Interesting stuff
Thousands of previously illegible manuscripts containing work by some of the greats of classical literature are being read for the first time using technology which experts believe will unlock the secrets of the ancient world.
Among treasures already discovered by a team from Oxford University are previously unseen writings by classical giants including Sophocles, Euripides and Hesiod. Invisible under ordinary light, the faded ink comes clearly into view when placed under infra-red light, using techniques developed from satellite imaging.
The Oxford documents form part of the great papyrus hoard salvaged from an ancient rubbish dump in the Graeco-Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus more than a century ago. The thousands of remaining documents, which will be analysed over the next decade, are expected to include works by Ovid and Aeschylus, plus a series of Christian gospels which have been lost for up to 2,000 years.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2005 2:23:50 PM ||
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#1
Only a tiny amount of the work of the ancient Greeks has come down to us. The rest was thought lost forever. There are people the Greeks themselves thought important thinkers that we only know about becuase someone else mentions them in their writings.
#2
a series of Christian gospels which have been lost for up to 2,000 years. Well... 1800-1900 years anyway ;-) I've heard talk about this before, but it's very exciting to know how much material they have to draw on. This will enrich our understanding of the historic earth our present is rooted in -- in a way that The DaVinci Code couldn't possibly. Even more will be discovered, no doubt, when they apply similar techniques to over-written parchment palimpsets. What wonderful times we live in!
#4
The DaVinci Code was a mishmash of half-digested gnostic stories and current pop culture projected into the past.
Elaine Pagels' books on the diversity of cults, thought and practices in the first century AD is the real thing, although she has watered down the scholarship to make it readable. We'll see if what these palimpsets have actually include new gospels, or if they are the full versions of gnostic and other writings which are excerpted in the early church Fathers.
It would be great to find some of the missing books of Greek writers, especially.
> > An Alabama state trooper stopped a redneck in a
> > pickup truck for
> > weaving on the roadway. He asked the driver, "Got
> > any ID?"
> > The redneck said, "'Bout what?"
The best thing to ever come out of Arkansas was
> > Interstate 40.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense.
Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn't always fair.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).
His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. - Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer aspirin to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live, as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that
a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.
Two stepbrothers, My Rights and Ima Whiner survive him.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on; if not, join the majority and do nothing.
...Darkness enveloped homes near the summit of Mount Karthala as black rain pounded the mountainside, sparking panic among residents afraid of the kind of noxious fumes that seeped from the volcano a century ago, killing 17 people.
"Villagers are in total darkness, gritty rain is falling and visibility is zero," a resident from the village of Idjinkoundzi on the western flank of Mount Karthala, who gave his name as Charif, told Reuters by telephone.
The 7,746-foot Mount Karthala and its forested slopes form most of the land mass of Grande Comore, the main island in the Comoros chain which lies 300 km (190 miles) off east Africa, and which has witnessed periodic eruptions.
Jean Marc, a pilot with Comoros Aviation, who flew over the summit, said: "I saw the start of a lava flow, but for the moment it's confined to the inside of the volcano."
Families from the villages of Trelezini and Tsorale piled into taxis and buses and headed for the capital Moroni, which lies on the west coast of Grande Comore, about 9 miles from Karthala's crater, which towers above the Indian Ocean.
"Dust is still falling, with torrential rains and high winds sweeping across the region," said Ibrahim Youssouf, a resident in the town of Fomboni on the southeastern coast of Grande Comore who visited the scene...
"Interesting name of the capital you guys have..."
Capt. Jalal Al-Gharbi has agreed to stop beheading and eating snakes as part of his public show after an article appearing in Thursday's Arab News sparked outrage among parents and animal lovers.
Ahhh, hell! What're we gonna do on Saturday nights now?
Facing a complaint by Tahlia International Veterinary Clinic set to be filed against him today with the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Al-Gharbi told Arab News: "I didn't think it was such a big deal, but if people don't like it, then I will stop."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez called off a state of emergency in the capital Saturday as thousands defied his ban on demonstrations and demanded his resignation.
