Tsvangari wants it and there is a lot of stuff that your aff doesn't do
RNW International Justice Desk
03-11-2008
TsvangiraiZimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday called for a truth and reconciliation commission to examine atrocities in the country dating back to the massacres of ethnic minorities in the 1980s.
"This country has gone through a lot of traumatic experiences," Tsvangirai said at the launch of a video on the 1980s atrocities. "What we have to accept is that in order to heal there must be justice, and in order to have justice there must be truth," Tsvangirai said. The video documents the Zimbabwean army's bloody campaign known as Gukurahundi, "the rain that washes away the chaff", when a North Korean-trained brigade is believed to have killed some 20,000 people in a counter-insurgency drive.
"That is the only way which can help us move forward as a nation. Unless the truth is told, there cannot be healing and reconciliation," he said. "There are those who are calling for a truth commission. They are right, but without justice we cannot move forward," he added.
Gukurahundi
Gukurahundi, in which the Ndebele minority were executed, burnt alive, thrown down mine shafts, and shot, was carried out by the 5th Brigade under the command of one Perence Shiri. Shiri, now promoted by to an Air Marshall, still serves in the Zimbabwe National Army to this day. The actions of the 5th Brigade have been entirely blamed on Robert Mugabe since, ultimately he was in charge of its operations across the country. The Brigade was different from all other Zimbabwean army units in that it was directly subordinated to the Prime Minister's office, and not integrated to the normal army command structures.
Most of the Ndebele victims were shot in public executions, often after being forced to dig their own graves in front of family and fellow villagers. The largest number of dead in a single killing was on 5 March 1983, when 62 young men and women were shot on the banks of the Cewale River, Lupane . Seven survived with gunshot wounds, the other 55 died. Another way 5 Brigade killed large groups of people was to burn them alive in huts. They did this in Tsholotsho and also in Lupane.
The 5th Brigade also would routinely round up dozens, or even hundreds, of civilians and march them at gun point to a central place, like a school or bore-hole. There they would be forced to sing Shona songs praising ZANU, at the same time being beaten with sticks. These gatherings usually ended with public executions. Those killed could be ex-ZIPRAs, ZAPU officials, or anybody chosen at random.
Moment of madness
In 1999, Mugabe labeled Gukurahundi as a "moment of madness", but has never publicly accepted responsibility. When thousands of civilians were being killed , Mugabe and his other cronies repudiated these allegations of atrocities and accused hostile foreign press of fabricating stories.
The documentary, Gukurahundi: A Moment of Madness, is produced by Zenzele Ndebele who is a human rights activist, was the highlight of a Gaborone film festival organised by the Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo) in March.
Common thing
Tsvangirai linked the massacres of the 1980s to an operation three years ago when President Robert Mugabe's government bulldozed the homes of 700,000 people in what was officially called a slum renewal project.
"The common thing is we have a leader and a government whose main pre-occupation is power-retention," he added. "We created that government and the leader, and the question is how to deal with such experiences because that is human terror of unprecedented proportions."
Tsvangirai and Mugabe, who has ruled since independence in 1980, have been negotiating for weeks over a power-sharing deal following deadly electoral violence earlier this year.
The talks are stalled over control of the home affairs ministry, which oversees the police.
(AFP)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
deadair
Orson Wells
Canada Clip - MC Frontalot - self proclaimed leader of the nerdcore - all throwaway jokes - but some i dont get
The reason why I played it is because - 46% approval rating / Queen Elizabeth
Vampire - new clubs - you were right
-------------------------------------------
old show - no one wanted to do old show - but still not that bad
new stuff - new segment
pownce.com/deadairkwcw (shutting down)
---------------------------------
LAW SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
1st - SO expensive - where is this $100 going
2nd - Credit Card Freak Out- shut me down
3rd - AutoComplete - Military - Name - DISHORORABLY DISCARHGED
4th - stress/wrong school
5th - scholarships - essay topics for the
6th - transgenderd
CHRISTMAS THINGS
- we decorated the house - lights how long did it take
- made in indonesia, shipped to china to print then here to sell
- fake tree real tree deabte
MY NEW FAVORITE XMAS THING
The Christmas pickle is a pickle-shaped ornament hidden in the tree. The child who finds it first on Christmas morning receives an extra present. While the Christmas pickle is believed to be a German custom, it is fairly unknown in Germany but widely spread across the USA. In fact it is completely of American origin. [1] The christmas pickle is a very fun game and is a favorite in most American households.
