O/T stories 10/09
PUSSSYKATT
Bill Hoffmann, NY POST Wire Services
--You can't be rude to the nude. That's what the Rev. Ralph Ovadel of Christ
the King Church in Monroe, Wis., learned when he taunted a female bather at a
nude beach near Madison. A court fined him $1,000 and said his conduct crossed
the line from constitutionally protected free speech to intimidation.
--A Salt Lake City man wants to put his name on his license plate - but
officials say it's too vulgar. That's news to Dennis Udink, who's appealing the
decision. "I couldn't believe they could say it could possibly be offensive.
It's my name," he said.
--An enterprising driver may lose his limo license - because he charges his
customers too little! Transportation officials in Tampa, Fla., say Daniel
Steiner must hit his passengers with a minimum of $40 a trip. Instead, he's
been undercutting the competition with lower prices. "The strength of the
United States is its free market," said Steiner, 47. "This is against the idea
of the American dream."
--The rivalry between two Tennessee varsity football teams got gross this week
when somebody dumped the rotting carcass of a dead dog on the Smyrna HS campus.
Smyrna players think their rivals at La Vergne HS are to blame, but the folks
at La Vergne think Smyrna's own coaches planted the deceased pooch to get their
team psyched for their upcoming grudge match. "I'm assuming it's a little prank
between the two schools," said Smyrna assistant principal Rick Powell.
--Turns out a dog isn't always man's best friend. Just ask Juan Evangelista
Poot, who was shot in the back by his pet pooch. Poot, 22, of Yucatan, Mexico,
said his dog picked up his gun and was holding it in his mouth when it went
off. "Somehow the dog managed to fire the gun, but it is not like we will
arrest him," a police spokesman said.
* * *
ALASKA VICTIM TAPED DEADLY BEAR ATTACK
ASSOCIATED PRESS....
---------------------------
ANCHORAGE - The graphic sounds of a deadly bear attack in the Alaska wilderness
were captured on tape, revealing a wildlife author's final screams as he tried
to fend off the beast, authorities said yesterday. Trooper Chris Hill said the
tape suggests a video camera was turned on just before Timothy Treadwell was
fatally attacked at his campsite. His girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, was later
mauled to death by a bear. The recording is audio only, and the screen is blank
for all six minutes.
"They're both screaming. She's telling him to play dead, then it changes to
fighting back. He asks her to hit the bear," Hill said.
"There's so much noise going on. I don't know what's him and what might be an
animal."
The remains of Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were
found Monday at Katmai National Park. Treadwell was known for approaching bears
in the wild.
"The audio starts while he's being mauled and ends while he's being mauled,"
Hill said.
Treadwell may have heard a bear and asked Huguenard to turn on the camera,
which was found with the lens cap on packed in a bag, Hill said. "At first, she
sounds kind of surprised and asks if it's still out there. I'm not sure if she
was asking if a bear was outside their tent or in the brush," Hill said. "The
audio stops because the tape runs out."
* * *
CONCORDE SETS SPEED RECORD
------------------------------
The Concorde is going out in a burst of glory. The British Airways supersonic
jetliner landed in Boston yesterday in a record London-to-U.S. time of three
hours, five minutes and 34 seconds, according to airline spokesman Jeff Angel.
The old record of three hours and nine minutes was set in 1974 on a flight from
Paris to Boston. The Concorde is visiting Boston as part of its North American
farewell tour. The aircraft's last trans-Atlantic flight will take place on
Oct. 24.
* * *
Pros predict the hot holiday toys
By CHRISSY PERSICO
NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Kids may not be making their holiday lists yet, but the toy industry just
handed its in.
And the experts have predicted that, once again, procrastinating parents will
be battling over a singing, dancing fuzzy red character from "Sesame Street."
Hokey Pokey Elmo was chosen as one of the "hot dozen" toys of 2003 by Toy
Wishes magazine and the Toy Industry Association yesterday at Manhattan's
Metropolitan Pavilion. It was also on the lists compiled by FamilyFun magazine
and Toys "R" Us.
