lawler slapped Kaufman, who retaliated by throwing coffee at him.
While Letterman was not in on the joke, Lawler asserts in his new book "It's Good to Be the King ... Sometimes" that he and Kaufman staged the whole incident.
Kaufman died in 1984.
--You mean a Professional Wrestler actually STAGED something!! Oh The Humanity!!
Women and the Draft (Op-Ed) - By Dave Behrens Fri Dec 27th, 2002 at 01:23:41 AM EST
Every man in the United States 18 to 25 years of age is required to register for the Selective Service, and thereby subject himself to the possibility of involuntary military service. Yet, on the eve of war with Iraq, the prosecution of which may require millions of U.S. military personnel, no woman in the U.S. is required to register. This clear fact of gender discrimination has not been focused upon in public discussions, I believe, because an active draft has not been in effect since 1973.
The United States Selective Service System offers on its Website a short history of the draft with respect to women. The primary reason given for non-registration of women is a twenty-year-old Supreme Court decision, Rostker v. Goldberg. Simply stated, this decision says that since all men registered with the Selective Service are considered combat replacements, and since Congress forbids women to go into combat, women should not be registered. Of course, this reasoning is absolutely absurd, since it presupposes that every man called for involuntary military service will be used for combat, and that no man called will be used for the approximately 90% of military jobs which are non-combat related.
Some questions arise as a result of this blatant fact of gender discrimination:
1. While U.S. women enjoy exactly the same civil rights as U.S. men, why is the pretext of a ridiculous Supreme Court decision used to exempt the majority of the population, i.e. females, from even the possibility of involuntary military service in any capacity?
2. Should women be permitted to vote in elections for candidates who may have to decide on war for our country, when women will never serve involuntarily in any military conflict?
3. Title IX demands that proportionately equal funds be used for school-based athletics for males and females. Many schools have had to abandon male team sports that earn revenue in excess of their costs and which aid in the preparation of males for the teamwork and organization of military service, in order to provide gender-equal funding for female sports which perennially lose revenue. Yet there is no requirement for females to utilize the skills and strengths learned on the athletic field in the military defense of their country. Should Title IX continue?
4. Do equal civil rights for women obligate women to equal civil responsibilities?
--Hmmm... this guy has some interesting points...
Every man in the United States 18 to 25 years of age is required to register for the Selective Service, and thereby subject himself to the possibility of involuntary military service. Yet, on the eve of war with Iraq, the prosecution of which may require millions of U.S. military personnel, no woman in the U.S. is required to register. This clear fact of gender discrimination has not been focused upon in public discussions, I believe, because an active draft has not been in effect since 1973.
The United States Selective Service System offers on its Website a short history of the draft with respect to women. The primary reason given for non-registration of women is a twenty-year-old Supreme Court decision, Rostker v. Goldberg. Simply stated, this decision says that since all men registered with the Selective Service are considered combat replacements, and since Congress forbids women to go into combat, women should not be registered. Of course, this reasoning is absolutely absurd, since it presupposes that every man called for involuntary military service will be used for combat, and that no man called will be used for the approximately 90% of military jobs which are non-combat related.
Some questions arise as a result of this blatant fact of gender discrimination:
1. While U.S. women enjoy exactly the same civil rights as U.S. men, why is the pretext of a ridiculous Supreme Court decision used to exempt the majority of the population, i.e. females, from even the possibility of involuntary military service in any capacity?
2. Should women be permitted to vote in elections for candidates who may have to decide on war for our country, when women will never serve involuntarily in any military conflict?
3. Title IX demands that proportionately equal funds be used for school-based athletics for males and females. Many schools have had to abandon male team sports that earn revenue in excess of their costs and which aid in the preparation of males for the teamwork and organization of military service, in order to provide gender-equal funding for female sports which perennially lose revenue. Yet there is no requirement for females to utilize the skills and strengths learned on the athletic field in the military defense of their country. Should Title IX continue?
4. Do equal civil rights for women obligate women to equal civil responsibilities?
--Hmmm... this guy has some interesting points...
Scientist Claims to Produce Human Clone - December 27, 2002 By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A chemist who belongs to a sect that believes life on Earth was created by extraterrestrials claimed Friday to have produced the world's first human clone, a baby girl.
The 7-pound baby was born Thursday by Caesarean section, said Brigitte Boisselier, head of Clonaid, the company that claimed success in the project. Boisselier, who spoke at a news conference, said the baby, dubbed "Eve" by the scientists, is a clone of the 31-year-old American woman who donated the DNA for the cloning process, had the resulting embryo implanted and then gestated the baby. If confirmed, that would make the child an exact genetic duplicate of her mother.
--Just because we can doesn't mean we should...
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A chemist who belongs to a sect that believes life on Earth was created by extraterrestrials claimed Friday to have produced the world's first human clone, a baby girl.
The 7-pound baby was born Thursday by Caesarean section, said Brigitte Boisselier, head of Clonaid, the company that claimed success in the project. Boisselier, who spoke at a news conference, said the baby, dubbed "Eve" by the scientists, is a clone of the 31-year-old American woman who donated the DNA for the cloning process, had the resulting embryo implanted and then gestated the baby. If confirmed, that would make the child an exact genetic duplicate of her mother.
--Just because we can doesn't mean we should...
Somewhere in West Virginia, a lucky person is about to celebrate a green Christmas. - LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -
One winning ticket was sold in West Virginia for the nearly-$315 million Powerball lottery Wednesday night, a spokesman for contest operator the Multi-State Lottery Association said.
--After taxes and all they will only get about $102 million. Hardly worth the trouble... hohoho
One winning ticket was sold in West Virginia for the nearly-$315 million Powerball lottery Wednesday night, a spokesman for contest operator the Multi-State Lottery Association said.
--After taxes and all they will only get about $102 million. Hardly worth the trouble... hohoho
Trying to Stop Vampire Hysteria December 23rd - Reuters
BLANTYRE (Reuters) - A bizarre rumor that Malawi's government is colluding with vampires to collect human blood for international aid agencies in exchange for food has led to a rash of vigilante violence.
President Bakili Muluzi accused unnamed opposition politicians on Sunday of spreading the vampire stories to try to undermine his government, already hit by political protests and widespread food shortages.
Vampire paranoia has sparked several attacks on suspected bloodsuckers, despite official efforts to kill the rumor.
Last week a man accused of helping vampires was stoned to death and three Roman Catholic priests were beaten up by villagers who suspected them of being bloodsuckers.
--I Knew it! Those bastards!
BLANTYRE (Reuters) - A bizarre rumor that Malawi's government is colluding with vampires to collect human blood for international aid agencies in exchange for food has led to a rash of vigilante violence.
President Bakili Muluzi accused unnamed opposition politicians on Sunday of spreading the vampire stories to try to undermine his government, already hit by political protests and widespread food shortages.
Vampire paranoia has sparked several attacks on suspected bloodsuckers, despite official efforts to kill the rumor.
Last week a man accused of helping vampires was stoned to death and three Roman Catholic priests were beaten up by villagers who suspected them of being bloodsuckers.
--I Knew it! Those bastards!
The Two Towers - (***) GREEN LIGHT
I loved this movie. I will be buying it the first day it's available on DVD, but, I am giving it only three stars.
Good stuff first:
Special effects were great, better than the first which we watched the night before. Gollum was WAY better than I expected. They gave him life, conveyed his internal insanity, and even showed Frodo a peek at his future if he kept the ring. The ENTs were excellent! Did you see the one put that fire in his hair out in the flood of water!The Battles! The Balrog! The Nazgul!
The acting was super. Peter Jackson drags great performances out of them all! Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins is showing the burden in his face. Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White is great as expected. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn was great, it will take me weeks to get the drool out of my shoes that was leaking from all the women in the theater (I hope it's drool...). Sean Astin as reliable as Samwise Gamgee. Orlando Bloom as Legolas and John Rhys-Davies as Gimli I love. Brad Dourif was perfectly cast as Wormtongue, right down to the oily hair.
The Locations were Awesome!
The bad guys were bad. The good guys were great! The three hours flew by. Now I want to go see it again, dammit!
Now the bad stuff (before I buy more tickets online).
I does not stand alone as a movie. My brother Eric went with us and had not seen the first movie. He liked it but was kind of lost for the first hour. He liked it so much he immediately borrowed one of my DVDs of the Fellowship.
It could have been paced a little better in a couple places.
There were also a few departures from the book that seemed to happen for no reason.
All and All a must see.
GREEN LIGHT!!
The Clash's Joe Strummer Dies at Age 50
LONDON (Reuters) - Joe Strummer (news), frontman for British punk band the Clash and a major influence on a whole generation of rock bands, has died at his home in western England at the age of 50, a spokesman for the singer said on Monday.
--Bummer. Sharif won't like it...
LONDON (Reuters) - Joe Strummer (news), frontman for British punk band the Clash and a major influence on a whole generation of rock bands, has died at his home in western England at the age of 50, a spokesman for the singer said on Monday.
--Bummer. Sharif won't like it...
Start Trek: Nemesis - (**1/2) green light
It was good. About as good as a two hour TV episode. So if you like Start Trek, go see it.
That being said, Stop reading if you don't want spoilers.
I am sick of the Doomsday machine plot. This movie started out great! The Romulans! I wanted political intrigue! I wanted a mystery! I thought I was going to get a complex plot about the cloning of Picard and Warf being naked!
It really needed to focus tighter. Make the movie about the harrowing aspects of marrying a Star Fleet Captain! Make a movie about Datas Quest for his humanity and family. Make an action adventure plot like the original Mission Impossible!
DO NOT regurgitate the "OH MY GOD! There is a Doomsday Machine headed for earth! and The Enterprise is the only Starship in the whole damn quadrant!"
I want Sisco... But Nemesis will do for now...
Die Another Day - (****) Green Light
The story begins in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea with a spectacular high-speed hovercraft chase and continues via Hong Kong to Cuba and London where Bond meets up with the two ladies who are to play such important and differing roles in his quest to unmask a traitor and to prevent a war of catastrophic consequence. Hot on the trail of the principle villains, Bond travels to Iceland where he experiences at first hand the power of an amazing new weapon before a dramatic confrontation with his main adversary back in Korea where it all started...
This is the Best James Bond movie since Sean Connery.
One Country's Worst Nightmare - Fri Dec 20,10:30 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - German drinkers could be about to face their worst nightmare -- a beer shortage.
The potential trickle in the supply of the nation's favorite tipple is due to new government regulations restricting deposits of disposable cans and bottles which takes effect in January. Retailers say it may mean there may not be enough beer in shops.
--OH THE HUMANITY!!
BERLIN (Reuters) - German drinkers could be about to face their worst nightmare -- a beer shortage.
The potential trickle in the supply of the nation's favorite tipple is due to new government regulations restricting deposits of disposable cans and bottles which takes effect in January. Retailers say it may mean there may not be enough beer in shops.
--OH THE HUMANITY!!
Playboy Centerfolds Are Less Curvaceous - Thu Dec 19, 7:02 PM By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer
LONDON - The curves of Playboy centerfold models have gradually flattened out over the last 50 years, giving way to a more androgynous look, European researchers suggest.
Analyzing every Playboy centerfold since the first one in 1953, they found the models' weight hadn't changed much over time, but busts and hips had diminished, while waists had become less tapered.
--Who said we would never need math...
LONDON - The curves of Playboy centerfold models have gradually flattened out over the last 50 years, giving way to a more androgynous look, European researchers suggest.
Analyzing every Playboy centerfold since the first one in 1953, they found the models' weight hadn't changed much over time, but busts and hips had diminished, while waists had become less tapered.
--Who said we would never need math...
PETA Gives Fur Coats to the Poor - Thu Dec 19, 8:24 AM ET
TORONTO (AP) - Fur isn't for rich folks, but it's fine for the homeless. At least according to some animal-rights activists.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is giving fur coats to the poor.
PETA has teamed with a Toronto community center to donate 30 hand-me-down fur coats and jackets to homeless women.
PETA is trying to drive home its message that animals should not be victims of fashion. A PETA spokeswoman says the only people who should wear furs are the truly destitute.
--Just when I thought PETA couldn't get any more stupid. "Let's give this homeless woman a $1000 mink coat." Do they really think they will keep them instead of selling it to us meat eaters? Sheesh!
TORONTO (AP) - Fur isn't for rich folks, but it's fine for the homeless. At least according to some animal-rights activists.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is giving fur coats to the poor.
PETA has teamed with a Toronto community center to donate 30 hand-me-down fur coats and jackets to homeless women.
PETA is trying to drive home its message that animals should not be victims of fashion. A PETA spokeswoman says the only people who should wear furs are the truly destitute.
--Just when I thought PETA couldn't get any more stupid. "Let's give this homeless woman a $1000 mink coat." Do they really think they will keep them instead of selling it to us meat eaters? Sheesh!
Why Does This Metal Detector Keep Going Off?? - Tue Dec 17,10:43 AM ET
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - It took an airport metal detector to give a Canadian woman a clue to why she was suffering from persistent stomach aches four months after having abdominal surgery.
Despite the detector's beep, airport security guards in Regina, Saskatchewan, were unable to find any metal on her body before the woman's October flight to Calgary, Alberta.
Several days later the woman had an X-ray.
It showed a 12-inch-long, 2-inch-wide surgical retractor, used to hold incisions open, had been left in her abdomen after surgery four months earlier at the Regina General Hospital.
--Sheesh. Think she will keep it?
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - It took an airport metal detector to give a Canadian woman a clue to why she was suffering from persistent stomach aches four months after having abdominal surgery.
Despite the detector's beep, airport security guards in Regina, Saskatchewan, were unable to find any metal on her body before the woman's October flight to Calgary, Alberta.
Several days later the woman had an X-ray.