TECH THINGS -
1st - di.fm
2nd - http://www.blackbirdhome.com/
3nd - Gmail account - first run - I CAN'T USE THE NEW THING
HOUSE
tea in the sink
our landlord clean the pumpkins off
BANKS STUFF
Online account - spanish
Unied Arab Emerates
do you want to talk greece?
================================================================================
hamburgelor
1.========================================================
THE ROLE: Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy
WHO LET IT GET AWAY: Sean Connery, who’d never read the
J.R.R. Tolkien series and claimed he “didn’t understand the
script.” (Can you say karma?)
THE ROLE: Neo in The Matrix
WHO LET IT GET AWAY: Will Smith
turned it down to star in the forgettable action flick Wild
Wild West, and the part went to Keanu Reeves.
REGRETTABILITY METER: Low. In an interview with Wired, Smith
said, “I would have absolutely messed up The Matrix. At that
point I wasn’t smart enough as an actor to let the movie
be—whereas Keanu was.”
2.========================================================
In a recent report of DUI excuses in the Swedish newspaper
Nerikes Allehanda, a 56-year-old woman had asserted that,
though she had been drinking, her driving was not affected
because she had remembered to keep one eye closed. [The
Local (Stockholm), 10-30-08]
3.========================================================
Dateline: Page Six
Is Bill Murray NYC New Party Boy
4.========================================================
Veteran Massachusetts thief Robert Aldrich applied for
compensation because his latest arrest happened to have been
illegal, and a state law permits recovery for lost income
during wrongful incarceration. However, in November, a
Suffolk County judge turned him down as she was unable to
find any "income" that Aldrich might have earned during his
six wrongful months in jail except from more burglaries
[United Press International, 11-5-08]
5.========================================================
One of the items in a November seized-contraband auction by
the Denver Police Department was a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass
that was ultimately bought for $350 by a 19-year-old woman,
but which is still evidence in an active murder
investigation. Police eventually took back the car, which
has bullet holes and a bloody interior and contained blood-
stained clothing. Furthermore, a second shooting victim who
was in the car[Denver Post, 11-20-08]
6.========================================================
A New York Times dispatch from India highlighted the growing
problem of intra-family frauds in which one member claims a
living relative's land or wealth by swearing to the
government that the relative is dead. According to the
Times, the "deceased" had finally begun to fight back. An
advocacy group, the Association of Dead People, helps
aggrieved citizens figure out how to prove that they are
alive, which can be difficult, given India's slow-moving
bureaucracies. The association's founder said that he
personally had tried to authenticate his existence by public
actions such as running for office, filing lawsuits and
getting arrested, but that he nonetheless remained
officially dead. [New York Times, 10-24-00]
7.========================================================
Albinos in Africa find a haven from being hunted
WITH their milky white skin, wispy hair and haunting, pale
eyes, they are called �the living ghosts� by locals.
And the vulnerable albinos of Tanzania in East Africa have
more than insults to fear.
They are being hunted down and hacked to death to satisfy a
growing demand for their body parts and blood to use in
black magic. **I think Good Move
8.========================================================
Sugar can be addictive, Princeton scientist says
Animal studies show sugar dependence
A Princeton University scientist will present new evidence
today demonstrating that sugar can be an addictive
substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals
in a manner similar to many drugs of abuse.Professor Bart
Hoebel and his team in the Department of Psychology and the
Princeton Neuroscience Institute have been studying signs of
sugar addiction in rats for years. Until now, the rats under
study have met two of the three elements of addiction. They
have demonstrated a behavioral pattern of increased intake
and then showed signs of withdrawal. His current experiments
captured craving and relapse to complete the picture."If
bingeing on sugar is really a form of addiction, there
should be long-lasting effects in the brains of sugar
addicts," Hoebel said. "Craving and relapse are critical
components of addiction, and we have been able to
demonstrate these behaviors in sugar-bingeing rats in a
number of ways."
9.========================================================
The chain's junior bacon cheeseburger is ranked as 'the most
unhealthful' value item available among the offerings of
national fast-food chains, according to the Cancer Project.