While most people don't even start thinking about holiday shopping until after
Halloween, stores already are stocking the shelves with the items they think
will be the most in demand - and the toughest to get your hands on - once the
buying season gets underway.
"Educational and retro really stood out this year," says Jim Silver,
co-publisher of Toy Wishes, who singled out the Care Bears, My Little Pony and
LeapFrog learning toys.
FamilyFun's research indicated a continued surge in toys that celebrate
everyday heroes. "We've seen a lot of this category in the last few years
because of people's heightened awareness of what firefighters do," says
FamilyFun vice president and editorial director Alexandra Kennedy, whose
magazine picked Step2's $170 Five Alarm Fire Center as its top toy for 2003.
Who decides what's hot? The standards are as varied as the toys being tested.
Toy Wishes relies on its editorial staff, who have been playing hard for more
than a year, according to Silver.
"I have some problems with kid-testing," says Silver. "Kids generally like
everything, so it's really tough [for them] to gauge what's a great toy."
FamilyFun magazine takes the opposite approach with its Toy of the Year awards,
which were announced last week at Toys "R" Us Times Square. They let kids
decide which toys make the cut, after more than 30,000 hours of play-testing.
"Kids are the only ones who understand what makes a great toy," says Kennedy.
"We let them play with them for a period of time. That's really important to
parents because nobody wants to figure out that you had a great toy that only
lasted until 3 p.m. on Christmas afternoon."
Parents themselves are the judges for Parenting magazine's top toy picks. "You
know when your kids open up the presents and they get that one toy that's
really loud and really obnoxious, and you really regret that you bought it?"
says Denene Millner, Parenting's toy editor. "None of those toys are on our
list."
We combed Toys "R" Us and Toy Wishes, FamilyFun, Child and Parenting magazines
to find the consistently best-rated toys for 2003:
- Karaoke machines
Blame it on "American Juniors," but this year's must-have item for kids of all
ages is a sing-along system. Two that got high marks are the Bratz Electric
Funk Krazy-cool Karaoke (MGA Entertainment, $130) ages 8-9 and Barbie CDG
Karaoke Tape Boombox with Wireless Microphone (KIDdesigns, $115) 6 and older.
- Furreal friends go go walkin' pup
Furbie alert - a plush electronic doggie barks and wags its tail. (Tiger
Electronics, $49.99) 6 and older.
- Easy-bake real meal oven
The updated version of a venerable favorite works just like a real oven,
letting kids serve up macaroni and cheese and soft pretzels. (Hasbro, $34.99) 8
and older.
- The Bratz
Move over, Barbie: These dolls are the epitome of cool, with super-trendy
outfits, cars and their own runway/disco. (MGA Entertainment, dolls starting at
$14.99) Ages 6-11.
- Hot wheels T-wrecks
A 2½-foot-tall dinosaur eats cars for breakfast, then sends them back down the
track. (Mattel, $54) Ages 5-7.
- Cranium conga
Bring the family together with a new game based on inside jokes and memories
that only close friends and family could know. (Cranium, $19.95) 8 and older.
- Care bears sing-a-long friends
Originally introduced in 1980, the huggable pastel bears are back, but now they
talk and sing. (Play Along, $19.99) 3 and older.
- Rippin' rocket roller coaster
This battery-powered build-it-yourself roller coaster includes more than 25
feet of track (and 1,058 individual pieces). (K'nex, $90) Ages 10-12.
* * *
Vatican: condoms don't stop Aids
Steve Bradshaw
The Guardian
The Catholic Church is telling people in countries stricken by Aids not to use
condoms because they have tiny holes in them through which the HIV virus can
pass - potentially exposing thousands of people to risk. The church is making
the claims across four continents despite a widespread scientific consensus
that condoms are impermeable to the HIV virus.
