May 24, 2001
ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS
OK, here's a brain-bender. Check out the picture at top,
a fresco entitled "The Crucifixion," which was painted in 1350. The two
bottom pictures are enlargements from the top left and right corners of the
painting. Do they look remarkably like guys zipping around in some kind of
spaceship? If you don't think so, please let me know what the hell those are
buzzing around at Jesus' crucifixion. This is just one example from a
flippin' brilliant website by Matthew Hurley titled "Historical Artwork and
UFOs". He's compiled dozens of examples of UFOs zipping through the paintings
of our anscestors. Very, very trippy.
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.hurley/index.html) .
THERE'S
NO SUCH THING AS MONSTERS, IS THERE?
Some kind of bizarre creature is
creating havoc and causing "mass hysteria" in the Indian cities of New Delhi
and Ghaziabad. Since April 28, nearly 100 injuries have been reported from
people who claim to have been bitten or scratched by a "superpowered monkey
man with a hairy body and sharp metal claws." Other injuries have been caused
by people jumping from their homes in terror. Four deaths have also been
reported, one man being killed by a mob after being mistaken for the
creature, and three others who have fallen from buildings while fleeing for
their lives. Vigilante gangs have taken to the streets to find the attacker,
and New Delhi police, who refuse to believe that the monkey man exists, are
focussing their search on "a group of people in masks terrorizing people."
Descriptions of the beast have varied widely, and include metallic claws,
glowing eyes, flaming red eyes, green lights glowing on his chest, and (of
course!), the ability to turn invisible. (AP, Indian Express, Hindustan
Times)
BETTER GET ANOTHER OPINION
Following a 1999 report from the
Institute of Medicine that revealed that as many as 100,000 North Americans
die annually from medical malpractice, comes a survey of 1200 doctors, nurses
and hospital executives which found that 95 per cent of doctors and 89 per
cent of nurses have witnessed a "serious medical error." In case you missed
it, the 1999 report concluded that iatrogenic (caused my medical treatment)
illness was the third leading killer in North America, after tobacco and
alcohol, but ahead of traffic accidents and shootings. How reassuring.
(Reuters)
BAD NEWS
Another survey that will help you sleep much less
soundly was conducted by Pew Research Center, and asked journalists about
issues of self-censorship and information suppression in corporate-owned
media outlets. The poll found that 77 per cent of journalists admitted that
news stories that were perceived as important but dull are sometimes ignored
and over a third admitted that news stories that would hurt the financial
interests of their news organization often go unreported.
(www.guerrillanews.com)
DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH YOU TO SHARE?
Two
brilliant drug smugglers ended up feverish, incoherent, and in a great deal
of pain after swallowing 327 balloons filled with 1,635 hits of Ecstasy. The
two were taken to an Illinois hospital to remove the dozens of balloons which
had become lodged in their intestinal tracts. Now, instead of scoring
approximately US$80,000, they face the prospect of between six and 30 years
in prison. (Chicago Tribune)
GOOD, EVIL, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
The American Psychiatric Association is working on creating a "depravity
scale," which will allow judges and juries to differentiate between criminal
acts which are heinous, atrocious, cruel, outrageous, wanton, vile, or just
plain inhuman. Sounds like a fun project! Dr. Michael Welner, who is heading
up the initiative, hopes to create "universal standards" in order to define
such terms, and is seeking the expertise of judges, attorneys, psychiatrists
and theologians. (Fox News)
GOD SAVE THE SQUIRRELS
Two punk-rock
loving squirrels who live in the trees at Glascow University have been
nicknamed Sid and Nancy after students noticed that they really enjoyed
listening to the Sex Pistols. (UPI)
Go to:
Copyright 2001 by Andreas Ohrt
(604) 608-6909
Email:aohrt@hotmail.com
Website:www.curioustimes.com