It showed a 12-inch-long, 2-inch-wide surgical retractor, used to hold incisions open, had been left in her abdomen after surgery four months earlier at the Regina General Hospital.
--Sheesh. Think she will keep it?
How to Ruin American Enterprise - Fri Dec 13,12:02 PM ET By Benjamin J. Stein
We're well on our way to squelching what gives this country an edge. What would it take to kill innovation altogether?
--This article was so good I put it in my opinions section.
We're well on our way to squelching what gives this country an edge. What would it take to kill innovation altogether?
--This article was so good I put it in my opinions section.
College Sets Speed Limit for Wheelchairs - 2 hours, 5 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - or worse, expelled — for speeding at Valley College.
Campus officials recently set a speed limit of 4 mph for wheelchairs, hoping to keep pedestrians from being hurt.
"It's a safety issue, pure and simple," said Tom Jacobsmeyer, vice president of administration, who proposed the regulation after seeing a student nearly hit by a woman "going very fast" in a wheelchair.
--Now here is an issue I can get behind. Those wheel chair people already get all the good parking!!
LOS ANGELES - or worse, expelled — for speeding at Valley College.
Campus officials recently set a speed limit of 4 mph for wheelchairs, hoping to keep pedestrians from being hurt.
"It's a safety issue, pure and simple," said Tom Jacobsmeyer, vice president of administration, who proposed the regulation after seeing a student nearly hit by a woman "going very fast" in a wheelchair.
--Now here is an issue I can get behind. Those wheel chair people already get all the good parking!!
"Survivor" Brian Slapped AroundThu Dec 12, 6:30 PM ET By Lia Haberman
Survivor's soft-porn stud Brian Heidik has so far managed to outwit, outplay and outlast his Thai island teammates, but the tattooed contestant faced his biggest rival back home.
Heidik's wife, Charmaine, was arrested last month and charged with spousal abuse, according to The Smoking Gun.
Cops hauled the castaway's wife off to the slammer on November 17 after a heated argument broke out between the couple at their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Quartz Hill, per a Los Angeles police report.
Slaphappy Charmaine was left to stew in a cell for two days before being released on her own recognizance. A superior court judge allowed her to return home, in the company of a sheriff's deputy, to pick up her belongings.
--He should have known when she wouldn't eat the roach for him! Maybe she was pissed because he wouldn't tell her who won!
Survivor's soft-porn stud Brian Heidik has so far managed to outwit, outplay and outlast his Thai island teammates, but the tattooed contestant faced his biggest rival back home.
Heidik's wife, Charmaine, was arrested last month and charged with spousal abuse, according to The Smoking Gun.
Cops hauled the castaway's wife off to the slammer on November 17 after a heated argument broke out between the couple at their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Quartz Hill, per a Los Angeles police report.
Slaphappy Charmaine was left to stew in a cell for two days before being released on her own recognizance. A superior court judge allowed her to return home, in the company of a sheriff's deputy, to pick up her belongings.
--He should have known when she wouldn't eat the roach for him! Maybe she was pissed because he wouldn't tell her who won!
Eddie Munster in the News! - Yahoo News
Butch Patrick, 49, who played Eddie Munster in the TV series 'The Munsters,' shares a hot tub with blind date Lisa Marie Bolick in the first episode of E!'s new celebrity reality series, 'Star Dates,' in this undated video framegrab. The half-hour show debuts on the cable channel at 10:30 p.m., EST, Sunday, Dec. 15.
--Click the link! You gotta love TV these days!
Butch Patrick, 49, who played Eddie Munster in the TV series 'The Munsters,' shares a hot tub with blind date Lisa Marie Bolick in the first episode of E!'s new celebrity reality series, 'Star Dates,' in this undated video framegrab. The half-hour show debuts on the cable channel at 10:30 p.m., EST, Sunday, Dec. 15.
--Click the link! You gotta love TV these days!
Rights Group: 461 Pakistani Women Killed - Wed Dec 11, 6:45 AM ET By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's main human rights body said Wednesday that at least 461 women have been killed by family members in so-called "honor killings" this year, an increase from the year before.
In such killings, women are murdered to protect the "family honor" for immoral behavior ranging from sex outside marriage, dating, talking to men, being raped or even cooking poorly.
The 2002 figure is up from about 372 honor killings the year before and demonstrates the need for increased protection for women in Pakistan, the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.
--Savages. Bastards. Cowards.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's main human rights body said Wednesday that at least 461 women have been killed by family members in so-called "honor killings" this year, an increase from the year before.
In such killings, women are murdered to protect the "family honor" for immoral behavior ranging from sex outside marriage, dating, talking to men, being raped or even cooking poorly.
The 2002 figure is up from about 372 honor killings the year before and demonstrates the need for increased protection for women in Pakistan, the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.
--Savages. Bastards. Cowards.
PETA Sues Calif. Milk Board Over 'Happy Cow' Ads - Wed Dec 11, 7:51 PM ET By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - How green is their valley? Do they even have a valley?
A lawsuit filed on Wednesday by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals challenges whether the California dairy industry's award-winning ad campaign featuring "Happy Cows" frolicking in verdant pastures is false advertising.
--PETA should be ashamed for the time and money the spend on this crap when real suffering still continues. READ THIS PETA!
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - How green is their valley? Do they even have a valley?
A lawsuit filed on Wednesday by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals challenges whether the California dairy industry's award-winning ad campaign featuring "Happy Cows" frolicking in verdant pastures is false advertising.
--PETA should be ashamed for the time and money the spend on this crap when real suffering still continues. READ THIS PETA!
Buy a Piece of Christmas -- Reindeer DNA in a Vial - Wed Dec 11,10:05 AM ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Stuck for a Christmas gift? How about a blob of real Finnish reindeer DNA sealed in a vial topped with silver antlers.
Richard Collins, project manager at Hong Kong-based DNA-Tech Ltd, said customer interest in the reindeer DNA had snowballed since his firm began selling it Tuesday for HK$480 (US$61.55) per sample.
--For that special someone that has everything...
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Stuck for a Christmas gift? How about a blob of real Finnish reindeer DNA sealed in a vial topped with silver antlers.
Richard Collins, project manager at Hong Kong-based DNA-Tech Ltd, said customer interest in the reindeer DNA had snowballed since his firm began selling it Tuesday for HK$480 (US$61.55) per sample.
--For that special someone that has everything...
Mad Mel to hit the road again - Tuesday December 10, 2002 - The Guardian
Mel Gibson is to play Mad Max for the fourth time in return for a $25m pay packet. The 46-year-old actor will once again step into the wasted landscape of a dystopian future Australia for a project titled Fury Road, reportedly costing $104m.
According to Daily Variety, the movie will start shooting down under next May, with the franchise's three-time director and co-writer George Miller once more in the director's seat. Miller has reportedly been working on the script for the past three years.
No plot details have yet emerged but it's a fair bet that "Mad" Max Rockatansky will once again be roaming the lawless, post-apocalyptic Australian outback.
Mad Max originally hit cinemas in 1979 and made a worldwide star of Gibson, who was born in America but moved to Australia as a child when his father won a prize on the gameshow Jeopardy. A sequel followed in 1981 and the most recent in the franchise, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, co-starring Tina Turner, hit cinemas in 1985.
Gibson, who won a best director Oscar for 1995's Braveheart, has been seen this year in M Night Shyamalan's supernatural thriller Signs.
--SWEET!
Mel Gibson is to play Mad Max for the fourth time in return for a $25m pay packet. The 46-year-old actor will once again step into the wasted landscape of a dystopian future Australia for a project titled Fury Road, reportedly costing $104m.
According to Daily Variety, the movie will start shooting down under next May, with the franchise's three-time director and co-writer George Miller once more in the director's seat. Miller has reportedly been working on the script for the past three years.
No plot details have yet emerged but it's a fair bet that "Mad" Max Rockatansky will once again be roaming the lawless, post-apocalyptic Australian outback.
Mad Max originally hit cinemas in 1979 and made a worldwide star of Gibson, who was born in America but moved to Australia as a child when his father won a prize on the gameshow Jeopardy. A sequel followed in 1981 and the most recent in the franchise, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, co-starring Tina Turner, hit cinemas in 1985.
Gibson, who won a best director Oscar for 1995's Braveheart, has been seen this year in M Night Shyamalan's supernatural thriller Signs.
--SWEET!
Two Towers 'even better' than Fellowship - Thursday December 5, 2002 - The Guardian
Advance word is already leaking out on the next instalment of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, following a sneak screening in Los Angeles last night. Fortunately for those involved, the advance word is extremely positive. The general consensus seems to be that The Two Towers is a richer, bloodier and more compelling experience than last year's Fellowship of the Ring.
Sky Movies critic Sandro Manetti gushed that chapter two of the Tolkien epic is "even better than the first Lord of the Rings movie... There is no quiet beginning or setting the scene this time. It's straight into the action from the start and there's no let up for the next three hours. Peter Jackson captures some of the most ferocious battle scenes ever put on film and puts his camera right in among the blood and guts."
--This is gonna be good...
Advance word is already leaking out on the next instalment of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, following a sneak screening in Los Angeles last night. Fortunately for those involved, the advance word is extremely positive. The general consensus seems to be that The Two Towers is a richer, bloodier and more compelling experience than last year's Fellowship of the Ring.
Sky Movies critic Sandro Manetti gushed that chapter two of the Tolkien epic is "even better than the first Lord of the Rings movie... There is no quiet beginning or setting the scene this time. It's straight into the action from the start and there's no let up for the next three hours. Peter Jackson captures some of the most ferocious battle scenes ever put on film and puts his camera right in among the blood and guts."
--This is gonna be good...
Earthsea Trilogy -- by Ursula K. Le Guin
- A Wizard of Earthsea
- The Tombs of Atuan
- The Farthest Shore
Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and lossed a terrible shadow upon the world...
Police Hunt Hallucinogenic Toad Thief - Fri Dec 6,10:10 AM ET
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police are investigating whether drug addicts raided a pet shop and stole three exotic toads whose warty skin can induce hallucinations when licked.
The animals were snatched from a pet shop near a drug addicts' center in the city of Leeuwarden in the northeast of the Netherlands on Wednesday. "They are an exotic kind of toad that secrete a substance. If you lick them you may get a hallucination, comparable with a trip on LSD," police spokesman Harry Oenema told Reuters.
--And they sell these in a pet shop!?! I bet they were in PETA!
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police are investigating whether drug addicts raided a pet shop and stole three exotic toads whose warty skin can induce hallucinations when licked.
The animals were snatched from a pet shop near a drug addicts' center in the city of Leeuwarden in the northeast of the Netherlands on Wednesday. "They are an exotic kind of toad that secrete a substance. If you lick them you may get a hallucination, comparable with a trip on LSD," police spokesman Harry Oenema told Reuters.
--And they sell these in a pet shop!?! I bet they were in PETA!
Reliable Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Dec. 13-14 - Fri Dec 6,11:04 AM By Joe Rao, SPACE.com
Less than a month after the Leonid meteor shower, another excellent display is just around the corner. The reliable, annual Geminid meteor shower is scheduled to reach its peak during the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Dec. 14.
The Geminids should produce a fine display of 1-2 meteor every minute for North American observers with dark skies, weather permitting. Brief bursts of activity could produce even higher rates. The nights and mornings surrounding the peak activity should prove rewarding, too.
--Magic in the skies... Magic inside...
Less than a month after the Leonid meteor shower, another excellent display is just around the corner. The reliable, annual Geminid meteor shower is scheduled to reach its peak during the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Dec. 14.
The Geminids should produce a fine display of 1-2 meteor every minute for North American observers with dark skies, weather permitting. Brief bursts of activity could produce even higher rates. The nights and mornings surrounding the peak activity should prove rewarding, too.
--Magic in the skies... Magic inside...
Texan Killed Friend Who Drank Last Cold Beer - Reuters
BANDERA, Texas (Reuters) - A jury on Thursday handed a life prison sentence to a Texas man who shot and killed a longtime friend he accused of drinking the last beer in his refrigerator.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before passing the sentence on Steven Brasher, 42, for the murder of Willie Lawson, 39, on Nov. 5 last year.
"There was only two beers left, so I took one, and I told Willie not to take my last beer," Brasher said in a taped statement that was played during the trial.
--Another beer related death...
BANDERA, Texas (Reuters) - A jury on Thursday handed a life prison sentence to a Texas man who shot and killed a longtime friend he accused of drinking the last beer in his refrigerator.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before passing the sentence on Steven Brasher, 42, for the murder of Willie Lawson, 39, on Nov. 5 last year.
"There was only two beers left, so I took one, and I told Willie not to take my last beer," Brasher said in a taped statement that was played during the trial.
--Another beer related death...
Iraq's Olympic Panel Accused of Torture - By JONATHAN FOWLER, Associated Press Writer
A human rights group formally demanded that the IOC expel Iraq's national Olympic committee because its chief — Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday — tortured and jailed athletes who failed to please him.
--"Run your ass off or it's the mines for you!!"
A human rights group formally demanded that the IOC expel Iraq's national Olympic committee because its chief — Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday — tortured and jailed athletes who failed to please him.
--"Run your ass off or it's the mines for you!!"
Missiles Are Being Sold in Afghanistan - Wed Dec 4,12:39 PM ET By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - American-made Stinger missiles, capable of taking down aircraft, are for sale in the Afghan capital for $200,000, as well as rockets for as little as $5,000, peacekeepers said Wednesday.
--What is wrong with these poeple! Havn't they heard of eBay! Sheesh.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - American-made Stinger missiles, capable of taking down aircraft, are for sale in the Afghan capital for $200,000, as well as rockets for as little as $5,000, peacekeepers said Wednesday.
--What is wrong with these poeple! Havn't they heard of eBay! Sheesh.