By Jerry Hirsch December 9, 2008
Recessionary eating isn't always healthful eating,
especially when it comes to the $1 value menus pushed by
fast-food chains to keep sales growing through the economic
slump, according to one health watchdog.Jack in the Box's
Junior Bacon Cheeseburger was ranked "the most unhealthful"
value item available among the offerings of national fast-
food chains, according to an analysis by dietitians with the
nonprofit Cancer Project in Washington that is scheduled to
be released today.The $1 burger from San Diego-based Jack in
the Box topped the ranking because of its hamburger patty
and "hefty helpings of cheese and mayo-onion sauce," said
Krista Haynes, Cancer Project staff dietitian.
'
10.========================================================
WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Ninety percent of U.S.
adults say they pray -- more than half say it's once a day
or more -- in times of economic distress or plenty,
researchers said.Lead author Wendy Cadge, a sociologist at
Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., found that the
prayers fell into one of three categories -- about 28
percent of prayers were requests of God, 28 percent were
prayers to both thank and petition God, while another 22
percent of the prayers just thanked God.
11.========================================================
Japanese Man Makes Airport Home
By MARIA GALLUCCI
MEXICO CITY (Nov. 21) - Hiroshi Nohara is on a layover at
the Mexico City airport. It has lasted almost three months,
and he has no plans to leave.
For reasons he can't explain, the Japanese man has been in
Terminal 1 of the Benito Juarez International Airport since
Sept. 2, surviving off donations from fast-food restaurants
and passengers and sleeping in a chair
12.========================================================
Joe the Plumber: McCain "Appalled Me," Made Me Feel
"Dirty"Huffington Post
Think Progress reports that Joe Wurzelbacher isn't a huge
fan of the man who made him famous. He told conservative
radio host Glenn Beck that he felt "dirty" after "being on
the campaign trail and seeing some of the things that take
place."
Canada Clip - MC Frontalot - self proclaimed leader of the nerdcore - all throwaway jokes - but some i dont get
The reason why I played it is because - 46% approval rating / Queen Elizabeth
Vampire - new clubs - you were right
-------------------------------------------
old show - no one wanted to do old show - but still not that bad
new stuff - new segment
pownce.com/deadairkwcw (shutting down)
---------------------------------
LAW SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
1st - SO expensive - where is this $100 going
2nd - Credit Card Freak Out- shut me down
3rd - AutoComplete - Military - Name - DISHORORABLY DISCARHGED
4th - stress/wrong school
5th - scholarships - essay topics for the
6th - transgenderd
CHRISTMAS THINGS
- we decorated the house - lights how long did it take
- made in indonesia, shipped to china to print then here to sell
- fake tree real tree deabte
MY NEW FAVORITE XMAS THING
The Christmas pickle is a pickle-shaped ornament hidden in the tree. The child who finds it first on Christmas morning receives an extra present. While the Christmas pickle is believed to be a German custom, it is fairly unknown in Germany but widely spread across the USA. In fact it is completely of American origin. [1] The christmas pickle is a very fun game and is a favorite in most American households.
TECH THINGS -
1st - di.fm
2nd - http://www.blackbirdhome.com/
3nd - Gmail account - first run - I CAN'T USE THE NEW THING
HOUSE
tea in the sink
our landlord clean the pumpkins off
BANKS STUFF
Online account - spanish
Unied Arab Emerates
do you want to talk greece?
================================================================================
hamburgelor
1.========================================================
THE ROLE: Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy
WHO LET IT GET AWAY: Sean Connery, who’d never read the
J.R.R. Tolkien series and claimed he “didn’t understand the
script.” (Can you say karma?)
THE ROLE: Neo in The Matrix
WHO LET IT GET AWAY: Will Smith
turned it down to star in the forgettable action flick Wild
Wild West, and the part went to Keanu Reeves.
REGRETTABILITY METER: Low. In an interview with Wired, Smith
said, “I would have absolutely messed up The Matrix. At that
point I wasn’t smart enough as an actor to let the movie
be—whereas Keanu was.”
