Month: October 2002

The LA Times has the most interesting article I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s about a secretive group called The Fellowship, a Christian organization that has had massive influence in the public sphere.

For the last two decades, a Virginia mansion has been a private hideaway for world leaders, members of Congress, and even pop star Michael Jackson…

The Fellowship was a behind-the-scenes player at the Camp David Middle East accords in 1978, working with President Jimmy Carter to issue a worldwide call to prayer with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. During the Cold War, it helped finance an anti-communism propaganda film endorsed by the CIA and used by the Pentagon overseas.

Last year, the Fellowship helped arrange a secret meeting at Cedars between two warring leaders, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame–one of the first of a series of discreet meetings between the two African leaders that eventually led to the signing of a peace accord in July.

Incidentally, they’re also the ones who sponsor the National Prayer Breakfast. There’s much more, and I encourage you to read all about it. (Thanks to Christianity Today for the link!)

A man in New Orleans was shot 25 times and lived. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The victim was walking just before 3 a.m. when the attacker walked up to him and began firing a handgun, police said. “Once that weapon emptied, he produced a second weapon and continued to fire,” police said. “When the second weapon emptied, he produced yet a third and continued to fire.”

Read all about it!

And remember–never go walking in New Orleans at 3 a.m.

The Door (a religious humor magazine) deems Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be the Theologian of the Year. Our nation’s season of trial influenced The Door’s selection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Theologian of the Year. Let’s face it. In perilous times, we need someone who can not only deconstruct the problem of evil, but kick its hiney. And that means Buffy and her Scooby Gang. Read all about it!

In an interesting coincidence, Annals of Improbable Research (a science humor magazine) has just issued the 2002 Ig Nobel prizes amityville horror the divx movie online to honor people whose achievements “cannot or should not be reproduced.” [update: the official 2002 list is online with references]

Among this year’s winners are Karl Kruszelnicki, a Sydney University researcher who wrote the paper on belly-button lint. Dr Kruszelnicki, at his own expense, studied 5000 belly-button lint samples. He concluded the lint was a combination of clothing fibres and skin cells that were led to the navel, via body hair, “as all roads lead to Rome”. “Your typical generator of belly-button lint or fluff is a slightly overweight, middle-aged male with a hairy abdomen,” he said. (source)

It’s been a few days since I posted any offbeat news items: here are some stupid human tricks.

Man Suffers Severe Burns Trying To Kill Lice: The 26-year-old doused a towel with rubbing alcohol, put it on his head and then lit a cigarette, police said. The towel caught fire and engulfed the man. He suffered burns on about 50 percent of his body, police said. Ouch–that had to hurt!

Canadian Man Tries To Bungee Jump Onto Ship–But His Cord Is Too Long: William Dean Sullivan miscalculated the ship’s speed and suffered minor head injuries on Sunday when he bounced off its tennis court, volleyball net and a deck railing, before being left dangling in mid-air as the ship sailed away, Vancouver Police said. Police said Sullivan has planned to bungee jump from the Lions Gate Bridge, which spans the entrance to Vancouver harbor, stopping just above the passing ship so he could then lower himself a short distance to the deck. That couldn’t have felt much better…

Finally, Man Clips 153 Clothespins To His Face For World Record: Garry said that attaching the pegs to his cheeks hurt the most and afterwards you could see he was in a lot of pain. There were marks on his skin that he said would last an hour and he had to keep rubbing his face. Aagh–what is it with people hurting themselves? I feel pain just reading these stories!