] China is equipping its courts with mobile execution vans
] as it shifts away from the communist system's traditional
] bullet in the head, towards a more "civilised" use of
] lethal injection.
]
] Intermediate Courts of the southern province of Yunnan
] were issued with 18 new execution vans on February 28 and
] a court official said some have already been used.
]
] "We cannot tell you how many executions so far, otherwise
] you could work out from the daily rate how many we carry
] out," the official said.
]
] Chinese authorities keep execution numbers a secret, but
] Western human rights monitors believe it is about 15,000
] a year, more than the rest of the world's judicial
] executions combined.
]
] The death penalty can apply for serious crimes against
] the person, armed robbery, drug trafficking, major cases
] of corruption and political violence.
]
] Many public executions have been held in football
] stadiums so traditional execution methods are no secret.
] The condemned criminal is taken by open truck to the
] execution ground and made to kneel with hands cuffed and
] head bowed, before being shot in the head. Families who
] want to reclaim the body are charged for the bullet.

Chinese try mobile death vans - theage.com.au

] The job of the hippocampus appears to be to "encode"
] experiences so they can be stored as long-term memories
] elsewhere in the brain. "If you lose your hippocampus you
] only lose the ability to store new memories," says
] Berger. That offers a relatively simple and safe way to
] test the device: if someone with the prosthesis regains
] the ability to store new memories, then it's safe to
] assume it works.

This is amazing stuff.

How to cure the guy in Memento.

playmobil hazmat!

Collectobil Catalogue - Playmobil® item 3180

] Naked Gay Burning the Flag Choke Her up With Pride
]
] From a 1998 interview in the now-folded Buzz magazine:
]
] "Our country is founded on a sham: our forefathers were
] slave-owning rich white guys who wanted it their way. So
] when I see the American flag, I go, 'Oh my God, you're
] insulting me.' That you can have a gay parade on
] Christopher Street in New York, with naked men and women
] on a float cheering, 'We're here, we're queer!' -- that's
] what makes my heart swell. Not the flag, but a gay naked
] man or woman burning the flag. I get choked up with
] pride."

This is just sad.

Janeane Garofalo

] PHILADELPHIA, Monday: The parents of 15-year-old
] leukaemia patient Josh Morten, who last night passed away
] after a four year battle with the illness, said they were
] sorry not to have fulfilled his dying wish to get a blow
] job from Cameron Diaz.

] Australia's satirical newspaper. This is just a small sample of the print edition.

The Chaser News

] AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) -- Amazon.com's Chief Executive
] Jeff Bezos was involved in a helicopter crash last week
] in southwest Texas and was slightly injured in the
] incident, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

CNN.com - Amazon's Bezos hurt in helicopter crash - Mar. 13, 2003

House cafeterias change names for 'french fries' and 'french toast'
By Sean Loughlin
CNN Washington Bureau
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 Posted: 5:45 PM EST (2245 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The cafeteria menus in the three House office buildings changed the name of "french fries" to "freedom fries," in a culinary rebuke of France stemming from anger over the country's refusal to support the U.S. position on Iraq.

Ditto for "french toast," which will be known as "freedom toast."

CNN.com - House cafeterias change names for 'french fries' and 'french toast' - Mar. 11, 2003

] Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - a key leader of
] the revolt that toppled former President Slobodan
] Milosevic in October 2000 - was assassinated Wednesday by
] gunmen who ambushed him outside the government complex,
] police sources said.

] Djindjic appeared to have been targeted last month, when
] a truck suddenly cut into the lane in which his motorcade
] was heading to Belgrade's airport. The motorcade narrowly
] avoided a collision.

Serbian Prime Minister Assassinated (washingtonpost.com)

interesting

Twins crack face recognition puzzle - Mar. 10, 2003

Hoorah for smart people!

SMRT People