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Curious Times No. 168
November 28, 2002BUY NOTHING OR STEAL SOMETHING, I'LL LEAVE IT UP TO YOU
Nov. 29th is rolling around again, and once again it's time for Buy Nothing Day. If this turns your crank, you can get all the information you need at adbusters.org. A less-well publicized event is also taking place on Nov. 29. Steal Something Day is the creation of a few anarcho-situationists from Montreal who have a beef with what they perceive as the "feel-good, liberal, middle-class activist non-happening" which Adbusters promotes. "Instead of downplaying or ignoring the capitalists, CEOs, landlords, small business tyrants, bosses, PR hacks, yuppies, media lapdogs, corporate bureaucrats, politicians and cops who are primarily responsible for misery and exploitation in this world, Steal Something Day demands that we steal from them, without discrimination," they declare. As an added bonus, they promise that Steal Something Day happens "every day of the year."RETURN OF THE MUMMY - I MEAN, SASQUATCH
A rash of Sasquatch sightings on Vancouver Island and near Squamish has re-ignited the search for the creature. In the past two weeks, three sightings have been reported on Vancouver Island between Port Alberni and Tofino. An elderly woman claims that a huge, hairy creature crossed the road and stopped right in front of her car, looking directly at her before disappearing in the wood. Two men from Port Alberni claim to have seen the animal on the same stretch of highway twice within a few days. They report a creature much bigger than a bear, walking on two legs and with big orange eyes. They also claim that "weird howling sounds" can be heard during the day. Reports from Squamish claim that a Sasquatch with two smaller animals (presumed to be a mother and two younger bigfoots) have been spotted by campers in the area. John Kirk, president of the British Columbia Cryptozoology Club is encouraged by the wave of recent sightings, but hopes that some physical evidence might soon be found. "What we are really hoping for is that someone will have seen one of these animals rub against a tree or some branches so that we might recover a hair sample, or even some blood, that would allow us to do some DNA testing," he said. (National Post)FREAKY ACCIDENT OF THE WEEK
Two sisters in Alabama, each driving their own car on their way to visit each other, were killed when their Jeeps collided head-on on a rural highway. (AP)OUR FATHER, WHO AREN'T IN HEAVEN
71-year-old Tom Snyder has taken his lawsuit against the Murray, Utah city council to the Utah Supreme Court after they refused to allow him to read his atheist prayer before council meetings, despite the fact that the right to pray before council meetings was established by the Supreme Court in 1993. His lawyer contends that his client's prayer cannot be discriminated against due to its content. Among other things, Snyder's prayer asks for deliverance "from the evil of forced religious worship now sought to be imposed upon the people ... by the actions of misguided, weak and stupid politicians, who abuse power in their own self-righteousness." (freedomforum.org)SUE YOUR IGNORANT PARENTS
In yet another in a long string of stupid and pointless lawsuits, parents of several severely obese teenagers have filed a lawsuit against McDonald's for making them fat. The lawsuit alleges that McDonald's is guilty of fraud for deliberately misleading consumer's into thinking that their products are healthy and nutritious, and claims that the company does not provide adequate information on the health risks associated with fast food, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. In what must be the most ignorant quote of the year, the mother of a 400 pound 15-year-old, claimed "I always believed McDonald's was healthy for my son." (Reuters)YOU'RE GONNA GET IT, WHEN WE FIND YOU
Someone once said that war is God's way of teaching Americans geography. Well even that isn't working so well. A survey carried out by the National Geographic Society found that only one in seven Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 - about 13 per cent - were able to find Iraq on a world map. A slightly higher 17 per cent were able to find Afghanistan. (AP)WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
Undercover detectives infiltrating a 3,000-strong protest against the demolition of illegal squats in Hamburg, Germany, were beaten to a pulp by riot police after the demonstration turned violent. The plain clothes officers tried to identify themselves using prearranged passwords, but the riot cops were too busy cracking open protester's skulls to pay attention. (Reuters)
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