"Boo! Boo! Get a rope!"
Gutierrez rescinded the measure less than 24 hours after he imposed it in hopes of stifling a wave of peaceful street protests demanding his ouster. Speaking over national television, Gutierrez said he was annulling the decree, which suspended civil liberties, including the right to free expression and assembly, because he had "obtained the principal objective, which is the dismissal of the Supreme Court" after he dissolved that Friday.
"So, see? It's all over! You can all go home now. And put the pitchforks down..."
Residents of the capital had defied the state of emergency imposed late Friday night, taking to the streets by the thousands and honking horns across the city, demanding that Gutierrez quit. The military, which under the state of emergency was charged with maintaining public order, was not evident on the streets as thousands of people disobeyed the decree and staged a peaceful demonstration, punctuated by the honking horns and shouts of "Lucio Out!" and "Democracy yes, dictatorship, no!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Japan is lurching out of the opium delirium that "if you're nice to people, they will be nice back". And once they start to get their act together, they will find that it will solve myriad problems. Putting money into their defense industry will stimulate their economy. Putting a little macho into their people will stimulate their birthrate. And then they will realize that a defense without an offense doesn't win a game. The bottom line is that they are faced off against China, and caught in the middle of a China-US brawl, so unless they have quills like a porcupine, they're going to be kicked like a ball.
#2
An interesting article - thx, tipper! Although I usually find it rather comical when Western "analysts" attempt to define other cultures, particularly Asian and Middle Eastern - those with which I have more than a passing knowledge, in a few words and using Western concepts and values, this one isn't a joke. It seems to me to be an extreme example of a middle of the road / oil on the waters approach... with one exception: it is overly kind to China and overly hand-wringing regards Japan.
Of course Japan will have to find its own way, regards how it approaches the need to "moderately" rearm and remilitarize itself. They have hard times within living memory for past overreaching. Duh. They're doing what they can and should in that regard.
The animosity between Japan and China is oddly put, IMHO, with a very apparent slant toward China. Perhaps that's not so surprising in some ways, since the publisher of TNI is chaired by James Schlesinger - a Nixonian. But the slant feels real, no matter the learned tone nor the marshalled arguments - they've been rather selective about what facts are presented.
The notion that the US is needlessly antagonizing China, and the subtle dismissal regards China's overt aggressiveness and play for Asia hegemony - and how that affects Japan's recent changes in posture, are the comic centerpiece that the authors just couldn't seem to resist. Thus the article is saved from patent conventional wisdom boredom and elevated to slanted opinion piece worthy of my dismissal. Japan is its own master - and will do what it must to defend its interests and future. I hope we are there to help them, as needed and where mutually beneficial.
I know the China hands here can and probably will see this differently, but that's cool. I see China dead ahead and clearly working hard toward something more than mere hegemony in Asia. I see them as a bona-fide enemy-in-waiting. TNI can suck up to them if they want.
#3
Moose hits on a point I have been thinking about for some time that deserves more emphasis. Japan has been in a no growth slump for a decade. It has depended on export demand to rescue it in an environment that is becoming more and more competitive. Domestic demand has not responded to pick up the slack. It is not in depression, but it has been stalled for some time. A boost in demand from defence spending may have the same tonic effect on its economy that it had on the U. S. economy in 1939. It may then grow into a more balanced economy like the U. S. economy and take some of the burden off us for being the consumer of last resort. If it makes the Chinese think twice about these bully boy tactics, all the better.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
04/17/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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I agree, Mrs. D. Another side effect: there are only so many technologies that you can advance for consumer markets alone. One reason defense R&D can be so powerful overall for a country's competitive posture is that often defense problems are a lot harder and more complex than those in other sectors. That means that to solve them takes broader, deeper skills and often results in breakthroughs with significant spinoff value downstream. I went to B school from defense projects and it was obvious that my profs had no idea how much more challenging my work had been from anything they consulted on.