2.========================================================
In a recent report of DUI excuses in the Swedish newspaper
Nerikes Allehanda, a 56-year-old woman had asserted that,
though she had been drinking, her driving was not affected
because she had remembered to keep one eye closed. [The
Local (Stockholm), 10-30-08]
3.========================================================
Dateline: Page Six
Is Bill Murray NYC New Party Boy
4.========================================================
Veteran Massachusetts thief Robert Aldrich applied for
compensation because his latest arrest happened to have been
illegal, and a state law permits recovery for lost income
during wrongful incarceration. However, in November, a
Suffolk County judge turned him down as she was unable to
find any "income" that Aldrich might have earned during his
six wrongful months in jail except from more burglaries
[United Press International, 11-5-08]
5.========================================================
One of the items in a November seized-contraband auction by
the Denver Police Department was a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass
that was ultimately bought for $350 by a 19-year-old woman,
but which is still evidence in an active murder
investigation. Police eventually took back the car, which
has bullet holes and a bloody interior and contained blood-
stained clothing. Furthermore, a second shooting victim who
was in the car[Denver Post, 11-20-08]
6.========================================================
A New York Times dispatch from India highlighted the growing
problem of intra-family frauds in which one member claims a
living relative's land or wealth by swearing to the
government that the relative is dead. According to the
Times, the "deceased" had finally begun to fight back. An
advocacy group, the Association of Dead People, helps
aggrieved citizens figure out how to prove that they are
alive, which can be difficult, given India's slow-moving
bureaucracies. The association's founder said that he
personally had tried to authenticate his existence by public
actions such as running for office, filing lawsuits and
getting arrested, but that he nonetheless remained
officially dead. [New York Times, 10-24-00]
7.========================================================
Albinos in Africa find a haven from being hunted
WITH their milky white skin, wispy hair and haunting, pale
eyes, they are called �the living ghosts� by locals.
And the vulnerable albinos of Tanzania in East Africa have
more than insults to fear.
They are being hunted down and hacked to death to satisfy a
growing demand for their body parts and blood to use in
black magic. **I think Good Move
8.========================================================
Sugar can be addictive, Princeton scientist says
Animal studies show sugar dependence
A Princeton University scientist will present new evidence
today demonstrating that sugar can be an addictive
substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals
in a manner similar to many drugs of abuse.Professor Bart
Hoebel and his team in the Department of Psychology and the
Princeton Neuroscience Institute have been studying signs of
sugar addiction in rats for years. Until now, the rats under
study have met two of the three elements of addiction. They
have demonstrated a behavioral pattern of increased intake
and then showed signs of withdrawal. His current experiments
captured craving and relapse to complete the picture."If
bingeing on sugar is really a form of addiction, there
should be long-lasting effects in the brains of sugar
addicts," Hoebel said. "Craving and relapse are critical
components of addiction, and we have been able to
demonstrate these behaviors in sugar-bingeing rats in a
number of ways."
9.========================================================
The chain's junior bacon cheeseburger is ranked as 'the most
unhealthful' value item available among the offerings of
national fast-food chains, according to the Cancer Project.
By Jerry Hirsch December 9, 2008
Recessionary eating isn't always healthful eating,
especially when it comes to the $1 value menus pushed by
fast-food chains to keep sales growing through the economic
slump, according to one health watchdog.Jack in the Box's
Junior Bacon Cheeseburger was ranked "the most unhealthful"
value item available among the offerings of national fast-
food chains, according to an analysis by dietitians with the
nonprofit Cancer Project in Washington that is scheduled to
be released today.The $1 burger from San Diego-based Jack in
the Box topped the ranking because of its hamburger patty
and "hefty helpings of cheese and mayo-onion sauce," said
Krista Haynes, Cancer Project staff dietitian.
'
10.========================================================
WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Ninety percent of U.S.
adults say they pray -- more than half say it's once a day
or more -- in times of economic distress or plenty,
researchers said.Lead author Wendy Cadge, a sociologist at
Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., found that the
prayers fell into one of three categories -- about 28
percent of prayers were requests of God, 28 percent were
prayers to both thank and petition God, while another 22
percent of the prayers just thanked God.
11.========================================================
Japanese Man Makes Airport Home
By MARIA GALLUCCI
MEXICO CITY (Nov. 21) - Hiroshi Nohara is on a layover at
the Mexico City airport. It has lasted almost three months,
and he has no plans to leave.
