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News Briefs 27-08-2004

I won’t kid you – news is slow today. But I’ll give you what I’ve got…………

  • Historians of the Stone Age fear that they will have to rip up their theories about Neanderthal Man after doubt has been cast on the carbon dating of skeletons.
  • Textile fragments provide details of ancient lives.
  • The first toilet and sewer system of prehistoric period has been found.
  • Each day, more than 4,000-people visit the place where the mighty thunder god Zeus took the form of a great white bull and won the the love of a girl named Europa.
  • Crocs may have evolved their tough skull before they turned amphibious.
  • What secrets do the Masons hide, not even revealing them to most of their own members?
  • How do UFOs, aliens, and alien abductions find a home at the conservative Baptist Baylor University?
  • The Leaning Tower of Pisa has been stabilized. The Stabilized Tower of Pizza doesn’t have a ring to it.
  • London’s Natural History Museum welcomes flesh-eating bugs.
  • Do you want the truth about GM crops?
  • Greenpeace is leading the charge to introduce a GM-food fear factor to the Chinese.
  • An online bookmaker is taking bets on the outcome of 10 big scientific endeavors, including the search for life on other planets (10,000:1) and the quest to harness nuclear fusion (100:1) as a substitute for oil.
  • An Australian inventor claims to have made the world’s first commercially-viable motor vehicle powered by compressed air.
  • Recreational fishing seriously harms threatened species.
  • From Southern Australia to Scotland to Northern California, entrepreneurs are seeking to generate electricity by channeling the energy of the Earth’s oceans.
  • The Unknown Life of Lobsters: Sex, Robots, and Beyond.
  • Mother Nature may give you a toke. A cannabis-like substance is produced by the brain that may keep you from going nuts.
  • From concept to Megalon – everything you always wanted to know about Godzilla. This could be important if you are Japanese, a 9-year old boy, or both.
  • Tons of flying tomatoes streaked the streets red and left 20,000 visitors wallowing in a pond of pulped fruit as a tiny Spanish town celebrated the world’s largest food fight.
  • Scientists vote Blade Runner best ever sci-fi film.
  • The United States is preparing for a global flu epidemic.
  • A Cuban woman shipped herself in a wooden crate to the United States.
  • A 16-year old girl was hanged for having a sharp tongue.
  • You can kiss your sovereignty goodbye. The European Union is rapidly descending into Soviet-style totalitarianism. The U.S. is right behind them.
  • You can blame NASA for the peculiar weather.
  • Doctors might soon ask, ‘What’s your sign?’
  • Scientists discount the full moon’s influence on events.
  • Magnets may not really work for pain.
  • Chupacabra’s cousin is found in Valparaiso.
  • Tunguska? If any people are more gullible about Unidentified Flying Objects than Americans, it’s the Russians.
  • Unexplainable phenomena have been said to happen at thousands of churches throughout time, but on an early December 2000 morning at San Juan Bautista Mission, even a scientist was astonished.
  • NIDS investigates the Flying Triangle enigma.
  • NASA’s redesigned space shuttle fuel tanks should no longer shed dangerous pieces of foam when launches resume next spring.
  • The ancient history of Venus may have included water and life.
  • The Beagle 2 mission team bites back.

Quote of the Day:

Being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep… in a giant blender.

Homer Simpson

  1. a quiet week?
    If that’s a quiet week Bill,I don’t think I could handle a busy one.I am still working on the rest of the week’s news, as usual on the weekend.

    About the 16 year old girl in Iran being hanged for her “sharp tongue”, all I can say is that I hope the judge who pursued this issue, and determined that the girl be hanged, one day face the same sort of judgement as he has perpetrated upon this innocent child.
    If that sounds like a curse, that’s because it is.

    And at the back of this I suppose you will find religion.

    shadows

        1. Got to be Careful
          Ive seen this article exactly as presented picked up by other newspapers and online news sites. I became curious because there is no mention of why the girl in question was in court to begin with. After all, Texas will happily execute a 16 year old girl for murder, even if she was found to be mentally disabled.I will try to find out what the original crime was.

          Some research reveals that the Iranfocus site is owned by Sara Rajabi of the Association Liberte of Val d’Oise, France. Coincidentally (?) the same address is home of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is lead by a Maryam Rajabi and is dedicated to the violent overthrow of the current Iranian regime. It is a self-described “armed opposition group” which is currently listed by the US Government as a terrorist group. As such, the article cannot be considered impartial reporting.