Man Found Dead 44 Years After 'Trip to U.S.' - Wed Dec 4,10:40 AM ET
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian man who packed his bags 44 years ago and told friends he was leaving for America was found dead inside one of the walls of his home.
An American woman who recently bought the house near Lucca in northern Tuscany discovered the body Tuesday as she was carrying out renovations, police said.
Inside a thick wall in the cellar the woman found human remains, two packed suitcases, a trowel and other equipment to make a wall, a rusted rifle and a bottle with a suicide note.
The note, on paper headed with the name Nemo Cianelli, explained that the man had discovered he had an incurable disease and had decided to kill himself. He said he had invented the tale of going to America to avoid upsetting his family.
Local newspapers reported in 1958 that Cianelli was missing, and speculated that he might have gone to America, but after a period of rumor and mystery, the story was forgotten.
Police said it appeared Cianelli had packed his suitcases, written the suicide note, built a wall up around himself and then shot himself.
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian man who packed his bags 44 years ago and told friends he was leaving for America was found dead inside one of the walls of his home.
An American woman who recently bought the house near Lucca in northern Tuscany discovered the body Tuesday as she was carrying out renovations, police said.
Inside a thick wall in the cellar the woman found human remains, two packed suitcases, a trowel and other equipment to make a wall, a rusted rifle and a bottle with a suicide note.
The note, on paper headed with the name Nemo Cianelli, explained that the man had discovered he had an incurable disease and had decided to kill himself. He said he had invented the tale of going to America to avoid upsetting his family.
Local newspapers reported in 1958 that Cianelli was missing, and speculated that he might have gone to America, but after a period of rumor and mystery, the story was forgotten.
Police said it appeared Cianelli had packed his suitcases, written the suicide note, built a wall up around himself and then shot himself.
Iraq Tells the World Again We Have No Banned Arms - Reuters - By Nadim Ladki and Carol Giacomo
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday its planned declaration to the United Nations would cover biological, chemical, missile and nuclear technologies, but stressed again it had no weapons of mass destruction.
--Yeah right... and Saddam also said the check is in the mail and I promise I won't @&^ in your mouth.
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday its planned declaration to the United Nations would cover biological, chemical, missile and nuclear technologies, but stressed again it had no weapons of mass destruction.
--Yeah right... and Saddam also said the check is in the mail and I promise I won't @&^ in your mouth.
Millions of pirates are plundering satellite TV - Mon Dec 2, 7:13 AM ET by David Lieberman USA TODAY
NEW YORK -- At least 1 million households, possibly as many as 3 million, enjoy a TV fan's paradise. They get virtually every channel, including premium networks such as HBO and Showtime, most broadcast sports events and all pay-per-view services. All for free.
There's just one hitch: It's illegal.
That hasn't stopped satellite TV piracy from growing at an alarming rate. It's spreading so quickly that in a few years more people may be stealing DirecTV's and EchoStar's services than are stealing from cable -- even though the satellite business, which reports 19 million paying customers, is less than a third of cable's size.
--Bastards... Making my DirectTV more expesive!! Oh the Humanity!!
NEW YORK -- At least 1 million households, possibly as many as 3 million, enjoy a TV fan's paradise. They get virtually every channel, including premium networks such as HBO and Showtime, most broadcast sports events and all pay-per-view services. All for free.
There's just one hitch: It's illegal.
That hasn't stopped satellite TV piracy from growing at an alarming rate. It's spreading so quickly that in a few years more people may be stealing DirecTV's and EchoStar's services than are stealing from cable -- even though the satellite business, which reports 19 million paying customers, is less than a third of cable's size.
--Bastards... Making my DirectTV more expesive!! Oh the Humanity!!
Sex 149 Times a Year Is Average: Global Survey - Mon Nov 25, 3:46 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons have sex more often than Americans and Spaniards, but are outdone between the sheets by the French, Dutch, Danes and Canadians, a survey by condom manufacturer Durex found on Monday.
The Durex Global Sex survey revealed that Britons make love an average of 149 times a year, outdone only by couples in France (167), the Netherlands (158), Denmark (152) and Canada (150).
Those taking their love-making at a more relaxed pace included Americans (138 times a year), New Zealanders (135) and the Spanish, who limped in at an annual love rate of just 121.
--What's your average?
LONDON (Reuters) - Britons have sex more often than Americans and Spaniards, but are outdone between the sheets by the French, Dutch, Danes and Canadians, a survey by condom manufacturer Durex found on Monday.
The Durex Global Sex survey revealed that Britons make love an average of 149 times a year, outdone only by couples in France (167), the Netherlands (158), Denmark (152) and Canada (150).
Those taking their love-making at a more relaxed pace included Americans (138 times a year), New Zealanders (135) and the Spanish, who limped in at an annual love rate of just 121.
--What's your average?
Nicolas Cage Files for Divorce - Tue Nov 26, 3:59 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actor Nicolas Cage has filed for divorce from Lisa Marie Presley less than four months after their romantic wedding in Hawaii.
The actor — filing under his real name, Nicolas Coppola — cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split in a petition filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
--First she made him sell his comic books, then she probably told him what she did in bed with Micheal Jackson...
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actor Nicolas Cage has filed for divorce from Lisa Marie Presley less than four months after their romantic wedding in Hawaii.
The actor — filing under his real name, Nicolas Coppola — cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split in a petition filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
--First she made him sell his comic books, then she probably told him what she did in bed with Micheal Jackson...
Woman, Son Found Mummified in Home - Fri Nov 22, 9:49 AM ET
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (Reuters) - The mummified bodies of a German woman and her son who apparently died three years ago were found in their Florida home, along with the remains of their dead dog, police say.
A calendar and paperwork found in the home in tiny Lehigh Acres, along with food in the refrigerator with 1999 expiration dates, led investigators to believe the two may have died as long ago as March 1999.
--I would like to think if I was missing for a day or two someone would come looking...sheesh.
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (Reuters) - The mummified bodies of a German woman and her son who apparently died three years ago were found in their Florida home, along with the remains of their dead dog, police say.
A calendar and paperwork found in the home in tiny Lehigh Acres, along with food in the refrigerator with 1999 expiration dates, led investigators to believe the two may have died as long ago as March 1999.
--I would like to think if I was missing for a day or two someone would come looking...sheesh.
Ben Affleck named People's "sexiest man alive" - Wed Nov 20, 7:49 PM ET Reuters/Variety
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Ben Affleck was named Wednesday as People magazine's "sexiest man alive" of 2002 -- but girlfriend Jennifer Lopez says she didn't need an outsider to tell her just that.
People Magazine named 23 other sexy men for 2002, including Clooney , British actor Hugh Grant, Enrique Iglesias, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
--OH THE HUMANITY!! I am cut to the quick! My only proof that these people are truely insane is that they also named Donald Rumsfeld... Donald Rumsfeld???
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Ben Affleck was named Wednesday as People magazine's "sexiest man alive" of 2002 -- but girlfriend Jennifer Lopez says she didn't need an outsider to tell her just that.
People Magazine named 23 other sexy men for 2002, including Clooney , British actor Hugh Grant, Enrique Iglesias, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
--OH THE HUMANITY!! I am cut to the quick! My only proof that these people are truely insane is that they also named Donald Rumsfeld... Donald Rumsfeld???
Scientists Revise Odds of Asteroid Collision - Wed Nov 20, 2:25 PM ET By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have revised estimates of the frequency of small asteroids colliding with the Earth, saying a hazardous impact would occur on average every 1,000 years and not 200 to 300 as previously thought.
--Whew... Boy do I feel better!
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have revised estimates of the frequency of small asteroids colliding with the Earth, saying a hazardous impact would occur on average every 1,000 years and not 200 to 300 as previously thought.
--Whew... Boy do I feel better!
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - (***) Green Light
Harry Potter's adventures continue...Harry Potter begins his second year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, but is warned by a mysterious creature that danger awaits him at the school. Malevolent voices whisper from the walls. Soon it's not just Harry who is worried about survival, as dreadful things begin to happen at Hogwarts.
This movie was darker than the first movie. I liked that about it. It's gonna scare the living BeeJeebers outta a boat load of little kids! It stayed true to the book but so much so that it may be a tad confusing to people that have not read the book.
It left me wanting more of many things. I wanted more of The Burrow, more explorations of Hogwarts, more Nocturn Ally, more sex scenes! Hey! It's a co-ed boarding School!! I can't wait until Harmonie is a Senior!! Man... the possibilities of that invisibility cloak... Whew!
Go see it. Buy it on DVD.
High-Fat Diet Shows Promise in Study - Tue Nov 19, 8:30 AM ET - By DANIEL Q. HANEY, AP Medical Editor
CHICAGO (AP) - After years of dismissing the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, the medical establishment is at last putting it to a careful test and finding it might not be the nutritional folly they long assumed.
A small study released Monday found that contrary to expectations, dieters' cholesterol levels do not shoot through the roof, and they take off more weight than do people on a standard low-fat regimen.
"More study is necessary before such a diet can be recommended," said Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University. "However, a concern about serum lipid (cholesterol) elevations should not impede such research."
--I find this to be personally true.
CHICAGO (AP) - After years of dismissing the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, the medical establishment is at last putting it to a careful test and finding it might not be the nutritional folly they long assumed.
A small study released Monday found that contrary to expectations, dieters' cholesterol levels do not shoot through the roof, and they take off more weight than do people on a standard low-fat regimen.
"More study is necessary before such a diet can be recommended," said Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University. "However, a concern about serum lipid (cholesterol) elevations should not impede such research."
--I find this to be personally true.
Secret Court OKs Broad Wiretap Powers - Mon Nov 18, 4:37 PM ET By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a victory for the Bush administration, a secretive appeals court Monday ruled the U.S. government has the right to use expanded powers to wiretap terrorism suspects under a law adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ruling was a blow to civil libertarians who say the expanded powers, which allow greater leeway in conducting electronic surveillance and in using information obtained from the wiretaps and searches, jeopardize constitutional rights.
--Just remember. Every conversation you have on the phone or at work, and every email you ever send can and will be used against you...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a victory for the Bush administration, a secretive appeals court Monday ruled the U.S. government has the right to use expanded powers to wiretap terrorism suspects under a law adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ruling was a blow to civil libertarians who say the expanded powers, which allow greater leeway in conducting electronic surveillance and in using information obtained from the wiretaps and searches, jeopardize constitutional rights.
--Just remember. Every conversation you have on the phone or at work, and every email you ever send can and will be used against you...
Update on Clone War Animated Series - Thu, Nov 14, 02 07:58:21 PM EST - TheForce.net
You may have seen the report on AICN about an animated series based on the Clone Wars being in the works between Lucasfilm and the Cartoon Network. Our independent sources checked into this rumor and confirmed that it is, in fact, true. Our source was able to add a little bit more info to AICN's report. It turns out that Lucasfilm created a pilot episode of the series and took it to the Cartoon Network recently for a pitch meeting. Our source was not yet able to find out who created the pilot episode, find out who wrote it, or find out what the Cartoon Network's response to the meeting was.
Now we venture into our own personal speculation. If Lucasfilm created the pilot episode in-house, that would indicate it was most likely computer animated. So could we expect this Clone War series to be entirely CG? Possibly. More to come....
--I am there. I want the world to know right now. This is why I have TiVo!!
You may have seen the report on AICN about an animated series based on the Clone Wars being in the works between Lucasfilm and the Cartoon Network. Our independent sources checked into this rumor and confirmed that it is, in fact, true. Our source was able to add a little bit more info to AICN's report. It turns out that Lucasfilm created a pilot episode of the series and took it to the Cartoon Network recently for a pitch meeting. Our source was not yet able to find out who created the pilot episode, find out who wrote it, or find out what the Cartoon Network's response to the meeting was.
Now we venture into our own personal speculation. If Lucasfilm created the pilot episode in-house, that would indicate it was most likely computer animated. So could we expect this Clone War series to be entirely CG? Possibly. More to come....
--I am there. I want the world to know right now. This is why I have TiVo!!
Meteor Storm Set to Dazzle Star Gazers - By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Star gazers in Europe, Britain and North America are in for a treat next week and have prime viewing positions for what could be the biggest natural fireworks display of the 21st century.
During the early hours of November 19 thousands of meteors, or shooting stars, will light up the night sky as they enter the atmosphere at speeds of about 160,000 miles per hour.
"It is a natural fireworks display, a celestial spectacle," Professor Mark Bailey, of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, told Reuters on Friday.
Known as the Leonids because they originate in the constellation Leo, the meteor storm will occur in two bursts during the night of November 18 to 19.
--So cool. Lets hope for clear skys...
LONDON (Reuters) - Star gazers in Europe, Britain and North America are in for a treat next week and have prime viewing positions for what could be the biggest natural fireworks display of the 21st century.
During the early hours of November 19 thousands of meteors, or shooting stars, will light up the night sky as they enter the atmosphere at speeds of about 160,000 miles per hour.
"It is a natural fireworks display, a celestial spectacle," Professor Mark Bailey, of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, told Reuters on Friday.
Known as the Leonids because they originate in the constellation Leo, the meteor storm will occur in two bursts during the night of November 18 to 19.
--So cool. Lets hope for clear skys...
To live alone one must be an animal or a god.
-Aristotle
To live alone one must be an animal or a god, says Aristotle.
There is a third case. One must be both.
-Nietzsche
Me against my brother, my brother and me against the tribe,
the tribe and me against the world.
-Arabic proverb
You have to ask yourself, would you rather be zealous or thorough.
-Nicholas Knight
The best way out is always through.
-Robet Frost
Moderation in all things, except Love and Justice.
-unknown
I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.
-Louisa May Alcott
When it is dark enough, men see the stars.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
They can conquer who believe they can.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the woods, we return to reason and faith.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
You don't search for a bonfire with a lighted lantern.
