May 01, 2008
Lesbos, Greek Island or Gay
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7376919.stm
Campaigners on the Greek island of Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term "lesbian".
The islanders say that if they are successful they may then start to fight the word lesbian internationally.
The issue boils down to who has the right to call themselves Lesbians.
Is it gay women, or the 100,000 people living on Greece's third biggest island - plus another 250,000 expatriates who originate from Lesbos?
The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.
He says it causes daily problems to the social life of Lesbos's inhabitants.
Injunction sought
In court papers, the plaintiffs allege that the Greek government is so embarrassed by the term Lesbian that it has been forced to rename the island after its capital, Mytilini.
map of Lesbos
An early court date has now been set for judges to decide whether to grant an injunction against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece and to order it to change its name.
A spokeswoman for the group has described the case as a groundless violation of freedom of expression, and has pledged to fight it.
The term lesbian originated from the poet Sappho, who was a native of Lesbos.
Sappho expressed her love of other women in poetry written during the 7th Century BC.
But according to Mr Lambrou, new historical research has discovered that Sappho had a family, and committed suicide for the love of a man.
Posted by chek at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2006
Mid-Air Collision Survival Story
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/03road.html?ex=1160020800&en=f5d5acade5f07b0a&ei=5087%0A
With the window shade drawn, I was relaxing in my leather seat aboard a $25 million corporate jet that was flying 37,000 feet above the vast Amazon rainforest. The 7 of us on board the 13-passenger jet were keeping to ourselves.
Without warning, I felt a terrific jolt and heard a loud bang, followed by an eerie silence, save for the hum of the engines.
And then the three words I will never forget. “We’ve been hit,” said Henry Yandle, a fellow passenger standing in the aisle near the cockpit of the Embraer Legacy 600 jet.
Posted by chek at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2006
Infamous Gaffes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5360412.stm
Hungarian prime minister admitted that his government had accomplished "nothing" and had been lying for "the last year and a half to two years".
The Republican Party leader in the United States Senate, Trent Lott, was forced to step down in 2002 after expressing the view that the US would have been better off if a candidate for president in 1948, running on a platform of racial segregation, had been elected.
At a school spelling contest, Mr Dan Quayle, US Vice-President, "corrected" a child's spelling of the word potato by adding an "e" to the end.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has got himself into trouble several times, most recently by speculating that a congresswoman's hot temper was down to her mixture of black and Latino blood.
One of the most famous examples of a gaffe caught on tape was former US President Ronald Reagan's warm-up joke before a radio broadcast.
During the sound check he announced: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
Tony Blair and George W Bush were caught by a microphone during a break at the G8 conference in Russia.
Mr Bush greeted his ally with the words "Yo, Blair", and opined that they needed to get "Hezbollah to stop doing this shit".
The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth's husband, is notorious for making jokes that might offend the recipient and make bystanders cringe - many of them based on old-fashioned racial stereotypes.
His comments have included: "It looks as if it was put in by an Indian," when being shown an old-fashioned fuse box; "Still throwing spears?" to an Australian Aborigine; and, to a Scottish driving instructor, "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?"
Posted by chek at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2006
Family Names in China
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5345302.stm
China has more than 700 family names, but the vast majority of people use one of the most popular 20 names.
According to official statistics, Chen Jie is Shanghai's most popular name and is currently shared by 3,937 people.
It combines a common surname - Chen - with a popular character - Jie - which means clean or pure.
The second most popular name in the city was Zhang Min, shared by 3,751 people.
Zhang is Shanghai's most common surname - almost 900,000 people are Zhangs - and Min is another popular character, meaning swift and smart
Over 1.5 million people in the capital, Beijing, have the surname Wang, the Shanghai Daily reported.
Posted by chek at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2006
U.N. diplomats' parking tickets
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/06/scofflaw.diplomats.ap/index.html
Between November 1997 and the end of 2002, diplomats accumulated more than 150,000 unpaid parking tickets in New York, racking up $18 million in unpaid fines.
The worst offenders during that period were Kuwait, which averaged 246.2 unpaid tickets per diplomat per year, followed by Egypt, with 139.6; Chad, with 124.3; and Sudan, with 119.1.