For reasons he can't explain, the Japanese man has been in
Terminal 1 of the Benito Juarez International Airport since
Sept. 2, surviving off donations from fast-food restaurants
and passengers and sleeping in a chair
12.========================================================
Joe the Plumber: McCain "Appalled Me," Made Me Feel
"Dirty"Huffington Post
Think Progress reports that Joe Wurzelbacher isn't a huge
fan of the man who made him famous. He told conservative
radio host Glenn Beck that he felt "dirty" after "being on
the campaign trail and seeing some of the things that take
place."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
CLIPS
drone must die
isabella rolleina be sex
------------------------------
THE BLOG
"Bereavement Counseling"
Greiving in Orlando?
"in loving memory" life gem how do you
want to go
========================================
true blood
punked
hot dog purists / mustard only
autism speaks is a flash plug in
sandwich guy says 'do you want a
sandwich'
mccain/obama comic books
pC Add
SONGS
Vietnam
-----------
"The path to glory is built by the
bodies of our foes."
"For too long have we swallowed our
hatred. Be ready for sacrifices."
Algeria
----------
"We swear by the lightning that
destroys, By the streams of generous
blood being shed"
"When we spoke, none listened to us, So
we have taken the noise of gunpowder as
our rhythm, And the sound of machine
guns as our melody"
Italy - Disses on other people
------------
The Austrian eagle has already lost its
plumes. The blood of Italy and the
Polish blood we drank, along with the
Cossack.
====================================
drone must die
isabella rolleina be sex
------------------------------
THE BLOG
"Bereavement Counseling"
Greiving in Orlando?
"in loving memory" life gem how do you
want to go
========================================
true blood
punked
hot dog purists / mustard only
autism speaks is a flash plug in
sandwich guy says 'do you want a
sandwich'
mccain/obama comic books
pC Add
SONGS
Vietnam
-----------
"The path to glory is built by the
bodies of our foes."
"For too long have we swallowed our
hatred. Be ready for sacrifices."
Algeria
----------
"We swear by the lightning that
destroys, By the streams of generous
blood being shed"
"When we spoke, none listened to us, So
we have taken the noise of gunpowder as
our rhythm, And the sound of machine
guns as our melody"
Italy - Disses on other people
------------
The Austrian eagle has already lost its
plumes. The blood of Italy and the
Polish blood we drank, along with the
Cossack.
====================================
In September, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the 18-year sentence of a 73-year-old South Bend man who had insisted that he was only trying to revive his 68-year-old wife after she became fatally incapacitated in June 2007. However, police noted that he had not called 911, nor checked her vital signs, nor performed CPR, but that instead, his "reviving" consisted of performing an oral sex act on her (which the judges concluded was merely the fulfillment of a desire that his wife had long since denied him). [South Bend Tribune, 9-11-08]
Indiana University researchers reported in September that male Australian dung beetles differ from U.S. dung beetles in that evolutionary diversion of nutrients has given the Australians small horns but large penises and the Americans the opposite. Thus, noted the researchers, big-horned American males tend to fight each other for females, while Australians rely more on sneakiness. [New Scientist, 9-6-08]
A 38-year-old woman described as "very large," using the "abductor" thigh-tightening machine at the New York Sports Club in Harlem in July, failed to dismount properly, according to a witness, and was "sling-shot" off, across the room, startling other gym users. [New York]
As urban Detroit continues its decline, with an estimated 5,000 residents fleeing annually, it is not just living people who leave. Dead bodies depart, as well, at a rate of 500 a year, according to an August Detroit News report, as relatives unwilling to travel to the crumbling city's cemeteries have their loved ones disinterred and relocated. [Detroit News, 8-12-08]
Roy Hollander filed a civil rights lawsuit against Columbia University in New York City in August, claiming that its "women's studies" curriculum teaches a religion-like philosophy that oppresses men by blaming them for nearly all social problems. (When interviewed by the New York Daily News, Hollander declined to give his age, saying such a revelation would crimp his pickup success with young women: Frequently, he said, women "think I'm younger than I am, so I don't want to disillusion them.") [New York Daily News, 8-18-08]