-Unknown
Dictators ride to and fro on tigers they dare not dismount.
And the tigers are getting hungrey.
-Winston Churchhill
The silent dog is first to bite.
-Unknown
All that we see or seem,
is but adream within a dream.
-Edgar Allen Poe
Is it progress if a cannible uses a fork?
-Stansilaw J. Lec
Don't look back something may be gaining on you.
-Satchel Page
I could be bounded in a nutshell and consider myself
a King of infinit space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
-Shakespeare, Hamlet
There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
-Seneca
So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
-Shakespeare
Hatred is by far the longest of pleasures. Men love in haste,
but they detest at leisure.
-Lord Byron, Don Juan
How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when ther is no help in the truth.
-Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Love is for poets.
-Connor MacCloud
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.
-Chinese proverb
Kill them all let God sort them out.
-Merc Maxim
Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but, being in,
bear it that the opposed may beware of thee.
-Shakespeare, Hamlet I:3
Happiness is a warm gun.
-John Lennon
I cut it twice and it's still too short.
-Maurice H. Wilsey
Don't shit where you eat.
-Paula Bogdon, Phd
We get our strenth, not by never falling down, but by rising every time we fall.
-Unknown
Two eagles, tied togather, though they have four wings they cannot fly.
-Graffiti
Never give a sword to a man that can't dance.
-Bushido Maxim
Sit at peace on the rivers bank. Your enemies body will soon float by.
-Bushido Maxim
There can be only one.
-Highlander
Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully
out of obscurity into the dream.
-Pink Floyd
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to.
-Pink Floyd
Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
-Chuck Norris
Though he treads upon the tigers tails it does not bite him.
-I, Ching
Any sufficantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
-Arther C. Clark
There is a pleasure in being mad that non but madmen know.
-unknown
Now I could drink hot blood...
-Shakespeare, Hamlet
It's what people know about themselves inside that make them afraid.
-Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me
I have been a stranger in a strange land.
-Bible, Exodus 2:22
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
-Lau Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Where ever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn people.
-Heinrich Heine
It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
-Stephen Hawking
It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
-Christopher Society, motto
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
-H.G. Wells
If I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you.
-Elvira
Freedom is a beautiful woman who I'd rather sleep with in a pile of dung
than sleep without her in a bed of silk.
-Martin C. Wilsey
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
-Henry David Thoreau
That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
-Niechitz
I want to seize fate by the throat.
-Ludwig Van Beethoven
The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.
-John Philpot Curran
There is no genius without some touch of madness.
-Seneca
A soft answer turneth away wrath.
-Bible, Proverbs 15:1
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
-Shakespeare, Hamlet, 3:2
What is steel compared to the hand that wields it.
-Thulsa Doom
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-George Bernard Shaw
I always present myself as the soul of innocence, the better to further my works of corruption.
-James M. Pfundstein
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
-Hunter S. Thompson
Time is the fire in which we burn...
-Star Trek
Time is the cruelest of teachers.
She kills all her pupils...
-Unknown
-Aristotle
To live alone one must be an animal or a god, says Aristotle.
There is a third case. One must be both.
-Nietzsche
Me against my brother, my brother and me against the tribe,
the tribe and me against the world.
-Arabic proverb
You have to ask yourself, would you rather be zealous or thorough.
-Nicholas Knight
The best way out is always through.
-Robet Frost
Moderation in all things, except Love and Justice.
-unknown
I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.
-Louisa May Alcott
When it is dark enough, men see the stars.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
They can conquer who believe they can.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the woods, we return to reason and faith.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
You don't search for a bonfire with a lighted lantern.
-Unknown
Dictators ride to and fro on tigers they dare not dismount.
And the tigers are getting hungrey.
-Winston Churchhill
The silent dog is first to bite.
-Unknown
All that we see or seem,
is but adream within a dream.
-Edgar Allen Poe
Is it progress if a cannible uses a fork?
-Stansilaw J. Lec
Don't look back something may be gaining on you.
-Satchel Page
I could be bounded in a nutshell and consider myself
a King of infinit space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
-Shakespeare, Hamlet
There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
-Seneca
So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
-Shakespeare
Hatred is by far the longest of pleasures. Men love in haste,
but they detest at leisure.
-Lord Byron, Don Juan
How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when ther is no help in the truth.
-Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Love is for poets.
-Connor MacCloud
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.
-Chinese proverb
Kill them all let God sort them out.
-Merc Maxim
Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but, being in,
bear it that the opposed may beware of thee.
-Shakespeare, Hamlet I:3
Happiness is a warm gun.
-John Lennon
I cut it twice and it's still too short.
-Maurice H. Wilsey
Don't shit where you eat.
-Paula Bogdon, Phd
We get our strenth, not by never falling down, but by rising every time we fall.
-Unknown
Two eagles, tied togather, though they have four wings they cannot fly.
-Graffiti
Never give a sword to a man that can't dance.
-Bushido Maxim
Sit at peace on the rivers bank. Your enemies body will soon float by.
-Bushido Maxim
There can be only one.
-Highlander
Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully
out of obscurity into the dream.
-Pink Floyd
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to.
-Pink Floyd
Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
-Chuck Norris
Though he treads upon the tigers tails it does not bite him.
-I, Ching
Any sufficantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
-Arther C. Clark
There is a pleasure in being mad that non but madmen know.
-unknown
Now I could drink hot blood...
-Shakespeare, Hamlet
It's what people know about themselves inside that make them afraid.
-Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me
I have been a stranger in a strange land.
-Bible, Exodus 2:22
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
-Lau Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Where ever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn people.
-Heinrich Heine
It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
-Stephen Hawking
It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
-Christopher Society, motto
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
-H.G. Wells
If I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you.
-Elvira
Freedom is a beautiful woman who I'd rather sleep with in a pile of dung
than sleep without her in a bed of silk.
-Martin C. Wilsey
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
-Henry David Thoreau
That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
-Niechitz
I want to seize fate by the throat.
-Ludwig Van Beethoven
The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.
-John Philpot Curran
There is no genius without some touch of madness.
-Seneca
A soft answer turneth away wrath.
-Bible, Proverbs 15:1
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
-Shakespeare, Hamlet, 3:2
What is steel compared to the hand that wields it.
-Thulsa Doom
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-George Bernard Shaw
I always present myself as the soul of innocence, the better to further my works of corruption.
-James M. Pfundstein
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
-Hunter S. Thompson
Time is the fire in which we burn...
-Star Trek
Time is the cruelest of teachers.
She kills all her pupils...
-Unknown
'Miss Cleo' Settles Federal Suit - By DAVID HO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The operators of Miss Cleo's psychic hot line agreed Thursday to cancel $500 million in customer bills to settle federal charges that the service fleeced callers while promising mystical insights into love and money.
The settlement requires Access Resource Services Inc. and Psychic Readers Network Inc. to stop using pay-per-call numbers to sell their soothsaying services, the Federal Trade Commission said. The two Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based companies, which promoted a national network of "psychic readers" on television and the Internet, also must pay the FTC a $5 million fine.
--I wonder if she saw this coming?
WASHINGTON (AP) - The operators of Miss Cleo's psychic hot line agreed Thursday to cancel $500 million in customer bills to settle federal charges that the service fleeced callers while promising mystical insights into love and money.
The settlement requires Access Resource Services Inc. and Psychic Readers Network Inc. to stop using pay-per-call numbers to sell their soothsaying services, the Federal Trade Commission said. The two Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based companies, which promoted a national network of "psychic readers" on television and the Internet, also must pay the FTC a $5 million fine.
--I wonder if she saw this coming?
Stan Lee Sues Marvel Comics - Wednesday November 13, 2002
"In a story that demonstrates the way the entertainment industry manipulates its artists, Marvel is claiming that the 400 Million dollar blockbuster movie Spiderman produced no profits, and they are trying to weasel out of their contract that gives Stan Lee 10% of the profits from his creations. Nuff Said!"
--These entertainment industry bastards piss me off. Stan deserves a big old piece of this pie! Sheesh.
"In a story that demonstrates the way the entertainment industry manipulates its artists, Marvel is claiming that the 400 Million dollar blockbuster movie Spiderman produced no profits, and they are trying to weasel out of their contract that gives Stan Lee 10% of the profits from his creations. Nuff Said!"
--These entertainment industry bastards piss me off. Stan deserves a big old piece of this pie! Sheesh.
White House Dismisses Iraq MPs Rejection of UN - (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
Members of Iraq's parliament vote during a parliament session to respond to the latest U.N. resolution in Baghdad, November 12, 2002. The Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to reject a U.N. resolution to disarm Baghdad, but the White House dismissed the move as 'pure theater.'
--I would hate to be in the Iraq's parliament. "All in favor of rejecting the UN raise your hand. Now everyone in favor of a slow painful death for you and your family raise your hand."
Members of Iraq's parliament vote during a parliament session to respond to the latest U.N. resolution in Baghdad, November 12, 2002. The Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to reject a U.N. resolution to disarm Baghdad, but the White House dismissed the move as 'pure theater.'
--I would hate to be in the Iraq's parliament. "All in favor of rejecting the UN raise your hand. Now everyone in favor of a slow painful death for you and your family raise your hand."
Bishops Gather to Adopt New Discipline Policy for Sexually Abusive Priests - The Associated Press
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 11 — The nation's Roman Catholic bishops headed into a four-day meeting Monday to adopt a new discipline policy for sexually abusive priests that the prelates hope will end a year of scandal.
--Why the hell are they still talking about this? Simply "FIRE" them. Turn them over to the cops if kids are involved!
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 11 — The nation's Roman Catholic bishops headed into a four-day meeting Monday to adopt a new discipline policy for sexually abusive priests that the prelates hope will end a year of scandal.
--Why the hell are they still talking about this? Simply "FIRE" them. Turn them over to the cops if kids are involved!
Florida Finds 103,000 'Lost' Votes - Thu Nov 7, 1:20 PM ET
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Just when Florida finally seemed to have carried out a flub-free election, supervisors in one county discovered they had failed to count more than 103,000 ballots in some tallies.
Authorities said the blunder in Broward County did not change the outcome of any races in Tuesday's election, which had been hailed as a procedural triumph for the state where voting problems two years earlier forced a five-week delay in George W. Bush's election as president.
--What the hell is with these people? You would think that they would have been super careful this time!
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Just when Florida finally seemed to have carried out a flub-free election, supervisors in one county discovered they had failed to count more than 103,000 ballots in some tallies.
Authorities said the blunder in Broward County did not change the outcome of any races in Tuesday's election, which had been hailed as a procedural triumph for the state where voting problems two years earlier forced a five-week delay in George W. Bush's election as president.
--What the hell is with these people? You would think that they would have been super careful this time!
Imagine His Surprise... - November 7, 2002
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police are looking for a phony sorcerer who conned a man into believing he was invisible and could rob banks, the Jam-e Jam newspaper said Thursday.
Customers at a Tehran bank quickly overpowered the deluded robber after he started snatching banknotes from their hands. Appearing in court, the repentant thief said he paid five million rials ($625) to a man who gave him some spells and told him to tie them to his arm to become invisible.
"I made a mistake. I understand now what a big trick was played on me," the would-be bank robber was reported as telling the judge.
--Sheesh. You think he woulda tested it on a girls locker room first! Oh that's right... there aren't any in Tehran...
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police are looking for a phony sorcerer who conned a man into believing he was invisible and could rob banks, the Jam-e Jam newspaper said Thursday.
Customers at a Tehran bank quickly overpowered the deluded robber after he started snatching banknotes from their hands. Appearing in court, the repentant thief said he paid five million rials ($625) to a man who gave him some spells and told him to tie them to his arm to become invisible.
"I made a mistake. I understand now what a big trick was played on me," the would-be bank robber was reported as telling the judge.
--Sheesh. You think he woulda tested it on a girls locker room first! Oh that's right... there aren't any in Tehran...
Wrecked vehicles fill the southbound lanes of the Long Beach Freeway after a massive pileup Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002, in Long Beach, Calif. Nearly 200 cars and big-rig trucks collided on the fogbound highway early Sunday, injuring dozens of people, nine critically, and closing the highway for hours. (AP Photo/John Hayes)
--Sometimes I think I'm having a bad day...
The Talisman by Stephen King, Peter Straub
12-year-old Jack Sawyer takes on a quest in this and a parallel world, the "Territories," to acquire a mystical talisman that will save the life of his dying mother and her "twinner," the Queen of the Territories.
This is the first (1984) collaboration between horror/fantasy writers King and Straub.
--Great story. The sequal is BLACK HOUSE, another good one.
Paratrooper Survives Chute Failure at 3,300 Feet -Mon Nov 4, 8:58 AM ET
BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Yugoslav Army paratrooper survived a drop from an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) after both his parachutes malfunctioned, the Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti reported on Friday.
The paper said 40-year-old Dragan Curcic escaped with minor cuts and bruises after his main and spare parachutes first failed to open and then became tangled when they opened simultaneously during an exercise on Tuesday.
"He went through the roof of an army building. Only God himself saved him from certain death," an eyewitness said.
Curcic, a Yugoslav vice-champion with more than 3,000 jumps to his name, performed another parachute drop on Thursday, this time without problems.
Another Yugoslav holds the record for surviving a fall from the greatest altitude without a parachute. Air hostess Vesna Vulovic plunged 33,330 feet into a snowbound forest in Czechoslovakia in 1972 when the airliner she was on exploded.
--This guy used ALL his luck up in one shot. Time to retire!
BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Yugoslav Army paratrooper survived a drop from an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) after both his parachutes malfunctioned, the Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti reported on Friday.
The paper said 40-year-old Dragan Curcic escaped with minor cuts and bruises after his main and spare parachutes first failed to open and then became tangled when they opened simultaneously during an exercise on Tuesday.
"He went through the roof of an army building. Only God himself saved him from certain death," an eyewitness said.