Twenty-two countries averaged zero unpaid tickets per year, according to the study, including Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
The parking problems around the United Nations got dramatically better in 2002 when U.S. officials threatened to revoke the plates of scofflaws and impound their cars. According to New York's finance department, diplomats have received 90 percent fewer tickets since then, with more than 85 percent paid on time.
The researchers said they also linked their list of tickets to an index intended to measure the prevalence of corruption in each country. Diplomats hailing from countries with low levels of corruption, such as Norway, "behave remarkably well even in situations where they can get away with violations," the researchers said.
Posted by chek at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2006
Blaine in Water Sphere
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4983768.stm
Illusionist David Blaine will complete his latest endurance stunt on Monday by attempting to break the world record (8 min, 58 sec) for holding breath underwater.
The 33-year-old has spent seven days submerged in a water-filled sphere in New York, sustained by oxygen and feeding tubes.
The breath-holding feat, and bid to free himself of metal chains weighing 150lbs (68kg), begins at about 2115 (0215 BST).
The US showman shed 50lbs (23kg) in body weight to improve the efficiency with which his body uses oxygen, prior to embarking on the stunt.
Blaine's previous stunts include spending 61 hours inside a block of ice and fasting for 44 days in a perspex box over London's River Thames.
Posted by chek at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)
Kola of Coca-Cola
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4982676.stm
Kola Nut from Guinea, Rich in caffeine, is chewed throughout West Africa and as the popular African saying goes: "He who brings kola, brings life".
The nut, one of the key ingredients in Coca-Cola, "is believed to treat certain illnesses like sexual weakness, for example".
It is especially popular with Muslims, who are not allowed to drink alcohol.
Great care is taken during the year-round kola harvest, because if the nut hits the ground it will split. Nets and bags are spread below the trees to catch the fragile nuts.
Posted by chek at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2006
Failed States - 2006
http://www.fundforpeace.org/programs/fsi/fsindex2006.php?column=rank&#
Out of 146 countries
Iran #53
Germany #124
USA #128
France #129
UK #130
Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan in worst 10.
Norway, Sweden, and Finland best States.
Posted by chek at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2006
Moafi - Khor Pof
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4939514.stm
China's military is to bar recruits who are heavy snorers
Posted by chek at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
Zanjir Zani - Christian Style
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4909858.stm
See picture 4
Controversial flagellation rituals take place in the Philippines on Good Friday - a practice disapproved of by the Catholic church in the Philippines.
Posted by chek at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2006
40K Ecstasy Tablets
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4874938.stm
Mr A took 40,000 ecstasy tablets
The 37-year-old still had trouble with short-term memory problems seven years after he stopped taking the drug.
Mr A reported he had used ecstasy between the ages of 21 and 30.
For two years, he took five tablets every weekend, rising to an average of 3.5 tablets per day for the next three years, then soaring to 25 tablets a day over the next four years.
After "collapsing" three times at parties, Mr A stopped taking ecstasy.
It is possible to become psychologically dependent on the feelings associated with ecstasy but heavy daily use is extremely rare and it is not thought that people can become physically dependent.
He eventually developed severe panic attacks, recurrent anxiety, depression, muscle rigidity (particularly at the neck and jaw levels). Mr A also experienced hallucinations and paranoid ideas.
When he saw doctors at the addiction centre at St George's Hospital, Tooting, south London, he was still using cannabis, and said he had previously taken solvents, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, LSD, cocaine, and heroin.
Posted by chek at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2006
Johan copies Noah's Ark
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4853890.stm
47-year-old Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a working replica of Noah's Ark as a testament to his Christian faith, and plans to set sail in September through the interior waters of the Netherlands.
Johan's Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah's and will carry farmyard animals -
horses, lambs, chickens and rabbits - mostly baby animals to save space.
According to Genesis, Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals, and one breeding pair of all other creatures.
Noah's wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law lived together on the boat for almost a year while the world was flooded.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be just under 1m euros (£0.7m; US$1.2m) and was funded with bank loans.
See also: Digital Noah's Ark (arkive.org)
Posted by Chekonim at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2006
Free Beer
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4802928.stm
'Creative plumbing' delivers beer
A woman said she thought she was in heaven when she turned on the kitchen tap to find a plentiful supply of beer.
Posted by KP at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2006
Blackberry Shutdown
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4699246.stm
Blackberry-maker, Canadian-based, Research In Motion (RIM) has developed a "software workaround" to maintain its service in the face of a possible US shutdown.