A senior Vatican spokesman backs the claims about permeable condoms, despite
assurances by the World Health Organisation that they are untrue.
The church's claims are revealed in a BBC1 Panorama programme, Sex and the Holy
City, to be broadcast on Sunday. The president of the Vatican's Pontifical
Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, told the programme:
"The Aids virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoon. The
spermatozoon can easily pass through the 'net' that is formed by the condom.
"These margins of uncertainty... should represent an obligation on the part of
the health ministries and all these campaigns to act in the same way as they do
with regard to cigarettes, which they state to be a danger."
The WHO has condemned the Vatican's views, saying: "These incorrect statements
about condoms and HIV are dangerous when we are facing a global pandemic which
has already killed more than 20 million people, and currently affects at least
42 million."
The organisation says "consistent and correct" condom use reduces the risk of
HIV infection by 90%. There may be breakage or slippage of condoms - but not,
the WHO says, holes through which the virus can pass .
Scientific research by a group including the US National Institutes of Health
and the WHO found "intact condoms... are essentially impermeable to particles
the size of STD pathogens including the smallest sexually transmitted virus...
condoms provide a highly effective barrier to transmission of particles of
similar size to those of the smallest STD viruses".
The Vatican's Cardinal Trujillo said: "They are wrong about that... this is an
easily recognisable fact."
The church opposes any kind of contraception because it claims it breaks the
link between sex and procreation - a position Pope John Paul II has fought to
defend.
In Kenya - where an estimated 20% of people have the HIV virus - the church
condemns condoms for promoting promiscuity and repeats the claim about
permeability. The archbishop of Nairobi, Raphael Ndingi Nzeki, said: "Aids...
has grown so fast because of the availability of condoms."
Sex and the Holy City includes a Catholic nun advising her HIV-infected
choirmaster against using condoms with his wife because "the virus can pass
through".
In Lwak, near Lake Victoria, the director of an Aids testing centre says he
cannot distribute condoms because of church opposition. Gordon Wambi told the
programme: "Some priests have even been saying that condoms are laced with
HIV/Aids."
Panorama found the claims about permeable condoms repeated by Catholics as far
apart as Asia and Latin America.
· Steve Bradshaw is a correspondent with Panorama. Sex and the Holy City will
be broadcast on BBC1 at 10.15pm on Sunday.
* * *
Changing the Color of Money
FOX NEWS/By Amy C. Sims
Andrew Jackson is getting a lively new makeover by the U.S. government, which
has freed him from his former frame and brightened up his background on the new
$20 bill, entering circulation through commercial banks today.
These changes aren’t an exercise in vanity – the $20 bill is a
counterfeiter's favorite muse, regularly dispensed from ATM machines and toted
in wallets but rarely checked by merchants for authenticity. In an attempt to
stay ahead of copying crooks, the U.S. government is getting clever with cash.
“The security features we’ve added are really two-fold,” said U.S. Secret
Service agent Jean Mitchell. “They make it more difficult for counterfeiters
to reproduce and also give the general public useful tools to determine if
their money is counterfeit.”
While maintaining the same measurements and feel as its predecessor, the new
greenback will make room for other colors of the rainbow, something that
hasn’t been seen on American currency since 1905. Soft background colors of
peach, green and blue will make the latest incarnation of the $20 noticeably
different.
Other specifics the public can look for are the words “TWENTY USA” printed
in blue and tons of tiny yellow number 20s in the background. Also making their
way into the bustling bill are a blue eagle sitting to the left of the
presidential portrait and a metallic green eagle and shield to the right.
Jackson is also coming out of his shell – the border that used to surround
his portrait has been removed.
Though it may take the public some time to get used to the new bill,
modernizing money is serious business for the government when it comes to
counteracting criminals looking to make an easy buck.
“In the fiscal year of 2001, $600 billion were in circulation and out of that
$49 million in counterfeit currency was passed on the public,” said Mitchell.