          As for nukes, I would contend that the US’s actions over Iraq and North Korea have sent the message that the best way to prevent US invasion if you are on unfriendly terms with the US is to become a nuclear power. I dont like this any more than you probably do, but it seems to be the way the world is swinging. Expect more nuclear proliferation, not less.

          Regards, C

          1. Obvious
            Hi Cernig,

            Increasing a nation’s defensive and offensive capability by adding nuclear weapons was true before, during, and after the war in Iraq. It has never been a big secret.

            Bill

          2. Hanging offense
            Hi Cernig,


            Amnesty International is also reporting this execution. I don’t believe that AI gets their information from the website to which you refer. The offense seemed to have been “acts incompatible with chastity”. The co-defendant of Ateqeh Rajabi, an unnamed man, was reportedly sentenced to 100-lashes.

            Your comment on the Texas death penalty in incorrect. Information on the age requirements for the death penalty and the execution of juveniles is found here.

            AFAIK, having a sharp tongue or performing “acts incompatible with chastity” is not a hanging offense anywhere.

            Bill

          3. m’orals like that !
            Hi,

            ” Having a sharp tongue or performing “acts incompatible with chastity ” mmm sounds like a ‘burka blowjob’ to me . “Now we cant have (unrepentant ?) girls evading their chastity demands like that !”

          4. Texan Juveniles
            Hi Bill,

            I stand corrected. Amnesty International reports on the executions of Texan juveniles at 17, not 16. Texas only accounts for 42% of all world executions of juveniles since 1998.

            I do agree that “unchaste conduct” isnt what I would call a good excuse for execution although obviously the Iranians would disagree and they are entitled to their own laws. I dont agree with any executions, but then again Britain hasnt executed anyone for anything in years. Even so, other nations (such as the USA)have a right by international law to have their own judicial systems.

            I do however make donations to AI for exactly this reason.

            Regards, C

    1. Quiet week
      Hi Shadows,

      I’m always hoping to give you something along the lines of a saucer landing on the White House lawn, the discovery of Atlantis complete with a city, or the north face of the Great Pyramid caves-in due to all the ‘secret’ drilling that’s on-going. My fellow admins are too good at gleaning the news-fields prior to my arrival. ;o)

      Bill

      1. it’s ok
        Bill, I have complete faith in you and the other admins that one of these days you will post the most amazing news the world has ever heard.
        But in the meantime,I’m quite happy with spending all my spare time reading the many many interesting posts each week and trying to decide which one out of dozens I will respond to.
        If I had my way I would respond to them all,they are all worthy of comment and I love to read the responses of other members of TDG.
        But I am only human, and a frail one at that.
        So thanks to all of you,you brighten my life tremendously,and you don’t ask a penny for it.

        shadows

      1. United States of Europe
        Hi Bill,

        The various European States and their populace have known for a long time that the EU was always going to be a dynamic compromise between supranationalism and a simple trade agreement. There are many myths about the EU which mostly stem from foreign ignorance of the matter stirred up by right-wing nationalists who cant make the distinction between Communism (e.g. Lenin) and European capitalist socialism (e.g. Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroeder). The new European Constitution, far from being a mandate for a United States of Europe is subsidiary to member states and can act only in those areas where “the objectives of the intended action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states but can rather… be better achieved at Union level.” The principle is established that the Union derives its powers from the member states. Many of the nation members will hold referenda on adopting this Constitution. So, you see, the original article was written by an old cold-war warrior who’s prejudice let him see commies behind the curtain where they did not exist. Hope that clarifies a matter which isnt brought to the attention of Americans, Aussies and others often enough 🙂

        Regards, C

        1. Common Sense
          Subsidiarity to member states only in certain aspects. The truth is many powers have been handed over to an even higher tier of government even more removed from individuals and over a longer period of time than most realise. The EU will eventually become the USE – a theory, but one based on history – that subject we are all supposed to learn from. The only proper way forward that will conserve individual liberty is for individual states to give up rights to local governments and thus to enrich the powers in areas were individuals really can make a difference. Beyond local communities the notion of publicness prevails – that is, individuality no longer exists and is replaced by a monster that owes nothing to any individual and yet belongs to everybody – no one in particular. You might not recognize it but you will see it everyday, and people will talk about it all the time, but at the level of conceptualization I am talking about few will know what it is. Yet it exists, it is immensely powerful and owes nothing to anyone in particular. Indeed, it smothers the particular in favour of itself. Its most obvious and yet most concealed aspect is known the world over as common sense.