#5
Bush must make clear his opposition to Japan acquiring nuclear weapons or major power-projection capabilities such as long-range bombers or aircraft carriers. This would be inherently destabilizing and ultimately antithetical to Japan's own security interests. So Japan's and much of Asia's security should rely on appeasing China. Bulls***!
#6
Wretched seems to think and I agree that we are walking, if not jogging into a naval confrontation with China. I seriously doubt if Bush or any element in our government would be silly enough to take this guy's advice and tell the Japanese they must rely on our navy for their defense; that Japam could never be allowed to provide for itself the neccesary hardware they need to defend against China and that includes power projecting weapons such as bombers and especially air craft carriers.
Bush must make clear his opposition to Japan acquiring nuclear weapons or major power-projection capabilities such as long-range bombers or aircraft carriers.
I've got a better idea. Bush should make clear he WON'T oppose this. Better yet, let's help the Japanese acquire those "major power-projection capabilities."
No need for them to get their own nukes - just station some of ours in Japan (with their permission, of course). That would definitely twist some Chinese shorts. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/17/2005 15:55 Comments ||
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Japan is an island. It depends on the ocean to bring almost every thing it needs. Not having it's own robust deep water navy with China arming like it is, is foolish. I have never met a foolish Japanese person in my life yet, though some must exist. I think Japan will realise it has to do certain things to beef up it's military. That includes a few real air craft carriers (they do know how to build them after all) and, a Nuclear deterrent of some sort (possibly non-nuclear in nature.)
As for anyone saying they understand the Japanese or any major Asian culture, that makes me want to laugh. If you are not Asian you simply will not get it all, just as they have a hard time getting it all about North American culture. Anglo-Saxons do not have the memes Asians are born into, even if they have lived amongst them for years.
#9
In case any ya'll haven't noticed:
The Japanese have been propping up the US dollar. Have been courteous enough to hold $800 billion in US dollars from their cumulative trade surpluses with us. Done because we have a commitment, publicly stated or not, to side with them against China. Our (nuclear) umbrella protects Japan from the Chinese and NKor rain
#10
Sock Puppet 0â Doom: memes are one thing, Douglas MacArthur is another. Before WWII, Japan was truly a megalithic culture, but even then it judiciously copied from Europe technologies and disciplines that it integrated seamlessly into its culture. After WWII, this integration was enormous, but directed towards American ideas. Japan today is strinkingly western compared to Japan of yesteryear. Granted, it still keeps much of its adaptable culture, but doesn't let it get in the way. And yet, it also stays a player in the far east, absorbing good ideas from its more rigid neighbors, to Japan's advantage. But Japan does not export its culture in any great way, unlike the US or China, whose conflict is as much cultural as political. So, in the final analysis, the Japanese may understand a great deal about us, but we still strive to reach and understanding of them. Their true meme, as it were is absorbtion.
#11
Japan doesn't need our (ie the US's) nukes - they can build their own (and recent estimates are they can build quite a few of them in less than a year).
The Japanese MSDF, their equivalent of our Navy, is already retooling and retraining its people for a more offensive role in the region. Check out any of several JMSDF websites and see what their own people are saying.
The Japanese MSDF people are proud and they realize they have a long tradition of service to Japan and they're ready to put it on the line if anything comes down their way.
The MSDF is also steadily growing (unlike the USN which has been radically downsized from a force of over 660 combat vessels to less than 200 today over the years since Reagan built it up) and may be a match for anybody else's navy in the entire region if they aren't already, aside from the USN that is (the MSDF does have offensive striking power against intruders in their territorial waters and its quite effective - their lack of aircraft carriers and long-range, deep-water striking capabilities is being altered, but will require a change to their constitution or a deception similar to the one used in the 1930's).
EFL - How about the all-hallowed "Face" we're supposed to be so sensitive about?