“World-wide, about one dollar for every 12,400 in circulation is
counterfeit.”
But while the government is enhancing currency with new security features,
computer technology is also leaping forward at a pace that's hard to compete
with, said David Kirkpatrick, senior editor for technology at Fortune magazine.
No matter how bright the bill becomes, colors won’t be an obstacle for
criminals, he said. “Color copiers are already capable of picking up the most
subtle details. The new colors won’t make it harder to copy the surface of
the bill.”
The new $20 will still feature the anti-counterfeiting features found on the
current version, which was last updated in 1996: The watermark (a faint image
similar to the portrait visible when held up to the light), the security thread
(a vertical strip of plastic embedded in the bill that reads “USA TWENTY”)
and color-shifting ink (ink that changes the numeral “20” in the
lower-right corner on the face from copper to green). Other spiffed-up former
presidents will eventually join Jackson. Updated versions of the $50 bill will
roll out in 2004 and the $100 (the most counterfeited U.S. bill outside of the
country) in 2005. Mitchell said the new versions are staggered to give the
public time to adjust to change.
But the use of all of the different technologies in the latest bill is
“indicative of how difficult the counterfeit problem is,” Kirkpatrick said.
“Obviously not enough was done in the last round or they wouldn’t be doing
it again.”
If the public closely inspects their bills for the new changes, funny money
could become less prolific, but the ability to counterfeit remains staggeringly
easy, Kirkpatrick said.
“You can just stick one of these things on a high end color printer and get
something that from an arms length wouldn’t look any different," he said.
"All they have to be able to do is pass it once.”
Still, the government is confident the new $20 will stand up to funny money
challengers.
“This is the most secure note the U.S. government has ever produced,” said
Federal Reserve Board Governor Mark W. Olson in a statement.
Even with all the fancy additions, Mitchell said the public is the first line
of defense against counterfeiters because if they spot a fake, they can take it
out of circulation (a wise move anyway since it’s illegal to spend a
counterfeit bill).
“If they know their money, they are less likely to become a victim," she
said.
* * *
Black Clergy Leaders Outraged at 'Ghettopoly' Game
FOX NEWS
PHILADELPHIA — Cheap Trick Avenue instead of Boardwalk? Hernando's Chop Shop
instead of Reading Railroad?
Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called "Ghettopoly" that has
"playas" acting like pimps and game cards reading, "You got yo whole
neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50."
Black clergymen say the game, the brainchild of a Pennsylvania man, should be
banned, and have called for a boycott of Urban Outfitters unless the company
stops selling Ghettopoly in its chain of clothing stores.
Urban Outfitters has not publicly commented on the issue, and did not return a
call seeking comment on Wednesday.
"If we are silent on this issue there is more of this type to come," the Rev.
Robert P. Shine Sr., president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity,
said at a sidewalk rally Wednesday in front Urban Outfitters' corporate
headquarters in Philadelphia.
Shine displayed the game board, with properties including Westside Liquor,
Harlem, The Bronx, and Long Beach City, and squares labeled Smitty's XXX Peep
Show, Weinstein's Gold and Platinum, and Tyron's Gun Shop.
Players draw "Hustle" and "Ghetto Stash" cards with directions like, "You're a
little short on loot, so you decided to stick up a bank. Collect $75," and
"Steal $$$ if you pass Let$ Roll."
The creator of Ghettopoly, David Chang, did not immediately answer e-mails or
phone calls seeking comment about the game.
On his Web site, Chang is unapologetic, and promises that more games --
Hoodopoly, Hiphopopoly, Thugopoly and Redneckopoly -- are coming soon.
"It draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring
together in laughter," Chang maintains, adding, "If we can't laugh at ourselves
... we'll continue to live in blame and bitterness."
But the Ghettopoly board depicts figures labeled "Malcum X" and "Martin Luthor
King Jr." -- intentionally misspelled -- noted Rev. Glenn Wilson, pastor of
Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.
