March 28, 2002
PSST, WANNA BUY SOME PEE?
Kenneth Curtis, the man who was forced to stop
selling his urine over the internet by the state of South Carolina last
year, has moved to North Carolina after the Supreme Court refused to
hear his appeal. Curtis has been selling his urine for US$69 to those
who need to take drug tests to keep their jobs. Despite a law whichmakes
it illegal to give away or sell urine in order to defraud drug tests,
his lawyer claims that it is irrelevant what people do with his
defendent's urine. "Our government does not require those who sell
alcohol to ask their customers if they intend to get drunk and drive,"
he explained, "nor do they require those who sell bullets or guns to ask
their customers if they intend to kill someone." (AP)
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IN THE FUTURE...
One of Britain's top futurists, Ian Pearson of BTexact
Technologies, has published a fascinating timeline of 500 predictions
for the next 30 years. His first timeline was published in 1991 and he
claims to have an 85 per cent accuracy rate. Among the scientific
advancements we have to look forward to are the "Orgasmatron" by 2012,
video tattoos (moving images transplanted under the skin) by 2006, a
space hotel by 2015, and humanoid robots to fill factory jobs by 2007.
He also predicts that computer-generated "cyberbabes" will be Hollywood
stars by 2010. The entire list is at
www.btexact.com/white_papers/downloads/WP106.pdf
BETTING ON NESSIE
The Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club has awarded
its annual £500 prize for the Best Sighting Reported in 2001 to Bobbie
Pollock, of Glasgow, who captured a three-and-a-half minute video of the
creature in August 2000. In response to the remarkably clear video,
bookies in Scotland have cut the odds of Nessie existing to 250-1, down
from 500-1. (Ananova)
ONE LESS REASON TO BECOME AN ASTRONAUT
Scientists at NASA are trying
to grow meat in a lab in order to create a new protein-rich source of
food for space travellers. Last week, New Scientist reported that
researchers had put chunks of goldfish muscle into a vat of
nutrient-rich liquid, and the fish nuggets grew 16 per cent bigger in
just one week. After frying up the creation in olive oil, garlic, lemon
and pepper, they claimed that it looked like fish and it smelled like
fish. But nobody dared to eat it. Their excuse? The FDA must approve the
mutant meat before people can legally consume it, they said.
WAKE UP!
A new study of 1.1 million people carried out by a team from
the University of California has concluded that people who sleep for
eight or more hours every night have a higher death rate than those who
sleep six or seven hours. "People who sleep for eight hours are 13 to 15
percent more likely to die within six years than those who sleep seven
hours. In fact, even sleeping for five hours was less risky than eight,"
said Daniel Kripke, who led the research. (New Scientist)
OLD NEWS
114-year-old Kamato Hongo of Japan is now the world's oldest
person after last week's death of American Maud Farris-Luse at age 115
years and 56 days. Japan also boasts the world's oldest man,
112-year-old Yukichi Chuganji. (UPI)
GEEZIN A BIT OF DEE GEE
And now, thanks to the White House, which has
posted an extensive list of over 2,300 street terms for various drugs
and drug-related activities on its website, here is the Curious Times
Top Ten List of Drug Slang: 10. A-Bomb (joint laced with heroin or
opium); 9. Mind Detergent (LSD); 8. Devil's Dick (crack pipe); 7. Sweet
Jesus (heroin) 6. Gutter Junkie (addict who relies on others to obtain
drugs); 5. Fly Mexican Airlines (smoke marijuana); 4. Interplanetary
Mission (traveling from one crackhouse to another seraching for drugs);
3. Carpet Patrol (crack smokers searching the floor for more drugs); 2.
Hippie Crack (inhalants); 1. Bag Bride (crack-smoking prostitute). Get
with the program at whitehousedrugpolicy.gov .
Go to:
Copyright 2002 by Andreas Ohrt
Email:aohrt@hotmail.com
Website:www.curioustimes.com