RIM is embroiled in a patent row with US firm NTP, which is demanding the popular service be turned off.
A ruling on NTP's bid for an injunction against RIM is due later this month.
NTP, a software firm, says the Blackberry device breaches its patents.
A move to switch off the service would potentially hit more than three million users in the US.
Posted by chek at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2006
GPS Gum Balls
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/07/lapd.gps.ap/index.html
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The car chase capital of the world is going high-tech to end dangerous pursuits across Southern California.
Once fired from a patrol car, the GPS dart is designed to stick to a fleeing car, allowing squad cars to back off the chase.
U.S. Department of Justice officials suggested testing the StarChase system in Los Angeles. A small number of patrol cars will be equipped with the compressed air launchers, which fire the miniature GPS receivers in a sticky compound resembling a golf ball.
There were more than 600 pursuits in Los Angeles and more than 100,000 nationwide last year.
Posted by chek at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2006
Last Telegram
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4674782.stm
Last post for the telegram?
The age of e-mail, instant messaging and internet telephony has ended the 150-year-old era of the American telegram.
Last week, Western Union - which for a century and a half brought news of joy, sorrow and success in distinctive, hand-delivered, yellow envelopes - quietly ceased its service.
Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code, dispatched the first telegraphic message over an experimental line from Washington to Baltimore in May 1844.
Most telegraph companies charged by the word, so people had good reason to be brief.
They would save money by using the word "stop" instead of full stops to end sentences, because punctuation was extra while the four letter word was free.
Success of the first flight in 1903 was conveyed by telegram, as was the start of the World War I.
Western Union built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861.
It marketed its services heavily, and in 1933 introduced the singing telegram.
But where once millions of telegrams were sent each year, in 2005 Western Union delivered just 20,000. What was once cutting-edge technology, had become an anachronism.
In the UK, the Queen once sent them to subjects celebrating their 100th birthdays.
The text of Samuel Morse's first telegram to his partner Alfred Vail, was "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT?"
You could send a Western Union telegram
Send a telegram now.
Singing telegram or hand delivered.
Posted by chek at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2006
Fake ATM Keypad
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/06/news/atm_fraud/index.htm?cnn=yes
New York thieves steal thousands with rigged ATMs
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - A sophisticated group of thieves used technical trickery to steal ATM card information -- and over $100,000 -- from customers at two New York City Washington Mutual branches.
The thieves rigged fake keypads and bank-card slots onto ATMs to gather card information and encoded the information on new cards, police say.
They then used the new, fraudulent cards for withdrawals from approximately 50 Washington Mutual accounts at other ATM locations.
The two Washington Mutual branches were on Canal Street in lower Manhattan and on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island.
The bank encouraged customers to review their account transactions and balances and to contact them promptly if any unauthorized transactions were found. Washington Mutual can be reached at 1-800-788-7000.
Consumers are protected against bank fraud, and will be eligible for a complete refund when the bank finds that the transactions were illegal. Banks typically offer the aggrieved customer a line of credit until the charges can be proved.
See also:
Identity Theft Resource Center
Posted by chek at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005
Mermaid Baby
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4527624.stm
Peru's 'mermaid' girl doing well
A Peruvian baby born with fused legs is making good progress six months after having surgery to separate them, her doctors have said.
Milagros Cerron, now 19 months old, is thought to be one of the world's few surviving "mermaid syndrome" babies.
Most with her condition, called sirenomelia, die within days of birth because organs are also badly affected.
Posted by chek at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2005
UN goals
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/millennium_development_goals/html/default.stm
Millennium Development Goals
Target: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the number of people living on less than $1 per day.
In 2005, more than one billion people still exist on less than $1 per day, while more than 800 million people do not have enough food to fulfil their daily energy needs.
Posted by chek at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2005
BBC On This Day
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/
BBC ON THIS DAY
On This Day is a showcase of some of the most significant as well as some of the quirkier stories broadcast by BBC News since 1950 and now including a new World War II section.
We intend to continue adding stories over the coming years so you will always be able to find something fresh on the site.
Posted by chek at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2005
We're Not Afraid
http://www.werenotafraid.com/
We're not Afraid!
Show the world that we're not afraid of what happened in London, and that the world is a better place without fear.