"This is beyond making fun, to use the caricature of Dr. King in this regard,"
Wilson said. "There's no way that game could be taken in any way other than
that this man had racist intent in marketing it."
The Philadelphia black clergy and Men United for a Better Philadelphia were
just the latest to protest the game. In Chicago, the Rev. Michael Pfleger,
pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church, called for a boycott of Urban Outfitters.
In Florida, the St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County chapters of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People urged the company to stop
carrying the game.
"I was outraged. We called Outfitters, we wrote them a letter, we held a press
conference, but we've had no response," Pfleger said Wednesday.
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Karen
> ANCHORAGE - The graphic sounds of a deadly bear attack in the Alaska wilderness
> were captured on tape, revealing a wildlife author's final screams as he tried
> mauled to death by a bear.
>
> found Monday at Katmai National Park. Treadwell was known for approaching bears
> in the wild.
Well it's a ghastly way to die but he was an idiot for approaching
bears. And she was none too bright for hanging around with him while he
did it. You just don't dick around with a bear.
Karen E.
--
_______________________________________
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example"
Mark Twain, 'Puddn'head Wilson'
Billie
>bears. And she was none too bright for hanging around with him while he
>did it. You just don't dick around with a bear.
>
>Karen E.
Or lions or tigers...or anything wild. Folks just don't get it and will never
learn. Animals are like folks...some are nice, some aren't, and sometimes you
can't tell which is which until it's too late.
Billie
"STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!"
Big J
news:20031009092059...@mb-m04.aol.com:
<snip part of O/T stories>
This news is especially distressing in light of yesterday's AP article at
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031009/ap_on_he_me/un_world_s_adolescents_5
where it talks about the HIV problem in Africa. One quote:
"Discussing sexual behavior is taboo in many countries, so many young people
do not know how to protect themselves. In Somalia, the report says, just 26
percent of adolescent girls have heard of AIDS and only 1 percent know how
to protect themselves."
It's a continual and disgusting shock to me how religion can spread so much
wrong information, so much ignorance. In this case, their wrong-headed and
hateful attitudes are killing others - all in the name of Jesus.
Big J
-----
E Varden
>
> WEIRD BUT TRUE
> Bill Hoffmann, NY POST Wire Services
.
.
.
>
> Scientific research by a group including the US National Institutes of Health
> and the WHO found "intact condoms... are essentially impermeable to particles
> the size of STD pathogens including the smallest sexually transmitted virus...
> condoms provide a highly effective barrier to transmission of particles of
> similar size to those of the smallest STD viruses".
>
> The Vatican's Cardinal Trujillo said: "They are wrong about that... this is an
> easily recognisable fact."
The lying sonofabitch.
>
> The church opposes any kind of contraception because it claims it breaks the
> link between sex and procreation - a position Pope John Paul II has fought to
> defend.
>
> In Kenya - where an estimated 20% of people have the HIV virus - the church
> condemns condoms for promoting promiscuity and repeats the claim about
> permeability. The archbishop of Nairobi, Raphael Ndingi Nzeki, said: "Aids...
> has grown so fast because of the availability of condoms."
>
> Sex and the Holy City includes a Catholic nun advising her HIV-infected
> choirmaster against using condoms with his wife because "the virus can pass
> through".
>
> In Lwak, near Lake Victoria, the director of an Aids testing centre says he
> cannot distribute condoms because of church opposition. Gordon Wambi told the
> programme: "Some priests have even been saying that condoms are laced with
> HIV/Aids."
>
> Panorama found the claims about permeable condoms repeated by Catholics as far
> apart as Asia and Latin America.
Immoral, criminal behaviour. Round up these bastards and shoot 'em
before they kill more. And while you're at it dig up that crazed
crone Teresa and burn what's left of that interfering hag to ashes.
What a plague these Catholic criminals are upon the world.
In utter disgust,
Pe
>