          The federal government in the US started off small and limited as well. Jefferson wrote that he expected the US to fail (meaning to fail the notion of individual liberty) in 400 or so years – it turned out to take a lot less time than that due to the Federal Reserve (on and off, and on for most of the 20th Century and to the present day), the Civil War, and the creation of the National Security State. The truth of the US now is that it is more like a European country now than it has ever been – not in look or even in culture, it is even more like the no one in particular mentioned above. Yet the whole point of the US as it was originally conceived was to be a place where the oppressed of all other countries of the world could go for a life of individual liberty.

          Jameske

  2. re: Greenpeace’s scare tactics
    I normally support Greenpeace’s causes, but their scare tactics are disgraceful when it comes to GM-foods. Instead of educating the public and giving them thoughtful, plausible reasons to oppose GM-foods, Greenpeace opts to scare the hell out of people instead and have people oppose GM-foods solely out of irrational fear. It’s wrong and I vehemently disagree with Greenpeace’s tactics. Left-Wing hypocrisy and double standards.

    There are good reasons to oppose GM-food, and there are good reasons to support it. Greenpeace are no better than Bush, who uses the same scare tactics to further his own causes. Hypocrites, the lot of them.

    1. Greenpeace’s scare tactics
      Hi Rico,

      The secret to David McTaggart’s (early officer in Greanpeace) success is the secret to Greenpeace’s success: It doesn’t matter what is true …. it only matters what people believe is true …. You are what the media define you to be. [Greenpeace] became a myth, and a myth-generating machine.

      Paul Watson
      co-founder of Greenpeace

      The Not So Peaceful World of Greenpeace from Forbes, November 11, 1991.

      Bill

  3. Bladerunner
    No arguments from me on this one, even though it wasn’t produced in the way that Scott wanted, with no “narration”. As for the Matrix, the remarkably thought-provoking allegorical nature of the flick, special effects notwithstanding, make it a real challenger, in my opinion. I remember seeing the first Star Wars episode; as a long time sci-fi reader, the opening scene with the blaster fight in the corridor just blew me away. It was how I had always pictured it in my mind’s eye. Most writing is a reflection of the past or present; only sci-fi can be considered a reflection of the future. Good stuff.

    Regards,
    khefre

    “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe; attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion… I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those…moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” Roy Batty

    1. Running over blades
      The first Matrix film was good, but the sequels — my gods the Wachowski brothers are over-rated! The Matrix 2 & 3 were terrible, and the writers/directors had just as much control over them as they did the first — there was very little studio interference, so Matrix fanboys can’t use that as an excuse! They were terribly terribly written, and a blatant case of rampant plagiarism — so much of the Matrix 2 & 3 ripped off Japanese manga/anime, I’m surprised there hasn’t been any law-suits. The fight scene on the highway — straight out of Lupin III (Castle of Cagliostro tv series). I could go on and on. The Wachowski brothers are a one hit wonder.

      Bladerunner — this deserves Number 1. What a brilliant movie, on all levels. Possibly the only decent film Rutger Haur starred in too! Well, Salute of the Jugger had its charms. 😉

      Rico

      “Read like a butterfly, write like a bee.” – Philip Pullman

  4. blame NASA?
    Gee, if we made sure every rocket launched from the U.S. directly opposed the Earth’s path in its orbit, we could eventually bring it to a stop – say, in summertime.
    Then, it would be summer all year ’round. Woo Hoo!

    Sorry, OZ.

    Regards,
    khefre

    “Sing CuCu, sing CuCu, sing mucho mas CuCu!”

      1. Satirical
        Well, if he wasn’t, I sure was! We’ve still got people walking around wearing tin-foil hats to protect against cosmic rays, the governor of New Jersey is gay, and the US men’s olympic basketball team got their come-uppance today, so nothing would surprise me. 🙂

        Regards,
        khefre

        “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him gather moss.”
        Elmer Dinkley

      1. Masonry secrets
        Bill, I was intrigued by the rather straight forward expressions quoted from the masonic sources and how the author was so obsessed with the evilness implied. I just couldn’t see the point.

        I’m also intrigued by the fact that the masonic references see to fit rather well the geometric mean of what the average commentator might have stated on this site.

    1. Interesting bit about the eff
      Interesting bit about the effect The da Vinci Code is having on tourists to Rome.
      I have noticed that the book is still top of the best seller list after all this time,and Brown’s other books are right up there too.
      Give it a couple of years for everyone who has read it to discuss it and I believe the Catholic Church will be gone with the wind.
      And once it goes Christianity itself will follow.
      I wonder what people will turn to then for directions and orders on how to live.

      shadows

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