|
God
or Allah Causing Bulge in the Wall?
Well,
in any case, Pink Floyd appears to be in the clear on the possible
war-provoking nature of the bulge in the wall, the wall on the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
As
for who or what or which deity is causing the bulge, well, they're
maintaining their standard modus operandi of nonexistence during
the whole affair. They're really quite good at that, the nonexistence
thing.
Why
all the fuss in the real world? Well, the Temple Mount's current
residents are holy Islamic shrines (been that way for centuries),
but the preceding occupants were the 1st and 2nd Jewish temples
(or so it is claimed) and that marks it as the perceived holiest
site in Judaism. Now that's one hot
piece of real estate, religiously
speaking, that is.
Ariel
Sharon, current Israeli Prime Minister, touched off a firestorm
awhile back by visiting the site, and now, if the wall falls
(due, perhaps, to Allah or God having gas?), incensed Palestinians
will likely blame Israeli archeological digs for that (excusing
Allah, but of course). All hell
may break loose (as in yet another Jewish-Muslim holy war).
Meanwhile,
God's followers fired some missiles into 3 Palestinian towns
a day after Allah's followers killed 3 Israeli soldiers in the
Gaza strip and 2 Israeli civilians in Jerusalem.
Source:
- Sydney
Morning Herald [link inactive]
Insulin
Pills for Type 1 Diabetics
Good
news, progress in testing diabetic pills for type 1s which might,
some day, eliminate the need for type 1s to give themselves
insulin injections or haul around a pump for constant insulin
flow.
The
tests, on rats and dogs, resulted in up to 16 percent of insulin
making it into the bloodstream, compared to only 1 percent with
previous experimental insulin pills. The 16 percent is sufficient
to control the test animals' blood glucose levels.
Less
than good news is that the testing is early, only in animal
trials, and it may be up to a decade before the pills will become
available, if then. Even then, the control would still be manual
(as without glucose sensing, type 1s must guestimate the amount
of insulin required to match to food intake / stress / exercise
/ illness / medications / other factors).
Unlike
the insulin pill, other technologies, such as islet cell transplantation,
offer hope for an eventual development of "the cure",
with auto-sensing of glucose levels and releases of approprate
amounts of insulin. Nevertheless, the development of the insulin
pill would be welcome if more promising developments are not
available before the insulin pill.
Sources:
- World
Scientist / AP [link inactive]
- MSNBC
[link inactive]
|
Largest
Prison and Jail Population In the World? United States
Total
number of Americans behind bars as of 2000? 1.92
million, the highest number in the world.
The
highest percent in the correctional system exists in Georgia
(6.8 percent), with Texas, Idaho, and Delaware near the top.
The
number in the U.S. correctional system (prison, jail, parole,
and probation) has jumped 48.7 percent since 1990, to a record
current high of 6.5 million people, 3.1 percent of the U.S.
population.
Source:
Madonna
Condoms
Never
one known to take being "like a virgin" seriously,
Madonna has nonetheless battled to keep her head shots and nude
images on officially sanctioned and endorsed books and paraphernalia
(from which she earns a tidy sum) and off the covers of condoms,
well, in some cases.
Turns
out Madonna sold rights to nude photos, taken back in 1979,
to a 2nd party, subsequently purchased by a 3rd party which
happens to be into "head shots on condoms", in the
U.S.
As
Madonna is sensitive to her recent latest in a series of image
redesigns, this one with a "religious" image (wink-wink),
let's forget about all that lesbian-orgy stuff, she has tried
to keep her face shots off condoms, in the U.S., at least, as
Madonna Condoms have been selling quite well, in Europe, that
is.
When
asked about the controversy, the U.S. distributor commented
"Papa don't preach, but ..." (just joking). Seriously,
he posited that Madonna on condoms was good, you know, for safe
sex.
Source:
|
