] The e-Parliament is the first world institution whose
] members are elected by the people. It links democratic
] members of parliament and congress into a global online
] forum. Through the e-Parliament, legislators can learn
] from each other, monitor international agencies and work
] together to solve common problems.

Interesting concept. An online forum where elected representatives from multiple countries can gather to discuss global issues.

e-Parliament

] Personally, I think it looks like a $1200 shower curtain, but
] what do I know about this. We tried taking pictures of this
] lovely white garment but it didn’t look right on the hanger as
] you can see, so my sister says, "You need a model." Well, quite
] frankly my sister isn’t exactly small, (like a size 12 is?) so
] she wouldn’t pose for the picture. Seeing as I have sworn off
] women for the time being and I ain’t friends with any, it left me
] holding the bag. I took the liberty of blacking out my face -
] not to protect the ex-wife but to protect me from my bar buddies
] and co-workers finding out about it. I would never live it
] down. Actually I didn’t think my head would fit in the neck
] hole, but then I figured she got her Texas cheerleader hair
] through there I could get my head in it. Though, after looking
] at the pictures, I thought it made me look fat.

LOL! The auction's only up through 4/28, so check this out when you can. It's hilarious. Be sure to read the entire story.

eBay - Divorced Man Models ex-Wife's Wedding Dress

] . . . serious train accidents are normal in North Korea and
] the various explanations for the cause of the explosion,
] other than an assassination attempt, sound plausible
] given the perilous state of the economy.
]
] In the 1960s Kim Il-Sung decided to phase out steam
] engines. Ignoring expert advice, he ordered that the
] country's railways be entirely electrified so that even
] if oil imports were blocked, the transport system would
] still operate.
]
] The transmission lines were buried underground to ensure
] that the enemy could not destroy the electricity grid.
] The grid has disintegrated into islands and there is
] never enough power to run the trains.
]
] The Russian and South Korean governments, who wanted to
] restore the North's railway system and move goods from
] the Pacific to the Atlantic, found that it would cost
] over $3bn (£1.7bn) to upgrade the rail system to
] transport goods in any quantities.
]
] The trains depend on hydro power, but most of the
] country's dams have silted up and electricity generation
] is sporadic. Passengers sometimes need weeks to complete
] a train journey, even between major cities. At every
] station there are always hundreds of people waiting in
] hopes of getting on a train.
]
] Refugees reported that in one incident an overcrowded
] train travelling to Hysean suddenly lost power going up a
] hill and slipped back, crashing into another train,
] killing or injuring more than 3,000 people.

More stories of the insanity in North Korea. The latest speculation, according to the article, is that the explosion was caused by a train full of explosives that accidentally got tangled with power lines.

According to the article, the explosion levelled the train station, a school, and apartments within a 457-metre radius. The statistics are currently reported as: 150 dead, 12,249 injured, 1,850 households destroyed and another 6,350 homes partly destroyed in the town, which has a population of 20,000.

Jeez.

Decaying Railway Infrastructure in North Korea

] "The Da Vinci Code" has more than 6 million copies in print
] since being published a year ago and has created a mini-industry
] of best sellers, even as some Catholic retailers decline to stock
] it. Brown's novel speculates that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were
] married, for which no documentary evidence exists, and depicts
] the Catholic clergy as a pack of sinister liars.
 . . .
] Brown's "Angels and Demons," a religious thriller published in
] 2000, now has 4 million copies in print and is currently selling
] 100,000 copies a week.

And my Kryptos site is continuing to get about 500 unique visitors per day, from folks researching its relationship to the Da Vinci Code.

Da Vinci Code Sales Figures

] Dunin, E. (2004) The unwritten rules of Orkut.com [Orkut
] posting] Retrieved April 2, 2004 from:
] http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=781&tid=81

Heh. One of my message board posts on orkut got cited as an official source in someone's research paper. I'm published! Sorta. ;)

Research Paper: Orkut at Eleven Weeks

] A little known group of Islamic militants called Saraya
] al-Mujaheddin -- which released a video Thursday showing
] the hostages being threatened with guns and knifes -- has
] pledged to burn the three Japanese alive if Tokyo does
] not withdraw its 550 non-combat troops from Iraq by
] Sunday night.

What a horrible decision to have to make. Stay resolute and possibly watch your people be killed, or submit to demands and know that all your citizens abroad are at risk that they too could be kidnapped to force your hand.

Japanese Prime Minister Stays Resolute on Iraq

] An elaborate Neolithic burial site uncovered in the
] Shillourokambos settlement on the Mediterranean island of
] Cyprus reveals that the friendship between cats and
] humans may go back 9,500 years. Prior to the discovery,
] Egyptians were thought to be the first to keep cats as
] pets, around 2,000 to 1,900 BC.

I found this story heart-warming. :)

CNN.com - Ancient burial looks like human and pet cat

Dateline 1897. Yes, that's *18*97
] Mr. T.J. Weems, the U.S. Army Signal Service officer at
] this place and an authority on astronomy gives it as his opinion
] that the pilot was a native of the planet Mars. Papers found on
] his person -- evidently the records of his travels -- are written
] in some unknown hieroglyphics and cannot be deciphered. This ship
] was too badly wrecked to form any conclusion as to its
] construction or motive power. It was built of an unknown metal,
] resembling somewhat a mixture of aluminum and silver, and it must
] have weighed several tons. The town is today full of people who
] are viewing the wreckage and gathering specimens of strange metal
] from the debris. The pilot's funeral will take place tomorrow.

I ran across this on a page of "famous newspaper hoaxes." The article says that there was due to be a followup in 1997, but I've been unable to find anything. Has anyone else seen such a thing?

Journalism Hoaxes

A list of the propositions and candidates in today's (very local) election. St. Charles County, Missouri.

Note to myself: I'm in Francis Howell School District... That's something I can never remember, so hopefully blogging it will help. ;)

St. Charles Voter Guide

] There are great men, and there are good men. Seldom are
] both qualities met in one person. But even Mel Brooks
] knew how to honor this great, good man: May the Schwartz
] be with you. And now he has gone through that final
] doorway, if not the last of the great Golden Age editors,
] then surely the oldest. Julius Schwartz died peacefully
] from complications of pneumonia at Winthrop Hospital,
] Mineola, New York, at a minute or two of 2:30 AM,
] Saturday night/Sunday morning, 8 February 2004.

Julius (Julie) Schwartz was an institution at Dragon*Con, and I remember how fondly everyone treated him at the annual award ceremonies. He was Ray Bradbury's first agent, editor of the Superman comic for 25 years, and had countless other achievements to his name. I am sorry to hear of his passing. :/ He will be missed.

Harlan Ellison Remembers Julius Schwartz