Curcic, a Yugoslav vice-champion with more than 3,000 jumps to his name, performed another parachute drop on Thursday, this time without problems.
Another Yugoslav holds the record for surviving a fall from the greatest altitude without a parachute. Air hostess Vesna Vulovic plunged 33,330 feet into a snowbound forest in Czechoslovakia in 1972 when the airliner she was on exploded.
--This guy used ALL his luck up in one shot. Time to retire!
Leonids Lowdown: Global Forecast for Nov. 19 Meteor Shower - Fri Nov 1, 9:45 AM ET By Robert Roy Britt, Senior Science Writer, SPACE.com
The 2002 Leonid meteor shower promises a remarkable show in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, and SPACE.com has obtained the latest global forecasts. Though a nearly full Moon will outshine fainter meteors, skywatchers should not be discouraged, experts say. A storm of shooting stars, along with possible bright fireballs, is in store during a display that won’t be repeated for at least three decades.
Peak activity will come between midnight and sunrise on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Astronomers predict two outbursts – one for Europe and another for North America and parts of northern South America. Most viewers outside these locations will see only a trickle of shooting stars, though more than on other nights during the year.
--I love these events. Worthy of the effort.
The 2002 Leonid meteor shower promises a remarkable show in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, and SPACE.com has obtained the latest global forecasts. Though a nearly full Moon will outshine fainter meteors, skywatchers should not be discouraged, experts say. A storm of shooting stars, along with possible bright fireballs, is in store during a display that won’t be repeated for at least three decades.
Peak activity will come between midnight and sunrise on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Astronomers predict two outbursts – one for Europe and another for North America and parts of northern South America. Most viewers outside these locations will see only a trickle of shooting stars, though more than on other nights during the year.
--I love these events. Worthy of the effort.
Howard Stern to remake Porky's - Friday November 1, 2002
Never one to be eclipsed in the gross-out stakes, American "shock jock" Howard Stern has responded to the big screen success of the MTV Films infantile prankfest Jackass: The Movie with news that he is to remake the classic student comedies Porky's and Rock'n' Roll High School.
--This is a true sign of the End Times!! Oh the Humanity!! (Marty runs out screaming...)
Never one to be eclipsed in the gross-out stakes, American "shock jock" Howard Stern has responded to the big screen success of the MTV Films infantile prankfest Jackass: The Movie with news that he is to remake the classic student comedies Porky's and Rock'n' Roll High School.
--This is a true sign of the End Times!! Oh the Humanity!! (Marty runs out screaming...)
Man Jailed for Forcing Girl Off Balcony - November 1, 2002
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong man was sentenced to 18 years in jail on Friday after forcing a teenage girl to jump from a highrise apartment balcony while threatening her at knifepoint.
The girl was injured, but survived after falling into the balcony of the flat below after Wong Chi-wai, 26, had intimidated her into jumping.
The High Court sentenced him after he had pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Chui Shuk-kwan, who was 15 when the November 1998 incident took place.
Wong recently finished a five-year jail term for encouraging another young girl to jump to her death.
High Court Judge Peter Nguyen, said the facts admitted by Wong showed Chui had been forced to drink disinfectant and then had insecticide sprayed on her while they were at the 22nd floor apartment of a friend.
Wong then pointed a knife at Chui, saying: "You jump down to death ... If you don't jump, I will push you down."
He then mutilated a pet hamster kept at the flat and threw it at Chui before threatening her with the knife again.
The judge said Wong had 13 convictions in the past, including two for assault.
--In Marty's World this guy would be dead.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong man was sentenced to 18 years in jail on Friday after forcing a teenage girl to jump from a highrise apartment balcony while threatening her at knifepoint.
The girl was injured, but survived after falling into the balcony of the flat below after Wong Chi-wai, 26, had intimidated her into jumping.
The High Court sentenced him after he had pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Chui Shuk-kwan, who was 15 when the November 1998 incident took place.
Wong recently finished a five-year jail term for encouraging another young girl to jump to her death.
High Court Judge Peter Nguyen, said the facts admitted by Wong showed Chui had been forced to drink disinfectant and then had insecticide sprayed on her while they were at the 22nd floor apartment of a friend.
Wong then pointed a knife at Chui, saying: "You jump down to death ... If you don't jump, I will push you down."
He then mutilated a pet hamster kept at the flat and threw it at Chui before threatening her with the knife again.
The judge said Wong had 13 convictions in the past, including two for assault.
--In Marty's World this guy would be dead.
Cities plan to put ads on police cars - Thu Oct 31, 8:09 AM ET by Larry Copeland USA TODAY
ATLANTA -- To cash-strapped cities across the nation, the offer seems too good to pass up. New police cars for $1 each in exchange for allowing NASCAR-style advertisements all over the cruisers.
--Gotta love NASCAR! Next the cops uniforms will be sponsored by Budwiser or Penzoil!! Does this mean the departments with the best sponsors will give the best protection to the people...?
ATLANTA -- To cash-strapped cities across the nation, the offer seems too good to pass up. New police cars for $1 each in exchange for allowing NASCAR-style advertisements all over the cruisers.
--Gotta love NASCAR! Next the cops uniforms will be sponsored by Budwiser or Penzoil!! Does this mean the departments with the best sponsors will give the best protection to the people...?
Reward Offered for Pumpkin-Smasher - October 31, 2002
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A man offered a $100 reward for the names of the vandals who smashed his son's Halloween pumpkin.
"It really upset me and it upset him. We didn't even have a chance to carve it yet," said Steve Troup of Elkhart.
Three-year-old Joshua Troup picked out the 95-pound pumpkin during a trip to a farm about two weeks ago, but the family was waiting until closer to Halloween to carve it.
Then last Friday, someone rolled the pumpkin from the Troups' front porch out to the street and smashed it. Troup called police when he discovered the damage the next morning.
"I told the police officer, `You may not think this is a priority deal, a pumpkin-smashing call. But, to me it's different. It was my son's pumpkin and when I saw the look on his face, that upset me as a father,'" said Troup.
Troup has posted two 4-foot-by-8-foot signs offering the reward for the names of the pumpkin smashers. So far, they have received one tip.
--Those Bastards!!
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A man offered a $100 reward for the names of the vandals who smashed his son's Halloween pumpkin.
"It really upset me and it upset him. We didn't even have a chance to carve it yet," said Steve Troup of Elkhart.
Three-year-old Joshua Troup picked out the 95-pound pumpkin during a trip to a farm about two weeks ago, but the family was waiting until closer to Halloween to carve it.
Then last Friday, someone rolled the pumpkin from the Troups' front porch out to the street and smashed it. Troup called police when he discovered the damage the next morning.
"I told the police officer, `You may not think this is a priority deal, a pumpkin-smashing call. But, to me it's different. It was my son's pumpkin and when I saw the look on his face, that upset me as a father,'" said Troup.
Troup has posted two 4-foot-by-8-foot signs offering the reward for the names of the pumpkin smashers. So far, they have received one tip.
--Those Bastards!!
Packers FB Denies Defecation Charge - Tue Oct 29, 5:33 PM ET
MIAMI (AP) - Green Bay Packers (news) fullback Najeh Davenport agreed Tuesday to do community service to settle charges he broke into a university dormitory and defecated in a sleeping woman's closet.
--I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time...
MIAMI (AP) - Green Bay Packers (news) fullback Najeh Davenport agreed Tuesday to do community service to settle charges he broke into a university dormitory and defecated in a sleeping woman's closet.
--I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time...
Survey: Sex Often Part of Casual Teen Relationships - Tue Oct 29, 5:44 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new survey of 15- to 17-year-olds has found that, at least in terms of teens' perceptions, oral sex and intercourse are nearly as common in casual relationships as they are in more serious, committed relationships.
While 26% of surveyed teens said that oral sex was part of a dating relationship, 23% said that oral sex was typical of a casual relationship, or "hooking up." Twenty-seven percent said dating relationships "almost always" or "most of the time" included sexual intercourse, while 24% said intercourse was usually part of a casual relationship.
--Oh the Humanity!! ...wait... hey! Well... we won't discuss when I was a teen, dammit! That was different!!
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new survey of 15- to 17-year-olds has found that, at least in terms of teens' perceptions, oral sex and intercourse are nearly as common in casual relationships as they are in more serious, committed relationships.
While 26% of surveyed teens said that oral sex was part of a dating relationship, 23% said that oral sex was typical of a casual relationship, or "hooking up." Twenty-seven percent said dating relationships "almost always" or "most of the time" included sexual intercourse, while 24% said intercourse was usually part of a casual relationship.
--Oh the Humanity!! ...wait... hey! Well... we won't discuss when I was a teen, dammit! That was different!!
Crime Writer Says She's Got the Ripper's DNA - Tue Oct 29,12:19 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Best-selling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell thinks she may have uncovered Jack the Ripper's DNA and that it could be a match for a British artist who liked to paint morbid scenes of violence against women.
In an excerpt from her forthcoming book, "Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed" published in the November issue of Vanity Fair, Cornwell said that the Ripper's DNA could be a match with the DNA of Walter Sickert, an artist who used prostitutes as models and who painted scenes similar to the murders committed by the Ripper, a serial killer who terrorized London in the 1880s.
Cornwell said she discovered that a letter Jack the Ripper claims to have written from Manchester on Nov. 22, 1888 had the same watermark stationary used by Walter and Ellen Sickert after their marriage three years earlier.
Sickert, who died in 1942, was cremated and no DNA of his exists except on some letters and envelopes whose stamps he had licked. They were compared with the DNA of the Ripper from taunting letters he sent authorities.
Cornwell said that of 55 samples tested, 2 had a sequence of numbers that came from only one person: one sequence belonged to the American artist James Whistler with whom the German-born Sickert studied, and the other to the person who left DNA on a stamp of a Ripper letter sent to Dr. Thomas Openshaw, the curator of the London Hospital Museum.
The Whistler sequence had nothing in common with any Ripper letter or any non-Whistler item tested. But the other sequence is found in five samples: the front stamp of the Openshaw envelope; an Ellen Sickert envelope (which could have been handled by her husband); the envelope from a Walter Sickert letter; a stamp from a Walter Sickert envelope; and a Ripper envelope with a stain that tests positive for blood.
Cornwell said that some of Sickert's paintings bear a chilling resemblance to photographs of Jack the Ripper's victims and that some of the Ripper's letters contained phrases used by Whistler that were often mocked by his student Sickert.
---I love science!!
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Best-selling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell thinks she may have uncovered Jack the Ripper's DNA and that it could be a match for a British artist who liked to paint morbid scenes of violence against women.
In an excerpt from her forthcoming book, "Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed" published in the November issue of Vanity Fair, Cornwell said that the Ripper's DNA could be a match with the DNA of Walter Sickert, an artist who used prostitutes as models and who painted scenes similar to the murders committed by the Ripper, a serial killer who terrorized London in the 1880s.
Cornwell said she discovered that a letter Jack the Ripper claims to have written from Manchester on Nov. 22, 1888 had the same watermark stationary used by Walter and Ellen Sickert after their marriage three years earlier.
Sickert, who died in 1942, was cremated and no DNA of his exists except on some letters and envelopes whose stamps he had licked. They were compared with the DNA of the Ripper from taunting letters he sent authorities.
Cornwell said that of 55 samples tested, 2 had a sequence of numbers that came from only one person: one sequence belonged to the American artist James Whistler with whom the German-born Sickert studied, and the other to the person who left DNA on a stamp of a Ripper letter sent to Dr. Thomas Openshaw, the curator of the London Hospital Museum.
The Whistler sequence had nothing in common with any Ripper letter or any non-Whistler item tested. But the other sequence is found in five samples: the front stamp of the Openshaw envelope; an Ellen Sickert envelope (which could have been handled by her husband); the envelope from a Walter Sickert letter; a stamp from a Walter Sickert envelope; and a Ripper envelope with a stain that tests positive for blood.
Cornwell said that some of Sickert's paintings bear a chilling resemblance to photographs of Jack the Ripper's victims and that some of the Ripper's letters contained phrases used by Whistler that were often mocked by his student Sickert.
---I love science!!
Helmer Care Bags Bones - 9:00am ET, 28-October-02
Peter Care (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) has closed a deal to develop and direct MGM's film based on Stephen King's 1985 horror best-seller Bag of Bones, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal, pending approval from King, will see Care directing from an adaptation by David Velos, the trade paper reported.
The movie tells the story of Mike Noonan, a novelist who is helped by the spirit of his dead wife to exorcise the spirit of a murder victim who has killed several children and now has her eyes on an innocent 3-year-old, the trade paper reported. Bruce Willis and Arnold Rifkin's Cheyenne Enterprises is producing, and Care's wife, Lorraine, is co-producing.
--I loved this book! it will make a great movie!!
Peter Care (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) has closed a deal to develop and direct MGM's film based on Stephen King's 1985 horror best-seller Bag of Bones, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal, pending approval from King, will see Care directing from an adaptation by David Velos, the trade paper reported.
The movie tells the story of Mike Noonan, a novelist who is helped by the spirit of his dead wife to exorcise the spirit of a murder victim who has killed several children and now has her eyes on an innocent 3-year-old, the trade paper reported. Bruce Willis and Arnold Rifkin's Cheyenne Enterprises is producing, and Care's wife, Lorraine, is co-producing.
--I loved this book! it will make a great movie!!
Convict Escapes to Confront Head of Prisons - Fri Oct 25,12:54 PM ET
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan convict escaped jail just months before the end of his 21-year term to make a complaint about conditions to the head of prisons, a newspaper reported Friday.
--Anybody ever tell this guy that after he gets out he could simply buy the guy lunch and have a talk? Sheesh...
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan convict escaped jail just months before the end of his 21-year term to make a complaint about conditions to the head of prisons, a newspaper reported Friday.
