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NEXT SCHEDULED UPDATE: APRIL FOOL'S DAY - Kevin Carey endorses the use of ebonics throughout the British empire; Radio Raheem spends a day as a white man; Charlie the Tuna's wedding photos -- and much more!
We're hoping you are as glad to be back and we are to be here this week.
With out PubMan going through the big 50th birthday this past weekend, we wondered when you'd see our wonderful words again.
"O ye of little faith!" Rod laughed.
BEGIN YEAR SEVEN OF THE WORLD'S MAGAZINE WITH US.
TODAY'S RDR: DR. PAUL KAIL writes from the Czech Republic on "A Plague of Locusts" -- PLUS our Web Site Pick of the Week and the New Readership Poll: ("The U.S. war on terror is...?") ReSULTS THUS FAR: "...the forces of evil getting a well overdue comeuppance." -- 57% -- Now go rock the vote.
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - Even the most abnormal situation can seem normal if you have grown up with it. After all, what constitutes the norm?
The norm for the last half billion years of our planet was that it was covered in forest, and teeming with life. The norm today is that most of that life has disappeared, along with the forests. 90% of the forest cover of Central America has already been destroyed, while in some countries in West Africa, such as C敪e d嘹voire, 97.5% has gone.
Unless there is a major shift in mindset and action, by the end of this century there will be nothing left at all. Those animals who can feed off humans, such as rats, parasitic worms and head-lice, will do well. So too will those animals which humans want to eat or whose bodies they want to use for raw materials. But the rest of the animal kingdom will be confined to zoos and tiny wildlife parks. The problem that is looming up on us is not just a loss of biodiversity, so much as a massive distortion of nature in which a handful of species run like a plague of locusts over the planet and the rest struggle to survive... MORE
LEWIS CENTER, OH, USA - The Aesop Meta Tag is a new standard that is dramatically
changing the way we search the Internet. This new Meta
Tag not only returns highly targeted search results, but it
also provides website owners with highly targeted traffic.
The concept is simple. The Aesop Meta Tag provides website
owners with a standardized method of classifying their web
pages into one of six categories. The Search engine matches
the search terms with appropriate web pages according to
the classification. This enables the Search engine to return
fast and relevant results for users -- while at the same time,
driving highly targeted traffic to the websites...MORE
NEW ORLEANS - I appreciated the nice e-mail I got from the lady in the Pacific Northwest who said I shouldn't freak out too much about this birthday. This year it fell on Palm Sunday. ("Falls", as I write this. I'm not quite 50 yet, though I shall be by the time I complete this installment of my online diaries and you read it.
By then it will be The Day After for both of us. If you have a mobile device, you will have pre-viewed the wireless version of this wired magazine and maybe even dashed me off a quick e-mail about how I can improve upon the Beta.
Right now things seem to have turned in my favor. The gods and goddesses smile upon their little fool (Last week's word was "tool," wasn't it?) and have decided to screw around with someone else's fate for a while. That person has my sympathies. Those capricious celestials can be cruel in seeking their amusement from our lives.
I've asked my boss for a raise, which I want to believe I'll get by this birthday, seeing as how I'm as faithful to this company as the day is long and they'll be getting me on the cheap even after the raise. But this is Nawlins. Anything can happen.
I'm waiting to hear that IREX has wired me the grant funds for the next part of my project as Virtual (Visiting) lecturer for the school of journalism in Yugoslavia. I want to buy a bed, a prerequisite for cultivating a new girlfriend.
My friend Barbara's significant other, Rich, joked today that on the Saturday night before my B-day I should pick up two 25 year olds. Hardee-har-har-har!!! Next year, he continued, I'll have to settle for three seventeen year olds. At that rate I'd not only be a cradle-robber (something I was accused of a couple of times in my actual youth) but also a felon. I don't think so.
I've started this rumination a week earlier in the hope that this time we'll (I'll) get the magazine out on schedule.
That depends on my multiple commitments. I'd like to believe, now that it's My Time, I'll get the chance to work on what I love. But I don't take anything for granted. You shouldn't, either.
... MORE
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[EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the past four years, James Brosnahan, Esq., and Dan VanDeMortel, the editor, of Northern Ireland Alert (NIA) have been frequent contributors to The World's Magazine. During that time we have published their Scorecards on the U.S. Congress, political candidates for offices from the Presidency on down and now two U.S. Presidents. What follows is an excerpt of the most recent NIA Scorecard -- just in time for the mid-term election campaigns this November. For a full transcript of the Scorecard, please e-mail the magazine. -- Ed.]
SAN FRANCISCO - The human rights organization Northern Ireland Alert today ranked President George W. Bush as "ACTIVE" on Northern Ireland affairs.
This ranking places the President in Northern Ireland Alert廣 middle category, ranging from "DEDICATED" (highest ranking) to "UNINTERESTED" (lowest ranking). It found the Bush Administration廣 role to be somewhere comfortably in the middle between President Clinton廣 efforts and the days of avoidance of Irish affairs that preceded him. It is heartened by the President廣 willingness to keep alive a "national interest" foreign policy. However, it is concerned by his lack of consistent personal involvement on the issue, as well as his Administration廣 frequent inattention to human rights concerns. (See Scorecard, page 24)
Northern Ireland Alert today also issued its fourth annual Northern Ireland Congressional Scorecard and assigned its worst ranking, UNINTERESTED, to the following Congresspersons due to their inattention toward Northern Ireland, a "national interest" as defined by President Bush:
UNINTERESTED REPRESENTATIVES
Cubin, Barbara (R-WY)
Kerns, Brian D. (R-IN)
Goode, Virgil (I-VA)
Rohrabacher, Dana (R-CA)
Hefley, Joel (R-CO)
Tancredo, Thomas (R-CO)
Hostettler, John (R-IN)
The Scorecard, which records actions taken by the House of Representatives and the Senate, ranks Congressional members on 20 activities taken from January, 2001 through February, 2002. Categories of action include involvement in the peace process, expressions of concern pertaining to human rights abuses, sponsorship of pending Irish-related resolutions and bills, and encouragement of Irish cultural concerns. The Congresspersons referenced above have displayed no public interest or action in support of any of the 20 categories. Consequently, they should be considered UNINTERESTED in Northern Ireland affairs and are strongly encouraged to immediately rectify this situation.... MORE
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