China's foreign minister on Sunday rejected Tokyo's demand for an apology for damage to Japanese diplomatic missions in violent protests, telling his Japanese counterpart that Beijing had done nothing for which it had to apologize to Japan's people.
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing instead complained that Japan has "hurt the feelings" of Chinese on a series of issues, including relations with rival Taiwan and "the subject of history" - a reference to new Japanese textbooks that critics say minimize Japan's wartime offenses.
"The Chinese government has never done anything for which it has to apologize to the Japanese people," Li told Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura.
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura arrived Sunday in Beijing to deliver a protest following three weekends of violent anti-Japanese protests.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2005 12:35:56 PM ||
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#1
This just in...ChiCom rice boils over...war at 11:00
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/17/2005 13:02 Comments ||
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You think the Japanese are crying 'uncle' now, wait until the Chi-coms launch their "OOTB" (Out Of The Blues) offensive against Taiwan!!
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting. 1989--Tianamen Square. Today--the Chinese gummint found a perfect scapegoat. Jews are a tad remote, "so, let's see, who can we fingerpoint? Japs!".
About 20,000 anti-Japanese protesters — some shouting "kill the Japanese" — rampaged through Shanghai on Saturday, stoning Japan's consulate and smashing cars and shops in protest over Tokyo's bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat and perceived whitewashing of wartime atrocities.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 ||
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From the looks of the photo, it would appear that the typical protester is perhaps 14 years old.
Posted by: Tom ||
04/17/2005 11:42 Comments ||
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#2
How are you gonna keep them on the farm, once they've rioted in the big city?
#4
The funny thing is that this will probably knock a few points off Chinese economic growth, as all foreign investors re-evaluate their options. This has got to be shaking up the Taiwanese, who have put huge sums of money into China.
#5
The hype behind China's "miracle" is greater than the reality. ZF can say more on this, but it strikes me that China like most emerging markets is hugely corrupt, that banks' balance sheets and loan portfolios are far weaker than anyone supposes, that the growth is uneven and probably related more to factor inputs ie massive capital inflows than to real innovation and productivity gains. On top of this you have a brutal government, a restive rural populace, rapid urbanization with all its perils and regions that are perpetually in conflict with each other.
I seriously doubt that China can maintain growth of 8%+ per year, and doubt further that their real growth has even hit 8% per year. Hard to believe statistics generated in a notoriously opaque economy and distributed by a corrupt and brutal authoritarian regime.
Europe's foreign ministers have rallied round the embattled French campaign for the European constitution, arguing that a No vote on the May 29 referendum would set back the European Union's drive to play a bigger part on the world stage. Many officials fear that a French rejection, which could prove terminal for the constitutional treaty, would also halt the EU's enlargement drive - sometimes dubbed "the most successful foreign policy in the world" by whom? .
by EU officials, of course
It could also kill reforms intended to boost the EU's diplomatic clout, such as the creation of an EU foreign minister and a new external action service those sound like real clout enhancers to me. Let's see if the Pentagon asks for some in the next budget..
"If we want Europe to play a role in the world it is necessary to be in favour of the constitution," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU external relations commissioner, at a weekend meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg. But a series of opinion polls has put the No vote ahead and President Jacques Chirac is widely deemed to have put in a disappointing performance in a televised debate last week. Support for a No vote has risen in subsequent polls, now standing at 56 per cent. That number keeps creeping up. It may get so high that Jacques will have a hard time explaining approval with a 110% voter turnout.
The EU's enlargement drive could be particularly stricken because the debate in France has focused on fears about the possible effects of the EU's expansion last year to 25 member states and on the prospect of Turkish membership in about a decade's time. Some EU officials fear that if France rejects the constitution it may not be possible to begin the entry negotiations with Turkey in October this year, as scheduled. others think it's a feature.