--Anybody ever tell this guy that after he gets out he could simply buy the guy lunch and have a talk? Sheesh...
Ghost Ship - (***) Green Light.
A salvage crew that discovers a long-lost 1953 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea.
Let me say right away that this movie had a lot of very predictable components. Please forgive them when they split up and search the spooky ship alone. Forgive them when they don’t simply say, “Hey! I’ve been seeing all this weird shit too!” Forgive them when they don’t notify the authorities.
That being said, after a brutal big opening scene, this movie has a ton of great characters, scares, plot twists and images.
The acting was really good for a movie like this. Gabriel Byrne as Murphy and Julianna Margulies as Epps are really good. The entire cast is full of excellent characters. The special effects were great, not too much. I will caution you that there are a couple very violent scenes.
There were some missed opportunities however. Margulies was very wet on several occasions, dammit. And not wearing a white T-shirt.
Go see it. Boo…
Students Asked to Test-Run Condoms - Fri Oct 25, 1:02 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British students are being recruited to test condoms, rating them for their pleasure, comfort and performance qualities.
The 100-150 successful job applicants will be paid 100 pounds ($155) per academic term as they road-test a range of condoms from German manufacturer Condomi.
---Damn kids these days get all the good jobs!!
LONDON (Reuters) - British students are being recruited to test condoms, rating them for their pleasure, comfort and performance qualities.
The 100-150 successful job applicants will be paid 100 pounds ($155) per academic term as they road-test a range of condoms from German manufacturer Condomi.
---Damn kids these days get all the good jobs!!
Bush Looks for Republican Gains in Nov. 5 Vote - By Patricia Wilson
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Less than two weeks before voters decide who controls Congress, President Bush campaigned in the South on Thursday, putting his prestige on the line for two Senate seats held by Republicans for decades.
With the struggle for the Senate likely to be decided by any one of a few key seats in which voter turnout could be crucial, Bush flew to North Carolina and then later, South Carolina, states with longtime retiring Republican senators.
"I want you all to understand that you do your duty as Americans," Bush told several thousand people packed into an aircraft hangar in Columbia. "It's important that you vote ... you need to go out there and round up the vote."
--Go out and Vote, dammit. I don't care who you vote for, just vote!!!
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Less than two weeks before voters decide who controls Congress, President Bush campaigned in the South on Thursday, putting his prestige on the line for two Senate seats held by Republicans for decades.
With the struggle for the Senate likely to be decided by any one of a few key seats in which voter turnout could be crucial, Bush flew to North Carolina and then later, South Carolina, states with longtime retiring Republican senators.
"I want you all to understand that you do your duty as Americans," Bush told several thousand people packed into an aircraft hangar in Columbia. "It's important that you vote ... you need to go out there and round up the vote."
--Go out and Vote, dammit. I don't care who you vote for, just vote!!!
Rifle Found. Sources Say Police Believe Two Held Are the Suspects in Sniper Case - ABCNEWS.com - Oct. 24
A .223-caliber rifle was found in the car that two men wanted for questioning in the sniper shooting case were sleeping in at a Maryland rest stop when they were arrested early this morning, ABCNEWS has learned. The rifle was found by agents executing a federal search warrant this morning after the arrests of the two men.
The arrests were made shortly after 3:30 a.m. ET, after an alert motorist spotted the two men sleeping in a Chevy Caprice parked at a rest stop on Interstate 70 in Frederick County, Md., about 50 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., and notified the authorities.
The police who took the call notified the sniper task force, and SWAT teams surrounded the car at a distance and waited for the right moment to move in.
--I think I will celebrate by buying some gas and going to Micheals.
A .223-caliber rifle was found in the car that two men wanted for questioning in the sniper shooting case were sleeping in at a Maryland rest stop when they were arrested early this morning, ABCNEWS has learned. The rifle was found by agents executing a federal search warrant this morning after the arrests of the two men.
The arrests were made shortly after 3:30 a.m. ET, after an alert motorist spotted the two men sleeping in a Chevy Caprice parked at a rest stop on Interstate 70 in Frederick County, Md., about 50 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., and notified the authorities.
The police who took the call notified the sniper task force, and SWAT teams surrounded the car at a distance and waited for the right moment to move in.
--I think I will celebrate by buying some gas and going to Micheals.
Arrests Spark Reports Sniper Killer Caught - By Brian Snyder
FREDERICK, Md. (Reuters) - Police arrested two men at a highway rest stop in rural Maryland on Thursday, in the first big break in a hunt for culprits in 10 sniper slayings which have traumatized the suburbs around the nation's capital.
--I heard he is being charged with 6 counts of murder in MD. Because they have the death penalty there...
FREDERICK, Md. (Reuters) - Police arrested two men at a highway rest stop in rural Maryland on Thursday, in the first big break in a hunt for culprits in 10 sniper slayings which have traumatized the suburbs around the nation's capital.
--I heard he is being charged with 6 counts of murder in MD. Because they have the death penalty there...
Gettin’ Jiggly Wit It - by Chris Baker - Wired Magazine
November 2002 will be remembered as the month digital breasts busted out of their bras. Two bodacious titles are here to titillate the masses: BMX XXX and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. Acclaim’s XXX lives up to its billing with the first topless stunt bikers in videogame history. Tecmo’s Volleyball pours the shapely brawlers from its fighting franchise into barely there bikinis. But this is more than tits and giggles — it’s serious business. Digital breasts that move like real ones were previously impossible to achieve. An enormous amount of modeling, programming, math, and physics underlie these new, um, developments. “I never imagined that I’d be using my expertise in this manner and consider myself very, very lucky,” says XXX programmer Nick Torkos. “Hopefully this will convince others to study math.”
Programmers model the motion physics for all body parts that “hang off” the characters. This means all that jiggling isn’t just prerendered animation — the mammaries are literally obeying the laws of gravity.
In both games, the menu options and unlockable features are racy. XXX lets you fine-tune the elasticity and cup size of your 45-polygon hooters. Volleyball lets you test-drive a whole wardrobe of bikinis.
Skin and other surfaces are built as a 3-D mesh of points. Programmers assign varying weights and apply dynamic mathematical distortions that allow ponytails to flip, skirts to fly up, and bosoms to quiver in real time.
Designers scrutinize video footage to ensure that all virtual parts move properly. But ultimately they aim to transcend mere realism: “Our goal is a digital Venus,” says Volleyball producer Tomonobu Itagaki.
--God love seeing math used for extreem good!!
November 2002 will be remembered as the month digital breasts busted out of their bras. Two bodacious titles are here to titillate the masses: BMX XXX and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. Acclaim’s XXX lives up to its billing with the first topless stunt bikers in videogame history. Tecmo’s Volleyball pours the shapely brawlers from its fighting franchise into barely there bikinis. But this is more than tits and giggles — it’s serious business. Digital breasts that move like real ones were previously impossible to achieve. An enormous amount of modeling, programming, math, and physics underlie these new, um, developments. “I never imagined that I’d be using my expertise in this manner and consider myself very, very lucky,” says XXX programmer Nick Torkos. “Hopefully this will convince others to study math.”
Programmers model the motion physics for all body parts that “hang off” the characters. This means all that jiggling isn’t just prerendered animation — the mammaries are literally obeying the laws of gravity.
In both games, the menu options and unlockable features are racy. XXX lets you fine-tune the elasticity and cup size of your 45-polygon hooters. Volleyball lets you test-drive a whole wardrobe of bikinis.
Skin and other surfaces are built as a 3-D mesh of points. Programmers assign varying weights and apply dynamic mathematical distortions that allow ponytails to flip, skirts to fly up, and bosoms to quiver in real time.
Designers scrutinize video footage to ensure that all virtual parts move properly. But ultimately they aim to transcend mere realism: “Our goal is a digital Venus,” says Volleyball producer Tomonobu Itagaki.
--God love seeing math used for extreem good!!
Another Suburban Shooting Rocks Washington By James Vicini
SILVER SPRING, Md. (Reuters) - Police in the Washington area launched a massive manhunt on Tuesday after an early morning shooting of a driver on the steps of his idled commuter bus raised fears a serial sniper had struck again.
Authorities closed major roads and checked vehicles -- especially those driven by men -- as they scrambled to determine whether the attack in Montgomery County, Maryland, was the work of the gunman who has killed nine people and wounded three since Oct. 2.
--It is becoming an armed camp around here. I have never seen so many police on the streets. Roads can be closed on a moments notice.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (Reuters) - Police in the Washington area launched a massive manhunt on Tuesday after an early morning shooting of a driver on the steps of his idled commuter bus raised fears a serial sniper had struck again.
Authorities closed major roads and checked vehicles -- especially those driven by men -- as they scrambled to determine whether the attack in Montgomery County, Maryland, was the work of the gunman who has killed nine people and wounded three since Oct. 2.
--It is becoming an armed camp around here. I have never seen so many police on the streets. Roads can be closed on a moments notice.
"You know what a big fun day for me is now? It's when June gets up and we're both feeling good and we want to go shopping. We'll go to Wal-Mart and I'll get one of those electric carts and just race through the aisles. Imagine that being the highlight of your day."
-- JOHNNY CASH in the Los Angeles Times.
-- JOHNNY CASH in the Los Angeles Times.
Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell
An island in Chesapeake Bay revolts when Virginia's governor orders speed traps on every street. Pirates, helicopters, murder and a small dog named Popeye...
--It was forgettable. Even though there's no Kay Scarpetta, it's a main selection of BOMC, the Literary Guild, the Mystery Guild, and the Doubleday Book Club. Go figure.
Is Harry Potter Set for Extra Episode? - Mon Oct 21, 8:32 AM ET By Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters) - Three extra Harry Potter titles registered at the UK Patent Office could mean an unexpected treat is in store for fans of the schoolboy wizard, the Scotsman newspaper said on Monday.
The Scotsman reported that U.S. film studio Warner Brothers, which releases its second Harry Potter film next month, has registered three more Harry Potter titles as trademarks, raising the possibility of an eighth volume.
A Reuters search of the UK Patent Office trademark database confirmed the extra titles as "Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Cell," "Harry Potter and the Chariots of Light" and "Harry Potter and the Pyramids of Furmat."
--I want the next book NOW, dammit!
LONDON (Reuters) - Three extra Harry Potter titles registered at the UK Patent Office could mean an unexpected treat is in store for fans of the schoolboy wizard, the Scotsman newspaper said on Monday.
The Scotsman reported that U.S. film studio Warner Brothers, which releases its second Harry Potter film next month, has registered three more Harry Potter titles as trademarks, raising the possibility of an eighth volume.
A Reuters search of the UK Patent Office trademark database confirmed the extra titles as "Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Cell," "Harry Potter and the Chariots of Light" and "Harry Potter and the Pyramids of Furmat."
--I want the next book NOW, dammit!
Black House by Stephen King, Peter Straub
In the seemingly paradisal Wisconsin town of French Landing, small distortions disturb the beauty: a talking crow, an old man obeying strange internal marching orders, a house that is both there and not quite there. And roaming the town is a terrible fiend nicknamed the Fisherman, who is abducting and murdering small children and eating their flesh...
--This book is connected to the Dark Tower world of Stephen King. It stands alone nicely even if you havn't read The Talisman or any of the other books.
In the seemingly paradisal Wisconsin town of French Landing, small distortions disturb the beauty: a talking crow, an old man obeying strange internal marching orders, a house that is both there and not quite there. And roaming the town is a terrible fiend nicknamed the Fisherman, who is abducting and murdering small children and eating their flesh...
--This book is connected to the Dark Tower world of Stephen King. It stands alone nicely even if you havn't read The Talisman or any of the other books.
What's Marty currently reading?
- Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
- Bag of Bones by Stephen King
- Nimisha's Ship by Anne McCaffrey
- Guilty Pleasures by Laurell Hamilton
The Kinsey Millhone saga.
The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind
- Lyons Pride
- Damias Children
- Damia
- The Rowan
The Freedom Series by Anne McCaffrey - Freedoms Challenge
- Freedoms Choice
- Freedoms Landing
The Hive Series by Anne McCaffrey
The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
Some cool Book Links! If you know some more email me dammit!!
- Wilsey Rare Books
- Bookstores on Yahoo
- Baen Books
- Bantam Doubleday Dell
- Circlet Press
- Del Rey
- Harper Collins
- Hodder & Stoughton
- Penguin USA
- Tor Books
- Write Way Publishing Inc.
An email from Bill - October 18, 2002
Safety thought for the day (never truer than now):
Lack of food can kill you in three weeks.
Lack of water can kill you in three days.
Lack of oxygen can kill you in three minutes.
Lack of situational awareness can kill you in three milliseconds.
--The sniper has been quiet. Maybe he'll stay quiet. I need gas...
Safety thought for the day (never truer than now):
Lack of food can kill you in three weeks.
Lack of water can kill you in three days.
Lack of oxygen can kill you in three minutes.
Lack of situational awareness can kill you in three milliseconds.
--The sniper has been quiet. Maybe he'll stay quiet. I need gas...
Woman Accused of Biting Husband to Death - Thu Oct 17, 8:19 PM ET The PIXPage Staff
A Modesto woman was behind bars Thursday, accused of biting her husband to death.
Police say 45-year-old Kelli Pratt held her husband down and bit him repeatedly when he refused to have sex with her. Arthur Pratt, 65, died in the hospital six days later. Investigators say his body was covered with more than 20 deep tooth marks.
--65 Years old? No denture jokes please!
A Modesto woman was behind bars Thursday, accused of biting her husband to death.
Police say 45-year-old Kelli Pratt held her husband down and bit him repeatedly when he refused to have sex with her. Arthur Pratt, 65, died in the hospital six days later. Investigators say his body was covered with more than 20 deep tooth marks.