Posted by chek at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2005
Bin Laden alive and well
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4094992.stm
Osama Bin Laden alive and well
Mullah Usmani, a top Taleban commander has said in a television interview that Osama Bin Laden and Afghanistan's former Taleban leader Mullah Omar are alive and well.
The comments come a day after Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, said in Australia that he believed Osama Bin Laden was alive based on the information Pakistan had received from al-Qaeda members arrested by its security forces.
Pakistani observers are surprised at Geo TV's ability to interview a top Taleban commander at a time when members of the militia are targets of a massive manhunt by the US-led coalition as well as Pakistani forces.
Posted by chek at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2005
Grandpa Gang
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/06/10/germany.grandpas.ap/index.html
'Grandpa Gang' bank robbers jailed
HAGEN, Germany (AP) -- A German court on Friday convicted three aging men known as the "Grandpa Gang" of bank robbery and violating weapons laws and sentenced them to between nine and 12 years in prison.
Rudolf Richter, 74, Wilfried Ackermann 73, Lothar Ackermann, 64, robbed 14 German banks from 1988 to 2004, stealing more than euro1 million (US$1.23 million).
Wilfried Ackermann testified that the two older men met while in prison on separate bank robbery charges, and after their release began meeting with their 64-year-old acquaintance to discuss robbery plans.
He said the group were armed with handguns, some dating from World War II, automatic weapons, and sometimes with fake hand grenades.
Ackermann said fear of having no money and spending his old age in a nursing home drove him to commit the robberies.
Richter said he was driven to rob banks because he had already served time in prison for a bank robbery he said he did not commit.
Posted by chek at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2005
.com out, .xxx in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6509885.stm
03/30/07
Full Article
Proposal for porn domain rejected
The proposal for the .xxx domain was voted out by the overseer of the net's addressing system, seven years after the ideas was first put forward.
It was rejected by nine votes to five. Paul Twomey, Icann's chief executive abstained from the vote.
Board members said they were concerned that approval would put the agency into the position of a content regulator.
The idea of creating a net domain for pornography was first floated in 2001 and was given approval in June 2005 by Icann which oversees the net's addressing system.
Final approval was scheduled to take place in December 2005 but this was delayed until May 2006 when the proposal was abruptly dropped over worries about how sites signing up to use .xxx would be policed.
06/02/05
Full Article
Sex sites get dedicated net home
Pornographic websites are about to get their own online home.
A proposal to create net domains ending .xxx has been approved by the body that oversees the net's addressing system.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said it would begin negotiations with ICM Registry, run by British businessman Stuart Lawley, to iron out technical issues and prices for the new web addresses.
Adult-oriented sites, a $US12 billion ($A16 billion) industry, probably could begin buying "xxx" addresses as early as fall or winter depending on ICM's plans, ICANN spokesman Kieran Baker said. The new pornography suffix was among 10 under consideration by the regulatory group, which also recently approved addresses ending in "jobs" and "travel."
The $US60 price is roughly ten times higher than prices other companies charge for dot-com names.
In 2000 Icann approved seven new domains (.aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .pro) but the net's original generic domains (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) and country namges such as .uk are still the most popular.
The latest domains are .xxx, .jobs, .travel, .cat, .post, and .mobi .
Icann is still pondering the approval of .asia, .mail, and .tel .
Posted by chek at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2005
Amnesty accuses US over 'torture'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4580991.stm
In a 300-page annual report, the group accused the US government of damaging human rights with its attitude to torture and treatment of detainees.
Posted by chek at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2005
Killer Flu at Large
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4464497.stm
Killer flu samples were distributed around the world by mistake. They were sent out to test the effectiveness of flu vacines.
Posted by Chekonim at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2005
bbc, Leech Up Your Nose
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4423175.stm
Nosy leech wriggles into HK hiker
Posted by Chekonim at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2005
Female Imam
http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/news/story/2005/03/050318_si-mix-friday-prayers.shtml
New York female Imam leads Muslim men and women for the Friday prayers.
Posted by Chekonim at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)
Pope's visit with Castro
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/europe_pope_john_paul_ii/html/8.stm
Pope John Paul II visited Castro's Cuba in 1998.
Posted by Chekonim at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2005
Monterey Aquarium Releases White Shark
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/captive_shark
Posted by Chekonim at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)