Home | Archives | Links | Join Email List | Spam Me

Curious Times No. 251
July 1, 2004

GOD SAVE US FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS
It doesn’t seem to matter who you are, as long as you have money to throw around you can buy politicians. Even the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the demonized cult leader of the “Moonies,” a man charged not only with coercive recruitment techniques, brainwashing his followers, evading his taxes and conspiring to obstruct justice, is now chummy with some of the highest ranking Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Thanks to generous gifts to politicians, including a $1 million contribution to the George H. W. Bush presidential library, the Reverend’s recent “coronation ceremony” was attended by over a dozen members of congress. At that event, a crown was placed on Moon’s head to symbolize his role as “humanity’s Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord.” In his speech, the man who once called gays “dung-eating dogs” and American women “a line of prostitutes,” claimed that he had been sent to Earth to save the world’s six billion people. He went on to brag that his teaching have helped Stalin and Hitler be “reborn as new persons.” (Salon)

BEWARE THE HACK JOB
In an effort to stop a decade-long increase in surgical mishaps, new requirements have been imposed on surgical teams to make sure the right patient is being operated on every time, and that the right part of the patient’s body is sliced into. The new regulations are a response to the continued increase in wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong patient surgeries over the past decade. At least 275 known cases have occurred since 1999, a number which experts say is probably vastly under-reported. Surgeons have removed wrong organs, amputated wrong limbs, drilled into the wrong side of a patient’s head, and even given the wrong patient heart surgery. The new procedures include a checklist the operating team should go through before any surgery, which includes making sure the right patient is on the table, having all the medical staff agree on which body part to work on, and making sure the that X-rays are not read backwards to prevent the incorrect side of the body being operated on. The checklist also includes having the surgeon actually sign the incision site, preferably while the patient is conscious. “People should not underestimate the potential for confusion,” said Dr. Dennis O’Leary,says. “The fact that you have M.D. or R.N. after your name doesn’t keep you from making mistakes.” (AP)

YOU’RE GETTING YOUR RECOMMENDED DAILY DOSE OF SCIENCE FROM ADS
Popular Science magazine recently had the brilliant idea of asking one of their writers to notice and deconstruct ever single scientific claim which the average person would hear in a typical day. Not surprisingly, the majority of the 106 so-called “scientific” claims came from advertisers. The typical day for the writer of this article began with the claim that Cheerios “can reduce your cholesterol,” and continued with more questionable science, such as the claim that dairy cows “graze freely on lush natural pastures,” and on to more outrageous claims sent via spam, such as the “huge breasts overnight” and the “feel 20 years younger” products. The full list can be found at popsci.com, along with an analysis of 29 of the most common, which leads the writer to conclude that very few of the scientific facts we hear each day are completely true, and many of them are outright lies. (Popular Science)

 TOO STUPID FOR THE OUTSIDE WORLD
If you’re planning on tunneling your way out of prison some day, you might want to brush up on your cartography. A slightly-confused inmate in a Portuguese prison could have used the help when he decided to tunnel his way to freedom. Unfortunately, after digging in the wrong direction, his cunning plan came up about 21 meters short of the prison walls, and he popped his head out only to find himself in the prison courtyard, from where he was escorted back to his cell. (sky.com)

TELL ALL THE BALD MEN OUT THERE THAT WE’VE FOUND THEIR HAIR
A Vietnamese man is set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for owning the world’s longest hair. Tran Van Hay, 67, whose hair is over 6.2 meters (20.34 feet) long, hasn’t cut his hair in over 31 years. The current record was set in 1997 by a Thai man with hair that reached almost 17 feet in length. Tran Ven Hey is probably also eligible for the record of world’s filthiest hair, as he proudly states that his hair hasn’t been washed in six years. (wtop.com)

WHILE RAPISTS AND MURDERERS WALK FREE
While the FBI may not have enough resources to stop terrorism, at least they found the time and manpower to arrest a woman who forgot to put away her hot chocolate and marshmallows during her stay at Yellowstone National Park. Having paid her $50 fine many months ago and forgotten about the incident long ago, Hope Clarke went on a cruise to Mexico. However, federal agents tracked her down and stormed the cruise ship at 6:30 a.m., put Clarke in handcuffs and leg shackles and hauled her into court. Eventually it was discovered that the fine had been paid. In case you didn’t know it, not putting away your marshmallows at a national park is a federal offense. After about nine hours, Clarke was released. A spokesman for U.S. Customs Enforcement called the arrest “”an unfortunate set of circumstances...we were acting on what we believed was accurate information.” (AP)

AMERICA’S B.O. CAPITAL
A study commissioned by Old Spice has found that El Paso, Texas, is the sweatiest city in the U.S. Research scientist Tim Long came up with the 100 sweatiest cities in America by calculating their heat indexes and relative humidity levels. El Paso, with average summer temperatures of above 95 degrees and relative humidity of 36 percent, narrowly beat out Greenville, South Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona. According to Long, the residents of El Paso sweat over 36 fluid ounces each hour, enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in just four hours. (CNN)