Complaints were lodged with the Swedish government in June against the state-run retail pharmacy Apoteket, alleging illegal sex discrimination, in that its stores stock sexual aids that benefit women (e.g., vibrators) but none that particularly benefit men. Said one complainer, "(A) woman with a dildo is seen as liberated, strong and independent, whereas a man with a blow-up plastic vagina is viewed as disgusting and perverted." The government's Equal Opportunities Ombudsman rejected the complaints. [The Times (London), 8-12-08]
Unlike their American counterparts, debt collectors in Spain are legally allowed to humiliate deadbeats in front of relatives and neighbors, and are thus quite successful, according to an October Wall Street Journal dispatch from Madrid. One collector's employees make flamboyant house calls in "top hat and tails"
And in August, as Duke University's football team was preparing for the kickoff against James Madison University in Durham, N.C., two men parachuted into the stadium with the game ball. That was impressive, but they were actually supposed to have delivered the game ball to the stadium in Chapel Hill, 10 miles away, where North Carolina was hosting McNeese State. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8-30-08]
Ronald Miller, 56, was arrested in Fort Wayne, Ind., in August and charged with lewdness visible to neighbors through his front window (he was nude and accessorized, police reported, with a "claw hammer" and "motor oil"). [WANE-TV (Fort Wayne), 8-5-08]
Street-begging has become so sophisticated that some Web sites and blogs offer "market research" for panhandlers, with tips from wizened "pros," according to the Summer 2008 issue of City Journal. Current begging techniques (which apparently spread nationally, at least for those non-homeless, non-mentally-ill beggars) suggest humor (e.g., "I won't lie to you. I need a drink") and specificity of amount (e.g., "I need 43 more cents for a cup of coffee"), which often produces a larger donation. Local TV reporters in Memphis, Tenn., and Salt Lake City, among other cities, have found panhandlers to routinely earn $10 an hour and sometimes substantially more. [City Journal, Summer 2008]
A few days earlier, in Northern Territory, Australia, motorist Brendon Erhardt, 39, was arrested for abusing both the speed limit and himself (by committing, and recording with a front-seat camera, a lewd act while driving). [Northern Territory News, 7-31-08]
Though Mayra Rosales, 27, stands charged with capital murder in Hidalgo County, Texas, she was not ordered to jail pending trial but was allowed home detention because of her obesity. At about 1,000 pounds, Rosales requires special transportation and facilities and was ruled by a judge in August certainly to be no "flight risk." [Houston Chronicle-AP, 8-23-08]
Muri Chilton (aka Murray Gartton), serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, was awarded $2,500 by a Canadian Federal Court judge in September as compensation solely for feeling "utterly humiliated" in 2000 when guards roared with laughter after he mangled his thumb in a prison workshop accident. [National Post (Toronto), 10-1-08]
Clair Robinson, 23, told an interviewer in September that she believes the only reason she survived the deadly flesh-eating infection recently was because she had too much weight for the bacteria to consume. "Being big saved my life," she told Australia's "Medical Emergency" TV show. [Herald Sun (Melbourne), 9-28-08]
Recent Heroic Dogs: (1) Buddy, the German shepherd trained to punch 911 on a special phone and bark, came through in the clutch in September when owner Joe Stalnaker of Scottsdale, Ariz., had a seizure. (Stalnaker said it was the third time Buddy had saved him.) [New York Post-AP, 9-14-08]v
A plumbing error in October at the annual Grape Festival in Marino, Italy, stymied the traditional hook-up in which white wine cascades through the famous fountains in the center of town. Instead, water continued to run in the fountains, but "10 to 12" nearby homeowners must have thought it glorious divine intervention, briefly, when they opened their taps and found white wine flowing freely. [BBC News, 10-8-08]
Indiana University researchers reported in September that male Australian dung beetles differ from U.S. dung beetles in that evolutionary diversion of nutrients has given the Australians small horns but large penises and the Americans the opposite. Thus, noted the researchers, big-horned American males tend to fight each other for females, while Australians rely more on sneakiness. [New Scientist, 9-6-08]
A 38-year-old woman described as "very large," using the "abductor" thigh-tightening machine at the New York Sports Club in Harlem in July, failed to dismount properly, according to a witness, and was "sling-shot" off, across the room, startling other gym users. [New York]
As urban Detroit continues its decline, with an estimated 5,000 residents fleeing annually, it is not just living people who leave. Dead bodies depart, as well, at a rate of 500 a year, according to an August Detroit News report, as relatives unwilling to travel to the crumbling city's cemeteries have their loved ones disinterred and relocated. [Detroit News, 8-12-08]