A longer term promise to allow the whole of the Balkans to enter the EU is at the heart of international efforts to stabilise the former Yugoslavia, the site of four wars in the 1990s. Four wars, eh? That should work well with the French and Germans. They only had two in the last 100 years.
At the foreign ministers' meeting, Dimitrij Rupel, chairman of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said he was "very worried" about the effect on enlargement of a French No vote. On Monday, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy representative, will join the fray with a Paris speech which makes a plea for a Yes vote to safeguard Europe's role in the world. Yup, that'll change Jean-Pierre's vote, for sure.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
04/17/2005 2:22:15 PM ||
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I'm waiting for the Guardian letter-writing campaign to explain to the Frenchies that a 'no' vote is unacceptable.
A day before elections for a new Turkish Cypriot leader, the head of the self-proclaimed state in the north of the divided island warned Saturday that his likely successor would be committing treason if he did not protect Turkish Cypriot independence.
That means somebody'll kill him, of course...
Rauf Denktash, the 81-year-old president and founder of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, is not running in Sunday's election. But the front-runner, Mehmet Ali Talat, who supports reunification with Greek Cypriots in the south, must swear to protect Turkish Cypriot independence. "Whoever is elected will take the oath of office, which demands that the republic, its independence, its sovereignty will be protected, cherished and improved," Denktash told The Associated Press during an interview in the Turkish-occupied north. "If they don't they will be committing a constitutional offense of treason and this country will not be a peaceful country,"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 ||
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European Union officials appealed to French voters Saturday to vote in favor of the EU constitution in a May 29 referendum, and said a rejection would derail European integration. Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, urged French voters to think of the EU as a whole when they vote on the 25-nation bloc's landmark document. The EU constitution, which aims to simplify procedures and decision-making in the EU after the bloc gained 10 new members last year, must be ratified by all EU countries to come into effect. Rejection by any one member would stop the document in its tracks.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Luxembourgâs Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EUâs rotating presidency, urged French voters to think of the EU as a whole when they vote on the 25-nation blocâs landmark document
"Take one for the team, mes amis." Sure, that'll work with the French.
#5
Schadenfreude tastes sweet this spring, doesn't it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2005 12:22 Comments ||
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#6
This sounds like a play out of the Dummycrat '04 campaign playbook. The problem can be resolve simply by having more people tell you your 'no' decision is wrong.
Sure, that works.....?
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/17/2005 13:14 Comments ||
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#7
Schadenfreude Beer! It's what you drink in the morning.
Here's to the Home Depot car blowing an engine! 1 Schadenfredue Beer!
Here's to litter Dale fucking up his pit stop! ! Schadenfredue Beer!
Here's to the Rainbow Warriors leaving out a lugnut! 3 n schadenerfedure biers....
I can't wait for the coming expose on political figures... any minute, now...
WE all know celebrities get free stuff - swag - just for being famous. But did you know that there are some stars who eat, fly, sleep, party, do virtually everything in their day-to-day life for free? All they do is demand it, take it, or simply walk out on the tab. The Hollywood "gimme!" syndrome has run amuck.
"It's at a fever pitch right now. It's assumed that if you are a celebrity and show up that you will get something. There are so many real stars and quote-unquote stars who don't even understand that you 'buy' things anymore," says Lori Majewski, executive editor of Us Weekly. It's one thing if you are Cameron Diaz, who has free clothing forced on her even if she offers to pay for it. When she wears a top on the cover of Us Weekly, it's free advertising for that company.
But it's another when you are Lara Flynn Boyle, who was famously Punk'd by MTV cameras when she was told she would have to actually pay after a major shopping spree in Los Angeles. Oh, the horror!
"Jessica Simpson probably has not paid for things since she started with 'Newlyweds,'" says Majewski, who has worked with Simpson. "People will give her anything. It makes sense. Celebrities are walking billboards. But there are now lesser-known celebrities who think they are entitled.