--65 Years old? No denture jokes please!
"I have breakfast in the morning, I change into my prison clothes, I have coffee, I go into my cell. ... When they let me out of my cell I go and have another coffee, or maybe lunch with Ed Norton, or Jodie Foster. I don't attack them."
-- actor ANTHONY HOPKINS, describing his daily routine playing Hannibal Lecter on the sets of the movies "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon."
-- actor ANTHONY HOPKINS, describing his daily routine playing Hannibal Lecter on the sets of the movies "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon."
"I just think it's a cesspool. I hope it all goes down the crapper. I would never take another deal in the record business, which means I may not record again, or I have to figure out a way to sell over the Net or do something else. But I'll be damned if I'll line their pockets."
-- JONI MITCHELL giving Rolling Stone her assessment of the music industry and the people who run it.
-- JONI MITCHELL giving Rolling Stone her assessment of the music industry and the people who run it.
Ninth Slaying Victim Linked to Serial Sniper - Tue Oct 15,11:34 AM ET By Richard Cowan
FAIRFAX, Va. (Reuters) - The shooting death of a woman outside a Virginia hardware store on Monday night was the work of a sniper who has killed eight others at random in the Washington suburbs in the last two weeks, police said on Tuesday.
--The sniper better hope the police catch him. We, the people, are now starting to get past the fear in favor of rage. I predict a witness to a future shooting soon will ram his van with a car and then the crowd will beat him to death. This fucker has now killed our children, our mothers, our fathers, our friends. He can expect no mercy.
FAIRFAX, Va. (Reuters) - The shooting death of a woman outside a Virginia hardware store on Monday night was the work of a sniper who has killed eight others at random in the Washington suburbs in the last two weeks, police said on Tuesday.
--The sniper better hope the police catch him. We, the people, are now starting to get past the fear in favor of rage. I predict a witness to a future shooting soon will ram his van with a car and then the crowd will beat him to death. This fucker has now killed our children, our mothers, our fathers, our friends. He can expect no mercy.
Court Strikes Down Ala. Sex Toy Ban - Fri Oct 11, 2:46 PM ET
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys was struck down by a federal judge as a violation of the right to privacy.
"The fundamental right of privacy, long recognized by the Supreme Court as inherent among our constitutional protections, incorporates a right to sexual privacy," U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr. said Wednesday. He said the state did not prove it has a legitimate interest in banning the sale of sex devices for use in private, consensual relationships between adults.
The 1998 law — part of a package of legislation strengthening the state's obscenity law — banned the sale of devices designed for "the stimulation of human genital organs." It was challenged by six women who either sell sex aids or said they need them for sexual gratification.
--Another victory for technology!!
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys was struck down by a federal judge as a violation of the right to privacy.
"The fundamental right of privacy, long recognized by the Supreme Court as inherent among our constitutional protections, incorporates a right to sexual privacy," U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr. said Wednesday. He said the state did not prove it has a legitimate interest in banning the sale of sex devices for use in private, consensual relationships between adults.
The 1998 law — part of a package of legislation strengthening the state's obscenity law — banned the sale of devices designed for "the stimulation of human genital organs." It was challenged by six women who either sell sex aids or said they need them for sexual gratification.
--Another victory for technology!!
Zookeepers Suspended for Eating Animals - Fri Oct 11,12:19 PM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - Two zookeepers in a small northwest German town have been suspended and put under police investigation for eating the zoo's animals, police said on Friday.
A police spokesman in Recklinghausen north of Cologne said the keepers in a section of the zoo popular with small children had slaughtered and barbecued five Tibetan mountain chickens and two Cameroonian sheep.
--Hey! Everybody has to have a hobby!
BERLIN (Reuters) - Two zookeepers in a small northwest German town have been suspended and put under police investigation for eating the zoo's animals, police said on Friday.
A police spokesman in Recklinghausen north of Cologne said the keepers in a section of the zoo popular with small children had slaughtered and barbecued five Tibetan mountain chickens and two Cameroonian sheep.
--Hey! Everybody has to have a hobby!
Could Sniper's Pattern Be A Tarot Layout? - from F'd World
This may be apropos of nothing, but never let it be said I had a crackpot idea I failed to share with you, my beloved readers. By now, you've no doubt heard — ad nauseum — about the fact a Tarot card was found near the site of one of the shootings, preumably (but not certainly) left by the assassin. What you have NOT heard is that if you look at the shootings from the first two days of this spree on a map of the area, it seems to form a partial Tarot layout.
Look at the graphic on the left of the Washington Post page linked above. A Celtic Cross tarot layout features two cards in the middle, with four cards surrounding — pretty much like the first six shootings. However, the shootings were not apparently done in the same sequence used in the tarot layout. The seventh shooting could be read to roughly correspond to the seventh card in the Celtic Cross, but the next two are completely afield of the "layout" and the sequence is apparently broken — unless there are three incidents in the area which haven't been reported (and that seems highly unlikely). In the first shooting, a window was shot out but no person was apparently targeted. If the sniper was working from some occult plan, the breaking of a window could be symbolic of creating an opening or magical path.
Also a minor point of note: If the death card found on the scene at the Oct. 7 shooting was in fact the Death card from the major arcana of the Tarot, then it's number is 13 — probably just coincidentally the age of the victim there. That shooting is well off the "layout" and no immediate pattern is suggested when you look at its placement on the map.
One last note: In their eternal laziness, the news media failed to note whether the Death card on the scene was in fact the Major Arcana Death Card (13), which is often NOT taken to mean literal death, or another death-related card such as the 10 of Swords. If the latter, it would suggest the shooter actually knows something about Tarot. If the former, it could suggest the shooter is not well-acquainted with the tarot. In the same vein, there are a lot of different tarot decks out there. If we knew which deck the card came from, we could speculate further on the interest/inclination of the person who left the card.
This may be apropos of nothing, but never let it be said I had a crackpot idea I failed to share with you, my beloved readers. By now, you've no doubt heard — ad nauseum — about the fact a Tarot card was found near the site of one of the shootings, preumably (but not certainly) left by the assassin. What you have NOT heard is that if you look at the shootings from the first two days of this spree on a map of the area, it seems to form a partial Tarot layout.
Look at the graphic on the left of the Washington Post page linked above. A Celtic Cross tarot layout features two cards in the middle, with four cards surrounding — pretty much like the first six shootings. However, the shootings were not apparently done in the same sequence used in the tarot layout. The seventh shooting could be read to roughly correspond to the seventh card in the Celtic Cross, but the next two are completely afield of the "layout" and the sequence is apparently broken — unless there are three incidents in the area which haven't been reported (and that seems highly unlikely). In the first shooting, a window was shot out but no person was apparently targeted. If the sniper was working from some occult plan, the breaking of a window could be symbolic of creating an opening or magical path.
Also a minor point of note: If the death card found on the scene at the Oct. 7 shooting was in fact the Death card from the major arcana of the Tarot, then it's number is 13 — probably just coincidentally the age of the victim there. That shooting is well off the "layout" and no immediate pattern is suggested when you look at its placement on the map.
One last note: In their eternal laziness, the news media failed to note whether the Death card on the scene was in fact the Major Arcana Death Card (13), which is often NOT taken to mean literal death, or another death-related card such as the 10 of Swords. If the latter, it would suggest the shooter actually knows something about Tarot. If the former, it could suggest the shooter is not well-acquainted with the tarot. In the same vein, there are a lot of different tarot decks out there. If we knew which deck the card came from, we could speculate further on the interest/inclination of the person who left the card.
Fla. Executes Female Serial Killerr - Wed Oct 9,12:02 PM ET By RON WORD, Associated Press Writer
STARKE, Fla. (AP) - Serial killer Aileen Wuornos was executed Wednesday, more than a decade after she murdered six men along central Florida highways while working as a prostitute.
Wuornos, 46, became the 10th woman executed in the United States since the death penalty resumed in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
She was pronounced dead from lethal injection at 9:47 a.m. in Florida State Prison near Starke.
--I always wondered why they bother swabbing the injection site first...
STARKE, Fla. (AP) - Serial killer Aileen Wuornos was executed Wednesday, more than a decade after she murdered six men along central Florida highways while working as a prostitute.
Wuornos, 46, became the 10th woman executed in the United States since the death penalty resumed in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
She was pronounced dead from lethal injection at 9:47 a.m. in Florida State Prison near Starke.
--I always wondered why they bother swabbing the injection site first...
Eight people shot, Six are dead in DC area.- Mon Oct 7, 1:31 PM ET By DERRILL HOLLY, Associated Press Writer
BOWIE, Md. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded as his aunt dropped him off at school Monday, bringing fresh terror to the Washington area where a sniper killed six people last week.
--I went to Costco today. I suddenly realized that while I was loading my car I was worried. Looking up I saw 2 of those boxy vans and a ton of minivans with dark tinted glass, windows creaked open just enough... dammit. Dammit to hell.
BOWIE, Md. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded as his aunt dropped him off at school Monday, bringing fresh terror to the Washington area where a sniper killed six people last week.
--I went to Costco today. I suddenly realized that while I was loading my car I was worried. Looking up I saw 2 of those boxy vans and a ton of minivans with dark tinted glass, windows creaked open just enough... dammit. Dammit to hell.
Schoolboy Shot in D.C. Suburb; Sniper Link Mulled - Mon Oct 7,10:06 AM ET By Kelli Esters
ROCKVILLE, Md. (Reuters) - A 13-year-old boy was shot on Monday morning at a suburban Washington school but police said it was too early to say whether the incident was connected to a spate of sniper shootings in recent days.
--We had a police helicopter with search light over the house at 2:50am this morning. All I could think was stay away from the window...
ROCKVILLE, Md. (Reuters) - A 13-year-old boy was shot on Monday morning at a suburban Washington school but police said it was too early to say whether the incident was connected to a spate of sniper shootings in recent days.
--We had a police helicopter with search light over the house at 2:50am this morning. All I could think was stay away from the window...
Falwell Calls Muhammad 'Terrorist' - Thu Oct 3, 5:11 PM ET By RICHARD N. OSTLING, AP Religion Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell says "I think Muhammad was a terrorist" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday on the CBS program "60 Minutes."
The conservative Baptist minister tells correspondent Bob Simon he has concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Islam's prophet "was a — a violent man, a man of war."
"Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses," Falwell says. "I think Muhammad set an opposite example."
--I guess Falwell didn't read that whole thing about Salman Rushdie?
NEW YORK (AP) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell says "I think Muhammad was a terrorist" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday on the CBS program "60 Minutes."
The conservative Baptist minister tells correspondent Bob Simon he has concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Islam's prophet "was a — a violent man, a man of war."
"Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses," Falwell says. "I think Muhammad set an opposite example."
--I guess Falwell didn't read that whole thing about Salman Rushdie?
Five Killed in 16 Hours Near D.C. - Thu Oct 3, 3:12 PM ET By STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) - Five people were fatally shot one by one in public places within 16 hours of each other in Washington's suburbs, and authorities said Thursday there was a "strong possibility" the killings were related.
--I need to retire and move back to Pembroke.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) - Five people were fatally shot one by one in public places within 16 hours of each other in Washington's suburbs, and authorities said Thursday there was a "strong possibility" the killings were related.
--I need to retire and move back to Pembroke.
Bear Stearns Enters Erroneous Sell Order - Wed Oct 2, 8:43 PM ET - By Nicole Maestri
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A slip of the finger led Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. on Wednesday to erroneously enter an order to sell $4 billion worth of stocks, fueling an already tumbling market.
--Can you imagine this guys reaction to that typo? D'OH!
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A slip of the finger led Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. on Wednesday to erroneously enter an order to sell $4 billion worth of stocks, fueling an already tumbling market.
--Can you imagine this guys reaction to that typo? D'OH!
Study: Breast Self-Exam Is Unproven - Tue Oct 1, 7:37 PM ET By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A major effort to teach self-examination so women could detect early, small lumps of a developing breast cancer ( news - web sites) did not reduce the rate of breast cancer deaths, suggesting the technique is a waste of time for doctors and patients, according to a study of more than 260,000 women in China.
Women who examined their breasts found more benign lumps that required unnessessary medical attention, said Thomas, but there was no reduction in the rate of breast cancer.
--So basically leave the breast exams to the professionals... like me!!
WASHINGTON (AP) - A major effort to teach self-examination so women could detect early, small lumps of a developing breast cancer ( news - web sites) did not reduce the rate of breast cancer deaths, suggesting the technique is a waste of time for doctors and patients, according to a study of more than 260,000 women in China.
Women who examined their breasts found more benign lumps that required unnessessary medical attention, said Thomas, but there was no reduction in the rate of breast cancer.
--So basically leave the breast exams to the professionals... like me!!
'SAFE' SEX ON LIRR - Tue Oct 1, 4:19 AM ET - By KIERAN CROWLEY
A lawyer for two of the three Long Islanders nabbed for allegedly having kinky three-way sex on a train after an all-night party said yesterday they should be praised for riding the rails instead of driving drunk. "They were at a party. They were drinking. It shows that they are responsible. If more people did that, we'd have fewer problems on the road."
Francine Greene, a mother of two, "was observed with her pants removed and her buttocks exposed, and was engaged in sexual intercourse with a passenger seated next to her, and giving oral sex to a passenger seated on the other side of her," according to a conductor who witnessed the alleged incident.
--Damn.. Maybe I should ride the rails more often!! This should be Amtraks new ad campaign!
A lawyer for two of the three Long Islanders nabbed for allegedly having kinky three-way sex on a train after an all-night party said yesterday they should be praised for riding the rails instead of driving drunk. "They were at a party. They were drinking. It shows that they are responsible. If more people did that, we'd have fewer problems on the road."