Roy Hollander filed a civil rights lawsuit against Columbia University in New York City in August, claiming that its "women's studies" curriculum teaches a religion-like philosophy that oppresses men by blaming them for nearly all social problems. (When interviewed by the New York Daily News, Hollander declined to give his age, saying such a revelation would crimp his pickup success with young women: Frequently, he said, women "think I'm younger than I am, so I don't want to disillusion them.") [New York Daily News, 8-18-08]
Complaints were lodged with the Swedish government in June against the state-run retail pharmacy Apoteket, alleging illegal sex discrimination, in that its stores stock sexual aids that benefit women (e.g., vibrators) but none that particularly benefit men. Said one complainer, "(A) woman with a dildo is seen as liberated, strong and independent, whereas a man with a blow-up plastic vagina is viewed as disgusting and perverted." The government's Equal Opportunities Ombudsman rejected the complaints. [The Times (London), 8-12-08]
Unlike their American counterparts, debt collectors in Spain are legally allowed to humiliate deadbeats in front of relatives and neighbors, and are thus quite successful, according to an October Wall Street Journal dispatch from Madrid. One collector's employees make flamboyant house calls in "top hat and tails"
And in August, as Duke University's football team was preparing for the kickoff against James Madison University in Durham, N.C., two men parachuted into the stadium with the game ball. That was impressive, but they were actually supposed to have delivered the game ball to the stadium in Chapel Hill, 10 miles away, where North Carolina was hosting McNeese State. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8-30-08]
Ronald Miller, 56, was arrested in Fort Wayne, Ind., in August and charged with lewdness visible to neighbors through his front window (he was nude and accessorized, police reported, with a "claw hammer" and "motor oil"). [WANE-TV (Fort Wayne), 8-5-08]
Street-begging has become so sophisticated that some Web sites and blogs offer "market research" for panhandlers, with tips from wizened "pros," according to the Summer 2008 issue of City Journal. Current begging techniques (which apparently spread nationally, at least for those non-homeless, non-mentally-ill beggars) suggest humor (e.g., "I won't lie to you. I need a drink") and specificity of amount (e.g., "I need 43 more cents for a cup of coffee"), which often produces a larger donation. Local TV reporters in Memphis, Tenn., and Salt Lake City, among other cities, have found panhandlers to routinely earn $10 an hour and sometimes substantially more. [City Journal, Summer 2008]
A few days earlier, in Northern Territory, Australia, motorist Brendon Erhardt, 39, was arrested for abusing both the speed limit and himself (by committing, and recording with a front-seat camera, a lewd act while driving). [Northern Territory News, 7-31-08]
Though Mayra Rosales, 27, stands charged with capital murder in Hidalgo County, Texas, she was not ordered to jail pending trial but was allowed home detention because of her obesity. At about 1,000 pounds, Rosales requires special transportation and facilities and was ruled by a judge in August certainly to be no "flight risk." [Houston Chronicle-AP, 8-23-08]
Muri Chilton (aka Murray Gartton), serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, was awarded $2,500 by a Canadian Federal Court judge in September as compensation solely for feeling "utterly humiliated" in 2000 when guards roared with laughter after he mangled his thumb in a prison workshop accident. [National Post (Toronto), 10-1-08]
Clair Robinson, 23, told an interviewer in September that she believes the only reason she survived the deadly flesh-eating infection recently was because she had too much weight for the bacteria to consume. "Being big saved my life," she told Australia's "Medical Emergency" TV show. [Herald Sun (Melbourne), 9-28-08]
Recent Heroic Dogs: (1) Buddy, the German shepherd trained to punch 911 on a special phone and bark, came through in the clutch in September when owner Joe Stalnaker of Scottsdale, Ariz., had a seizure. (Stalnaker said it was the third time Buddy had saved him.) [New York Post-AP, 9-14-08]v
A plumbing error in October at the annual Grape Festival in Marino, Italy, stymied the traditional hook-up in which white wine cascades through the famous fountains in the center of town. Instead, water continued to run in the fountains, but "10 to 12" nearby homeowners must have thought it glorious divine intervention, briefly, when they opened their taps and found white wine flowing freely. [BBC News, 10-8-08]
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