"Reality stars are the worst. They want a free house, a free wedding, they want everything for free. You have C- and D-list celebrities and their hangers-on, and it's created this frenzied environment."
There's also the delicate issue of relationships. "Celebrities borrow stuff from designers all the time and don't return it. It depends on the garment, but designers are often reluctant to chase somebody about it," says Mark Silver of Factory PR, who reps lines like Halston and Tracey Reese.
So the result is Star Jones, one of the Gimme Syndrome's most notorious victims, throwing a virtually "free" wedding to Al Reynolds by getting "sponsors" to providing services in exchange for press coverage. But she's not the only one manipulating the system. Here are some of the most notorious celebrity freeloaders.
Britney Spears
The pop tartlet used to be a huge star - and as such is accustomed to the freebie life.
Spears would often visit a Greenwich Village Starbucks to load up on caffeine. But one day, she had enough of shelling out for the drinks. She looked at the cashier and said, "Don't you know who I am?" to which the cashier replied, "Yes, but you still have to pay. Sorry."
It wasn't the only time: She once attended the Broadway show "Cabaret" at Studio 54 and, according to a spy, "She ate and drank a ton and left early, and never paid for anything. She assumed it was free." (A Spears rep denies the story).
Now that Britney has a baby on board, companies better watch out. She'll be looking for gifts for two.
Sharon Stone
The "Basic Instinct" actress suffered the 'gimme' syndrome early. In 1993, Stone thought that Harry Winston had "given" her a $400,000 diamond necklace while she was promoting the movie "Sliver." When they threatened her with criminal charges unless she gave it back, she sued them for $12 million for "breach of contract." The suit was settled, she gave the gems back and the jewelers agreed to make a gift to AmFar.
David Spade
The TV funnyman is a popular party guest, until he walks out on the tab, that is. Spade was invited to a concert for a local band at Club Cherry in Los Angeles, and his ticket was "comped"- given to him for free.
While he watched the band play, Spade ordered up a mass of drinks. But when he got bored, he simply left - without paying the bill!
Instead, the confused wait staff approached other guests thinking that they would take care of the tab for him.
Rachel Hunter
Hunter, says one event publicist, never met a gift bag she didn't like. In fact, she likes them so much she often takes four or five at a time.
She's so determined that, a few years ago, at a Maxim Magazine party in Los Angeles, she left the party but came back to collect a few more bags.
Unluckily for her, the police had shut down the event due to overcrowding and were attempting to clear the area. Hunter gamely ignored them, until finally a policeman was forced to yell over a megaphone: "Ma'am! Step away from the goodie bags!"
Marisa Tomei
The indie princess knows that the best things in life are free.
At this year's Sundance, she demanded two of everything, since she was starring in two movies that were in competition. One publicist said: "I was working at a 'swag house,' and Marisa came in twice. She said that she was in two movies and was entitled to more electronics. What can you do but give it to her?"
Tomei also demanded that celebrity hairstylist Kevin Mancuso visit her almost daily at her condo to prep her hair for free.
Andy Dick
He might have had his own reality-TV show, but Andy Dick knows his own worth, and in his mind he's at least a free Vespa.
At a party for Vespa in Los Angeles, Dick reportedly threw a fit, said a witness, when he wasn't offered one of the fancy Italian scooters in return for showing up. "The organizers told him, 'We are not giving out Vespas at this party, but maybe we can work something out.' They gave him a goodie bag, but he wasn't happy."
Danny Masterson & Bijou Phillips
The young hipster couple can be double trouble. Phillips, a notorious party girl, and her boyfriend, Masterson, invented a new game to play while they were staying at a friends house in Park City, Utah, during the Sundance Film Festival.
They organized a contest among the houseguests - boys against the girls - to see who could collect the most free gifts from places like the Shutterfly suite at the temporary Marquee West nightclub.
But the boys took a day off to go skiing, so Masterson's team lost. "They didn't care what it was, they just wanted to see who could collect the most free stuff!" said a source. Masterson's rep denied that he participated.
Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs
The rap mogul knows that time is money: He reportedly charged $100,000 to Miami's Hotel Victor for partying at its opening.
But on his last trip to Miami, Combs surpassed even his own bounds of penny-pinching.
He went to the nightclub Bed, but when he arrived, every table was full of revelers. According to a spywitness, "he demanded the best table with free booze. They gave him a table, but they didn't give him the booze."
Combs grabbed the microphone and started rapping. But in revenge, "He stops in the middle of the song," said the witness, "turns off the music, and said 'A bottle of Hypnotq finishes the song.'" That did the trick.
It's not the first time this has happened: When Combs was partying with Mick Jagger at Hiro last year, he walked out on a $1,500 tab. Since he had been gifted a dinner at neighboring restaurant Matsuri, he thought the Cristal was on the house, too. Combs later paid up.
Anna Nicole-Smith
The bodacious former stripper went on a shopping trip at New York's Big Drop boutique - and waltzed out with everything for free!
"Entertainment Tonight" was filming her as she was taping her "Anna Nicole Smith" show for E!. She said she would come to the store if she could get $2,000 worth of clothing for free. "That was the condition that she wanted to bring her show there," said a source. Smith had better hope that she gets a lot more free shopping trips: She famously lost her multimillion-dollar inheritance. "We're just, um, so special!"
Posted by: .com ||
04/17/2005 9:57:34 AM ||
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#2
I don't think I would recognise any of these plastic people if they came up and bit me on the ass, which is about what they would have to do to get me to notice them anway. Besides, in twenty, thirty or fourty years most of them will be living in SRO cold-water apartments on skid row with a tiny pension, a dozen cats, a substance abuse problem and a scrap-book that no one except (maybe!) the staff of "Where Are They Now" will be interested in.
#5
Reason #5280 to be glad that I have not let the kids watch network TV or Cable, except for occasional viewings of Animal Planet and Nova, for the last 20 years.
#7
didja let em talk to other people, Mom? Or do they have to wait til they're 30?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2005 13:41 Comments ||
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#8
TV reception stinks in the basement. We prefered to introduce the kids to the library. I think the results justified our priorities. The kids can and do watch at their friends' homes, but they're less satisfied than their friends to just sit and watch, and they read more. YMMV.
Posted by: James ||
04/17/2005 15:14 Comments ||
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#9
Frank G, we have to wait until we're 30, but I'm using my tinfoil hat and talking bedsprings to connect to the neighbors Wi-Fi.
#10
See James's comment above; he's head of this house. We can get PBS with the TV in the basement; anything else comes in grainy. Since James and I have 4000+ books, and since, yes, our children do have a very active social life, they do just fine; tinfoil beanies not needed:) Our kids tend to have more coherent and enjoyable conversations with adults than some of their peers do, as well.
The Angolan Ministry of Health hasannounced that the death toll from the epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever has jumped to 233 from a total of 255 cases recorded in Angola until Saturday. According to a press release issued here by the ministry on Sunday, all the reported cases of the Ebola-like disease had originated in the northwestern province of Uige, though patients have died elsewhere, including Luanda, Zaire, Malange, Kuangza Norte, Kuanza South and Cabinda provinces. For the last week or so, there has been 5 to 10 deaths a day. No sign of it going exponential but no sign of it slowing down either. Almost all the cases are concentrated in the Uige provincial capital, which is another mystery since its quite a small place (50K or 200K in different reports). At least 10 times as many people live out in the bush, but almost no cases seem to come from these areas. As I've pointed out before there will be at least as many close contacts and IMO a lot more in rural areas, but more casual contacts in an urban context. So, to argue its being spread by casual contact in an urban context yet not go exponential doesn't add up. There must be a local factor facilitating its spread in the provincial capital.
