Scrapbook
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Moscow seeks hike in US $3 rent
Surgery for dog who ate 28 golf balls
7 inch scissors left in patient
Surgery for dog who ate 28 golf balls
7 inch scissors left in patient
NoKo News
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
This is no joke:
Stone donated to tower of Juche Idea
Pyongyang, April 19 (KCNA) -- The Russian Youth Association for the Study of the Juche Idea sent a commemorative stone to the Tower of Juche Idea. The stone was handed to an official concerned at the tower by Dmitri Model, vice-chairman of the association who is leading its delegation visiting Korea on the occasion of the Day of the Sun, on April 18.
Present were functionaries concerned and delegations of Juche idea study organizations visiting Korea on the occasion of the Day of the Sun.
The vice-chairman said the association decided to send the commemorative stone to the tower symbolic of the immortal exploits of President Kim Il Sung, the founder of the great Juche idea.
The stone represents reverence of the members of the association and the Russian people for the President, he said, stating that they would in the future, too, make energetic efforts to intensify the activities for the study and dissemination of the Juche idea and boost the friendly relations between the two countries.
Pig Poop Petrol
A story gives new meaning to "gaseous emissions":
Research: Pig Manure Can Become Crude Oil
URBANA, Ill. - A University of Illinois research team is working on turning pig manure into a form of crude oil that could be refined to heat homes or generate electricity.
Years of research and fine-tuning are ahead before the idea could be commercially viable, but results so far indicate there might be big benefits for farmers and consumers, lead researcher Yanhui Zhang said.
"This is making more sense in terms of alternative energy or renewable energy and strategically for reducing our dependency on foreign oil," said Zhang, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. "Definitely, there is potential in the long term."
The thermochemical conversion process uses intense heat and pressure to break down the molecular structure of manure into oil. It's much like the natural process that turns organic matter into oil over centuries, but in the laboratory the process can take as little as a half-hour.
Now I wonder what they could do with old diapers?
The Case of the Disappearing Dynamite
Two massive dynamite heists are setting off alarms in Europe and Australia.
Dynamite theft unsettles Norway
Thieves have stolen 660kg (1400lb) of dynamite from an unstaffed storage depot in Norway, say police.
Around 5,000 detonators were also stolen, raising fears of a terrorist attack, officials told state radio.
The missing dynamite was more than six times the amount used for the bomb attacks on trains in Madrid nearly a month ago.
Last May, a taped message attributed to al-Qaeda's second-in-command urged Muslim militants to hit Norway.
(...)
The NRK state radio network reported that the storage depot, on the outskirts of the remote town of Gol, had a fence and heavy doors - but no alarm system.
And in Australia too:
Theft sparks Australian bomb alert
Australian anti-terror police are hunting for 3.5 tons of fertiliser stolen from a warehouse in the southern city of Adelaide.
There are fears the missing ammonium nitrate fertiliser could be used to build a bomb. Ammonium nitrate-based explosives were used in the Bali and Oklahoma bombings.
(...)
Police said the theft came to light after a routine audit on a warehouse in Adelaide last month.
Out of Place
An article on a New York "peace march" includes a picture of one cogent placard that appears a bit out of place amid the milieu of Saddam apologists.
Bunny Bondage
Monday, April 12, 2004
In Glassport, Pennsylvania, a congregation of religious nuts have devised a rather unorthodox way of incorporating the crucifixion into Easter festivities.
On Easter Sunday the group staged a bizarrely sadistic, but nonetheless serious re-enactment of the crucifixion, in which the Christ was replaced with the Easter Bunny and flogged. The performance also included smashing eggs and self-mutilating women.
Oh, and it was a family event.
Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show
GLASSPORT, Pa. (AP)--First, the Passion of the Christ. Now, the torment of the Easter Bunny?
It may not have been as gruesome as Mel Gibson's movie, but many parents and children got upset when a church trying to teach about Jesus' crucifixion performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs.
People who attended Saturday's show at Glassport's memorial stadium quoted performers as saying, ``There is no Easter bunny,'' and described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified.
Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program was inappropriate for young children. ``He was crying and asking me why the bunny was being whipped,'' Salzmann said.
Patty Bickerton, the youth minister at Glassport Assembly of God, said the performance wasn't meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.
``The program was for all ages, not just the kids. We wanted to convey that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny, it is about Jesus Christ,'' Bickerton said.
Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a drunken man and a self-mutilating woman, said Jennifer Norelli-Burke, another parent who saw the show in Glassport, a community about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
``It was very disturbing,'' Norelli-Burke said. ``I could not believe what I saw. It wasn't anything I was expecting.''
Now there's a movie I'd like to see: The Passion of the Bunny (No animals were harmed in the making of this film)
Political Vocabulary
Sunday, April 11, 2004
wallydrag n.
a feeble, dwarfed animal or person
See: Wesley Clarke, Dennis Kucinich
Savages
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Three Japanese civilians have been kidnapped by Shi'ite thugs in Iraq and paraded before cameras. The captors, believed to be members of the al-Mehdi militia, have threatened to burn alive and eat their hostages unless the Japanese troops ditch Iraq within three days.
“We tell you that three of your children have fallen prisoner in our hands and we give you two options — withdraw your forces from our country and go home or we will burn them alive and feed them to the fighters,” the group said.
In horrifying video, the terrorists were shown holding knives to the captives' throats as the three scream for life. The footage, broadcast on al-Jazeera (where else?), has been met with a mix of shock and anger in Japan.
So far, Prime Minister Koizumi has refused to bow (they do a lot of that in Japan) to the terrorists' demands and has vowed to stay the course. Let's hope his resolve withstands the current crisis; the Coalition cannot survive another desertion.
"Savagery"
After the monstrous, stomach-turning spectacle in Fallujah, even the Wahhabists at Arab News are queasy:
Editorial: Savagery
The spectacle of the mutilated remains of four American contractors being paraded through the streets of Fallujah will have turned the stomachs of all who saw this savagery on their television screens. This was mob violence at its worst.
Those who participated in the butchery must be punished. The mob may oppose the Coalition occupation. They may support the insurgents. They may count the death of soldiers as victories. But there is no understanding the brutish slaughter of four unarmed men who were working to rebuild their country. It was a senseless crime of great barbarity.
It's heartening to see the Arab world finally waking up to the barbarity plaguing their homeland.