Francine Greene, a mother of two, "was observed with her pants removed and her buttocks exposed, and was engaged in sexual intercourse with a passenger seated next to her, and giving oral sex to a passenger seated on the other side of her," according to a conductor who witnessed the alleged incident.
--Damn.. Maybe I should ride the rails more often!! This should be Amtraks new ad campaign!
Mad Max 4 A Go? - 9:00am ET, 30-September-02
Mad Max 4 has been given a green light, according to the moviehole.net Web site. The site cited an "insider" as leaking word that Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, has inked a deal with veteran Mad Max director George Miller to film there beginning in March 2003.
In addition, the site added, negotiations are taking place between Mel Gibson's production company Icon, Fox Studios and Miller to finalize other aspects of the deal. Though Gibson has said in the past that he would be open to reprising his role as "Mad" Max Rockatansky, it remains to be seen whether the actor will appear in the film.
--I'll take two tickets now please.
Mad Max 4 has been given a green light, according to the moviehole.net Web site. The site cited an "insider" as leaking word that Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, has inked a deal with veteran Mad Max director George Miller to film there beginning in March 2003.
In addition, the site added, negotiations are taking place between Mel Gibson's production company Icon, Fox Studios and Miller to finalize other aspects of the deal. Though Gibson has said in the past that he would be open to reprising his role as "Mad" Max Rockatansky, it remains to be seen whether the actor will appear in the film.
--I'll take two tickets now please.
Ozone hole over Antarctica has shrunk, split in two - Mon Sep 30, 3:47 PM ET By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The ozone hole over Antarctica is markedly smaller this year than in the last few years and has split in two, government scientists reported Monday.
Click here for the "hole" article.
--Sweet. But I still want one of those cool electric cars that are faster than a Viper, dammit!
WASHINGTON - The ozone hole over Antarctica is markedly smaller this year than in the last few years and has split in two, government scientists reported Monday.
Click here for the "hole" article.
--Sweet. But I still want one of those cool electric cars that are faster than a Viper, dammit!
Hong Kong Hair Color Rule Challenged - Sun Sep 29,11:03 AM ET
HONG KONG (AP) - A senior Hong Kong female detective is asking the courts to declare a police order banning officers from dyeing their hair as "irrational and unenforceable," newspapers reported Sunday.
--I am sure there was prostesters at the IMF meeting about this.
HONG KONG (AP) - A senior Hong Kong female detective is asking the courts to declare a police order banning officers from dyeing their hair as "irrational and unenforceable," newspapers reported Sunday.
--I am sure there was prostesters at the IMF meeting about this.
A carnival of protest - Washington Times
If Friday's protests against the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and globalization were a discordant rage against the machine, Saturday's were more like a perturbed Rio carnival without rhythm.
There were Reds and Greens, anarchists in black coats and Greenpeace activists in white uniforms. Shrieking guitars from the band Blowback and drums from the Rhythm Worker's Union. There was a cardboard Trojan horse, a huge pink pig balloon and a gigantic inflated bottle of Coke.
The speakers seemed almost incidental to the affair — just background noise against the dissonance of people telling one another about their pet causes. Every fifth person seemed to be passing out pamphlets (none of which were printed on recycled paper): There was the National Youth Rights Association, the Student Environmental Action Committee and the ANSWER Coalition. A sign said Ghana's water wasn't for sale, a banner suggested Colombia's labor unions were being assassinated, a poster called for Argentina to be cried over. Some placards complained about corporate abuse, others advocated stopping U.S. aid to Israel. The protesters wanted democracy, free health care, fair trade and environmental justice, but none of them seemed willing to pay for it.
--Snotty nosed brats. Try not to trip over the homeless people on your way out.
If Friday's protests against the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and globalization were a discordant rage against the machine, Saturday's were more like a perturbed Rio carnival without rhythm.
There were Reds and Greens, anarchists in black coats and Greenpeace activists in white uniforms. Shrieking guitars from the band Blowback and drums from the Rhythm Worker's Union. There was a cardboard Trojan horse, a huge pink pig balloon and a gigantic inflated bottle of Coke.
The speakers seemed almost incidental to the affair — just background noise against the dissonance of people telling one another about their pet causes. Every fifth person seemed to be passing out pamphlets (none of which were printed on recycled paper): There was the National Youth Rights Association, the Student Environmental Action Committee and the ANSWER Coalition. A sign said Ghana's water wasn't for sale, a banner suggested Colombia's labor unions were being assassinated, a poster called for Argentina to be cried over. Some placards complained about corporate abuse, others advocated stopping U.S. aid to Israel. The protesters wanted democracy, free health care, fair trade and environmental justice, but none of them seemed willing to pay for it.
--Snotty nosed brats. Try not to trip over the homeless people on your way out.
Spielberg and Cruise back Bush's war on Iraq - Staff and agencies Friday September 27, 2002
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise became George Bush's most high-profile Hollywood supporters yesterday when they tentatively suggested that war on Iraq may be inevitable. In Rome to promote the Italian release of Minority Report, the director and actor found their PR duties sidetracked by press questions about President Bush's policy on Saddam Hussein.
Looking uncomfortable, Spielberg appeared to throw his weight behind the president. "If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, then I cannot support [the Iraqi regime]," he said.
Cruise was more careful, but seemed to echo his director's sentiments. "Personally I don't have all the information that President Bush has," he said. "But I believe Saddam has committed many crimes against humanity and the Iraqi people."
--We shoulda let Stormin Norman handle this last time...
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise became George Bush's most high-profile Hollywood supporters yesterday when they tentatively suggested that war on Iraq may be inevitable. In Rome to promote the Italian release of Minority Report, the director and actor found their PR duties sidetracked by press questions about President Bush's policy on Saddam Hussein.
Looking uncomfortable, Spielberg appeared to throw his weight behind the president. "If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, then I cannot support [the Iraqi regime]," he said.
Cruise was more careful, but seemed to echo his director's sentiments. "Personally I don't have all the information that President Bush has," he said. "But I believe Saddam has committed many crimes against humanity and the Iraqi people."
--We shoulda let Stormin Norman handle this last time...
500 Protesters Arrested in Capital - Fri Sep 27,11:17 AM ET By JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Demonstrators chained themselves together, bicycled through downtown streets and harassed police with false 911 calls Friday as financial ministers from around the world began a weekend meeting. By mid-morning, about 500 people had been arrested, Police Chief Charles Ramsey said. Most were charged with blocking sidewalks or entrances to buildings or parading without a permit, although 65 were charged with rioting.
The financial meetings began without interruption — surrounded by fences, closed streets and lines of police — while protesters were scattered elsewhere.
At one downtown intersection, protesters chained themselves together, and police had to cut the chains to arrest them. Others danced through the street with mud and leaves smeared on their hair and clothes. Fire trucks were called to put out a few tires set ablaze on the outskirts of town.
Protesters broke windows at a Citibank office and tossed smoke bombs during a clash with police.
"This is not a police state, we have a right to demonstrate," chanted a group of mostly young people, some wearing bandanas over their faces.
--What the Hell are they protesting against? Email me if you know. These are the stupidest protesters I've ever seen. They are making themselves look like the spoiled brat kids of well to do parents. Are there no other important issues?
WASHINGTON (AP) - Demonstrators chained themselves together, bicycled through downtown streets and harassed police with false 911 calls Friday as financial ministers from around the world began a weekend meeting. By mid-morning, about 500 people had been arrested, Police Chief Charles Ramsey said. Most were charged with blocking sidewalks or entrances to buildings or parading without a permit, although 65 were charged with rioting.
The financial meetings began without interruption — surrounded by fences, closed streets and lines of police — while protesters were scattered elsewhere.
At one downtown intersection, protesters chained themselves together, and police had to cut the chains to arrest them. Others danced through the street with mud and leaves smeared on their hair and clothes. Fire trucks were called to put out a few tires set ablaze on the outskirts of town.
Protesters broke windows at a Citibank office and tossed smoke bombs during a clash with police.
"This is not a police state, we have a right to demonstrate," chanted a group of mostly young people, some wearing bandanas over their faces.
--What the Hell are they protesting against? Email me if you know. These are the stupidest protesters I've ever seen. They are making themselves look like the spoiled brat kids of well to do parents. Are there no other important issues?
U.N. Upholds Ban on 'Dwarf Throwing' - Fri Sep 27,10:57 AM ET
GENEVA (Reuters) - A tiny stuntman who protested against a French ban on the bizarre practice of "dwarf throwing" lost his case before a U.N. human rights body, which said the need to protect human dignity was paramount.
Manuel Wackenheim had argued the 1995 ban by France's highest administrative court was discriminatory and deprived him of a job being hurled around discotheques by burly men.
--Those damn French!
GENEVA (Reuters) - A tiny stuntman who protested against a French ban on the bizarre practice of "dwarf throwing" lost his case before a U.N. human rights body, which said the need to protect human dignity was paramount.
Manuel Wackenheim had argued the 1995 ban by France's highest administrative court was discriminatory and deprived him of a job being hurled around discotheques by burly men.
--Those damn French!
When you rearrange the letters:
George Bush: He bugs Gore
Dormitory: Dirty Room
Evangelist: Evil's Agent
Desperation: A Rope Ends It
The Morse Code: Here Come Dots
Slot Machines: Cash Lost in em
Animosity: Is No Amity
Mother-in-law: Woman Hitler
Snooze Alarms: Alas! No More Z's
A Decimal Point: I'm a Dot in Place
The Earthquakes: That Queer Shake
Eleven plus two: Twelve plus one
When you rearrange the letters for the grand finale:
PRESIDENT CLINTON OF THE USA: TO COPULATE HE FINDS INTERN
George Bush: He bugs Gore
Dormitory: Dirty Room
Evangelist: Evil's Agent
Desperation: A Rope Ends It
The Morse Code: Here Come Dots
Slot Machines: Cash Lost in em
Animosity: Is No Amity
Mother-in-law: Woman Hitler
Snooze Alarms: Alas! No More Z's
A Decimal Point: I'm a Dot in Place
The Earthquakes: That Queer Shake
Eleven plus two: Twelve plus one
When you rearrange the letters for the grand finale:
PRESIDENT CLINTON OF THE USA: TO COPULATE HE FINDS INTERN
'Jurassic Park' Author Michael Crichton Robbed at Gunpoint in His California Home - The Associated Press
SANTA MONICA, Calif. Sept. 26 — Author Michael Crichton was robbed at gunpoint and tied up by two men who ransacked his home, but he wasn't harmed, his publicist said.
--I wonder how this will effect his writing.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. Sept. 26 — Author Michael Crichton was robbed at gunpoint and tied up by two men who ransacked his home, but he wasn't harmed, his publicist said.
--I wonder how this will effect his writing.
Sex in the City Fans Beware "Rampant Rabbit" vibrators - Thu Sep 26, 7:10 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A rabbit-eared sex toy has been recalled by Ann Summers out of concern it could cause injury to an unsuspecting user. The lingerie and sex toy chain said a batch of about 150,000 of the top-selling "Rampant Rabbit" vibrators were found to have defective seals that might allow the spillage of tiny beads contained in the shaft.
The Rampant Rabbit has been flying off store shelves since a character praised it in the hit U.S. television series "Sex and the City".
--I guess I better start watching the show!!
LONDON (Reuters) - A rabbit-eared sex toy has been recalled by Ann Summers out of concern it could cause injury to an unsuspecting user. The lingerie and sex toy chain said a batch of about 150,000 of the top-selling "Rampant Rabbit" vibrators were found to have defective seals that might allow the spillage of tiny beads contained in the shaft.
The Rampant Rabbit has been flying off store shelves since a character praised it in the hit U.S. television series "Sex and the City".
--I guess I better start watching the show!!
Speed of light broken with basic lab kit - 10:03 16 September 02 NewScientist.com news service
Electric signals can be transmitted at least four times faster than the speed of light using only basic equipment that would be found in virtually any college science department.
Read the full article on NewScientist.com.
--"186,000 Miles per second. It's not just a good idea, it's the law"... not any more...
Electric signals can be transmitted at least four times faster than the speed of light using only basic equipment that would be found in virtually any college science department.
Read the full article on NewScientist.com.
--"186,000 Miles per second. It's not just a good idea, it's the law"... not any more...
Creepy Coincidence? Two Women With Same Name Slain in Houston - September 25, 2002 (ABCNews.com)
Sept. 25 — Two women who lived in the same city and shared the same name never met, but they suffered the same violent end. Both Houston women were slain and left dead in their cars, just three days apart in October 2000, in different parts of Harris County, Texas. Neither woman was robbed and police have still not cracked either case.
--Sounds like the plot from Terminator...
Sept. 25 — Two women who lived in the same city and shared the same name never met, but they suffered the same violent end. Both Houston women were slain and left dead in their cars, just three days apart in October 2000, in different parts of Harris County, Texas. Neither woman was robbed and police have still not cracked either case.
--Sounds like the plot from Terminator...
GEORGE BUSH AS A MADMAN - Thu Sep 19,11:01 PM ET By Richard Reeves
WASHINGTON -- The time has come for some of us to consider the possibility that the wild and wacky bunch running the country these days may actually know what they are doing.
I don't mean that it is suddenly possible to follow the logic of Bush and Co.'s ranting that war is absolutely necessary this minute, before Saddam Hussein moves into the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia. But I do think there is now a possibility that the White House war dance just might produce victory without war. ...more.
Click HERE to see the whole Op/Ed piece
WASHINGTON -- The time has come for some of us to consider the possibility that the wild and wacky bunch running the country these days may actually know what they are doing.
I don't mean that it is suddenly possible to follow the logic of Bush and Co.'s ranting that war is absolutely necessary this minute, before Saddam Hussein moves into the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia. But I do think there is now a possibility that the White House war dance just might produce victory without war. ...more.
Click HERE to see the whole Op/Ed piece
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