November 16, 2000
NEWS FROM THE DISENFRANCHISED
The Edible Ballot Society has
launched an internet campaign to encourage Canadians to eat
their ballots on Nov. 27th in order to show their disapproval
with the political process. "It doesn't matter who you vote
for," they say, "the government always gets in - the government
being big business, and those who can afford to fund political
parties or hire lobbyists. The elected party is just the
changeable mask on the face of corporate power." Check it out
at http://edibleballot.tao.ca , where you can also arrange to
sell your vote, because "politicians sell their votes to
corporate donors all the time, wy shouldn't we also profit?"
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
When asked about his role as a "spoiler" in
the American elections, Ralph Nader, in classic Naderian
fashion, replied "How can you spoil a system that is rotten to
the core?" (CNN)
LIFE AFTER DEATH
The first scientific study of the
"near-death" experience has concluded that "a number of people
have almost certainly had these experiences after they were
pronounced clinically dead," according to researchers at the
Institute of Psychiatry in London and Southampton hospital. The
research followed 63 cardiac arrest patients, and found that
four patients had experiences that could not be explained in
the usual scientific manner. Clinical research fellow Dr. Sam
Parnia said "these people were having these experiences when we
wouldn't expect them to happen, when the brain shouldn't be
able to sustain lucid processes or allow them to form memories
that would last." (Sightings)
THE BIRTH OF A SCI-FI HORROR FLICK
Scientists have failed in
their attempt to recreate the 1918 Spanish flu virus from the
bodies of victims deep-frozen in the permafrost in Alaska and
northern Norway. But that won't stop them. The National
Institute of Health now plans to rebuild the virus (which
killed 40 million people in 1918) in the laboratory, in order
to study its structure and discover what gave it its
super-virulence. (Sunday Times). Watch your back!
WORLD'S YOUNGEST ADRENALIN JUNKIE
The world's record for
youngest skydiver was probably broken last week when 4-year-old
Toni Stadler of Germany, strapped to a skydiving instructor,
jumped from a plane at 10,000 feet in Cape Town, South Africa.
"We have been skydiving for four years and recently Toni
started asking if he could jump too," his father explained.
(Reuters)
WEIRD INFLATION
Tim the Yowie Man of the Australian Centre for
Mystery Investigations has concluded that Australia is 13%
weirder this year than last. The sharpest increases in weird
phenomena included strange human behaviour (up 26%), bad luck
(up 18%), and water monster sightings (up 17%).
(www.yowieman.com.au)
GETTING WARMER
China has reiterated its position that it will
not go along with efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions in
order to limit global warming if it would sacrifice its
economic development. According to the International Energy
Agency (IEA), China's energy consumption will more than double
in the next 20 years, making it the world's number one emitter
of carbon dioxide. The Chinese government also plans to "boost
capacity to buy personal cars," a luxury few Chinese can now
afford. The IEA also stated that if China had as many cars per
person as the United States, it would burn more oil each day
than is currently produced worldwide. (Agence France Presse)
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Copyright 2000 by Andreas Ohrt
(604) 608-6909
Email:aohrt@hotmail.com
Website:www.curioustimes.com