Posted by: phil_b ||
04/17/2005 5:53:45 AM ||
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#1
IIRC, the last outbreak of the marburg type hemmoragic (sp?) fever, the spread was due in part to what was delicately referred to as "local funeral customs". When the "local funeral customs" stopped, so did the outbreak.
Posted by: N Guard ||
04/17/2005 10:23 Comments ||
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#2
I remember, from The Coming Plague, this was true for Ebola. The custom was that the women of the family carefully washed and wrapped the corpse for burial. Then they went home and prepared meals for the family, etc.
#3
Funeral customs may well be playing a role in transmission, but such customs are unlikely to be restricted to the provincial capital. Person to person infectious diseases spread geographically and while there have been a couple of dozen cases in people who have travelled from the provincial capital, there have been no significant outbreaks from these cases.
There must be considerable numbers of people leaving Uige capital and going back to the bush, far more than the small numbers who can afford to travel to the capital and other places where cases have been reported, yet we are not hearing about outbreaks from the bush. Either becuase the don't exist which means a local factor in the capital, or they are not being reported becuase there is no government presence. Possible, although as time goes by less and less likely, and bad news becuase it means a lot more unreported cases.
#4
Um....it's so obvious, so I gotta use em....forgive me.
Virii, why do they hate us...?
and...
I for one welcome our new viral overlords...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
04/17/2005 19:38 Comments ||
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#5
"Local Burial Customs" also spread a hellacious outbreak of shellfish borne cholera in West Africa in the 80s, according to National Geographic. .com's description is right on.
If the health officials ever get out into the bush they may find whole villages wiped out. Communications in the city are uneven, depending on the power supply; in the bush communications are tenuous at best.
Togo's main opposition leader said on Saturday his party would take part in a presidential election in eight days, but may call a boycott if conditions worsened. "We will take part in these elections. The conditions are difficult but we are going to participate. For the moment, we are not calling a boycott unless things get worse during the week," Gilchrist Olympio said. He spoke after crossing into Togo's capital Lome from Ghana, where he has a house. Thousands of supporters wearing yellow T-shirts and waving palm branches rushed his car as he arrived, singing and dancing alongside as it crawled through the city.
"Hurrah! Hurrah! It's Whatsisname!"
Olympio, who fled into exile after an assassination attempt in 1992 but has since returned to the West African nation several times, later attended a rally in a football stadium.
"Nice game, guys, but I'll be going home to Ghana now..."
Presidential elections are to be held on April 24, but the opposition says the vote was organized too hastily and accuses authorities of rigging electoral lists. The opposition has staged daily demonstrations to demand a delay to polls meant to draw a line under a constitutional crisis sparked when former president Gnassingbe Eyadema died in February after ruling the former French colony for 38 years. The army immediately appointed his son, Faure Gnassingbe, as president, sparking an international outcry and triggering violent street protests. Gnassingbe later agreed to step down and run for president in the elections. The main opposition parties have named one candidate to contest the vote -- Emmanuel Akitani-Bob, vice president of Olympio's Union of Forces for Change (UFC) party.
I hope he loses. Africa hasn't had a lot of luck with countries run by guys named Bob.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Ecuador President 
European Union officials appealed to French voters Saturday to vote in favor of the EU constitution in a May 29 referendum, and said a rejection would derail European integration. Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, urged French voters to think of the EU as a whole when they vote on the 25-nation bloc's landmark document. The EU constitution, which aims to simplify procedures and decision-making in the EU after the bloc gained 10 new members last year, must be ratified by all EU countries to come into effect. Rejection by any one member would stop the document in its tracks.
The Angolan Ministry of Health hasannounced that the death toll from the epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever has jumped to 233 from a total of 255 cases recorded in Angola until Saturday. According to a press release issued here by the ministry on Sunday, all the reported cases of the Ebola-like disease had originated in the northwestern province of Uige, though patients have died elsewhere, including Luanda, Zaire, Malange, Kuangza Norte, Kuanza South and Cabinda provinces.
