OTHER NEWS

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“Pentagon guidelines that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder now put it among a list of conditions or ‘circumstances’ that range from bed-wetting to fear of flying.”

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THE CIA THINKS YOUR EDITOR IS A 'CURIOUS ADVENTURER'. . . and before
you put too much faith in anything the CIA says, you might want to take
its weird personality test, too.

https://www.cia.gov/careers/CIAMyths.html

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5000 YEARS OF MID EAST HISTORY IN 90 SECONDS
http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/imperial-history.html

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THE LIST
FDA prepares for its 100th anniversary

AL KAMEN, WASHINGTON POST - According to budget documents, [the FDA] has
spent: $6,800 on tablecloths; $18,000 for 45 flags for flag-raising
ceremonies here and at field offices; $30,306 for "banners for airports
and backdrops for media interviews"; $2,240 for miniature sewing kits;
$7,750 for focus-group testing of the centennial poster; and $8,500 for
"replicas of FDA Inspector Badges."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/
AR2006092400735.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

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BRITISH STUDY FINDS SPEED CAUSES FEWER THAN FIVE PERCENT OF TRAFFIC
ACCIDENTS

THE NEWSPAPER - A new UK Department for Transport report shows fewer
than 5 percent of road accidents are caused by cars exceeding the speed
limit. . . "Exceeding speed limit was attributed to 3 percent of cars
involved in accidents, while going too fast for conditions was
attributed to 7 per cent." . . . Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed
road safety campaign, points out that this means "around 95 percent of
road crashes have absolutely nothing to do with speeding." Smith takes
issue with the department's use of speed camera ticketing to achieve
legal compliance, which last year resulted in two million citations
worth US $225 million in revenue. "Nationally we're giving (motorists)
the wrong safety information and forcing them to concentrate on the
wrong safety factors."

According to today's report, the most common factors contributing to
road accidents, in order, are:

Failed to look properly

Failed to judge other persons path/speed

Careless, reckless or in a hurry

Poor turn/maneuver

Loss of control

Going too fast for conditions (but under the posted limit)

Pedestrian failed to look properly

Following too close

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1362.asp

REPORT
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2006/contributory.pdf

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CONFESSIONS OF A WEEK-LONG VEGETARIAN

MICHAEL HANN, GUARDIAN, UK - I do not care much for vegetables. I do
not eat any that start with an "a" - aubergines, artichokes, asparagus,
. . . It is not a point of principle. They are just horrible. I do not
like many greens, any vegetable that I cannot see immediately which part
you are meant to eat, anything squishy, or - more or less - any
vegetable that actually tastes of something. I have the vegetable
tastes, in fact, of a particularly conservative six-year-old. . .

So who better than me to offer commentary on a raft of new vegetarian
cookery books by living as a vegetarian for a week? After seven days, I
am willing to profess undying admiration for any vegetarian who manages
every night to cook something capable of stimulating the palate for more
than 15 seconds. But then, I have encountered very few. The vegetarians
I know (the ones who do not cheat by eating fish) seem to subsist on
beans on toast, bowls of soup and thrown-together salads (ignoring Homer
Simpson's dictum: "You don't win friends with salad"), while I return
home each evening and amaze my wife and children with crispy roasted
belly pork, homemade fishcakes, or chicken stuffed with ginger and
garlic.

But I understand why so many of you end up with your tedious diets.
Among the staple ingredients listed in these books are arame seaweed,
bergamot oil, mirin, masa harina and ketjap manis. I live in north
London, home to the largest single concentration of poncey-food buyers
in Britain. Yet I do not have a clue where to find those particular
ingredients. . .

I am sure loads of you are even now protesting that you do not suffer.
But I am just not sure I believe you. Most of the vegetarians I know
gave up meat for political reasons, not because they do not like the
taste (I admire your sacrifice, but it is not for me . . .

During a week deprived of meat, food comes to feel merely functional, a
tedious bloody hike through the meal. Elliot's lentil shepherd's pie is
the only thing I have seconds of all week. . .

I had been told I would less bloated after meals, but I can't vouch for
that; because I find my meatless main courses so unfulfilling, I spend
evenings grazing on biscuits. I have got shocking wind - probably
because of all those lentils - and the sense of worthiness I feel is the
only emotional sustenance vegetables have given me.

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1883753,00.html

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Mackris v. O’Reilly: an opera in 31 parts. Composer Igor Keller has written an opera “in the style of Handel’s Messiah” that “touches on all the embarrassing details mentioned in” the Oct. 2004 sexual harassment suit producer Andrea Mackris brought against Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. Performances will be held on January 12 and 13 at the University of Washington in Seattle.

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