New ‘furry’ hopping shark species discovered.

Did April 1st arrive without me noticing?

Please leave a message after the beep.

Bush says Kerry was ‘more heroic’.

Or is this a subtle form of psychological warfare?

Toys depicting Sept 11 attack recalled.

Explosives ‘in both Russian jets’.

Royal Air Force (RAF) to recruit at Gay Pride parade.

The money quotation?

An individual’s sexual orientation is none of the RAF’s business.

I approve.

Cleaner bins rubbish bag artwork.

The sane people have their revenge on the loonies!

Israelis defend missile failure.

This should be front page news.

In a website statement on Friday, a group called the Islamic Brigades said it had five people on board each aircraft. It warned this act would be followed by others “until the killings of our Muslim brothers in Chechnya cease".

I don’t suppose NBC will mention it. For them, the War on Terror doesn’t exist. Morons!

Dinosaur kangaroos spotted in Chile.

Or: coincidences ‘r’ us.

Shell and I have spent the last hour or more talking on ICQ about music for our wedding. One of the tracks I want is ‘Why worry’, from the Dire Straits ‘Brothers in Arms’ album.

Why Worry

Baby I see this world has made you sad
Some people can be bad
The things they do, the things they say
But baby I’ll wipe away those bitter tears
I’ll chase away those restless fears
That turn your blue skies into grey
Why worry, there should be laughter after the pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now
Baby when I get down I turn to you
And you make sense of what I do
I know it isn’t hard to say
But baby just when this world seems mean and cold
Our love comes shining red and gold
And all the rest is by the way
Why worry, there should be laughter after pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now

Then I read this, by the lovely Gert.

Again.

Son of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, Mark’s business dealings have raised eyebrows more than once.

This time he’s implicated in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, a country that has recently discovered massive oil reserves. Thatcher is married to a Texan oil millionairess.

A coincidence, I am sure.

Bank posts details of bad debtors on website.

Last night, I had the Olympics on the tv, and I never saw them break in to give the news about the Russian planes. (Caveat: I wasn’t in the room the entire time, so it could have happened, but if so, it was brief.) I found out online, and was up later than usual last night with a sick feeling in my stomach.

This morning, while acknowledging that one of the planes sent a hijack signal, the morning news (NBC) said that there was no evidence of terrorism. Now I would argue that a hijack signal is evidence of terrorism. Not proof. If the plane was in mechanical trouble, someone could have pushed all sorts of buttons. But evidence that, when combined with other evidence, might constitute proof. They also acknowledge that two planes crashing within minutes of one another is highly unlikely to be a coincidence. I would argue that this is evidence of terrorism too. Not proof. Presumably something faulty could have happened to both planes before takeoff. But evidence.

NBC didn’t see it that way, and the story got only a quick mention before a lenghty interview with the women’s volleyball players. And I couldn’t help thinking, “They’ll bend over backwards to keep from reminding us that we’re at war.”

We are at war. I think even though we are going on with our lives, most of us carry the knowledge with us, deep down. We know that the war is being fought in Israel and Iraq and Pakistan and many other places all over the world. We may be puzzled about what happened to Saddam’s WMDs, but we’re glad he never complied with the inspections so we could take him out. We know when a plane crashes, and the spokespeople rush out to say “Not terrorist related” that it’s too soon for them to know whether it is or not. We wish they would tell us the truth.

If I got my news only from the tv, I would think the war is mostly going on in Fallujah, Najaf, and Abu Graihb. I wouldn’t know that Chechnya is also a front in this war.

I don’t know why this wasn’t worthy of breaking into a sporting event that was already seriously time delayed. The obvious, and probably wrong, answer would be “to help Kerry get elected". The answer that to me is even scarier is that they didn’t think it was news. It happened far away. It isn’t relevant to the U.S. There weren’t any Americans killed. It doesn’t matter.

Note to NBC: It matters.

We are at war.

Lederhosen for dogs.

NOT work safe – the picture is likely to make you scream out loud.

Malaysian rape law provokes storm.

The Malaysian lawmakers want to outlaw marital rape. An Islamic cleric, and others, disagree.

According to the mufti of Perak, women are subject to their husband’s desires.

A husband has the right to be intimate with his wife and the wife must obey, he told one local newspaper.

If she refuses, the woman is “nusyuz” - disobedient.

“If the wife refuses, then the rule of ‘nusyuz’ (disobedient) applies and the husband is not required to provide financial assistance to her,” said mufti Harussani Zakaria.

Islamic lawyers have voiced their support for the mufti, saying that a woman may only refuse her husband sex if he has a sexually transmitted disease.

I have a major problem with any group (religious or otherwise) that teats half its members (usually women) as second class citizens. In fact, they are treated more like property than people, and I cannot support that in any way.

Two planes crashed in Russia

It feels like 9/11 to me.

Italian troops ‘to stay in Iraq’.

Another member of the Coalition of the Willing stands firm.

Reporter takes fake bomb on plane.

And I fly frequently. *sigh*

Jumbo cargo plane to carry single painting.

Why does the word “profligacy” keep coming to mind?