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Monday, March 31, 2003
( 4:56 PM ) The Rat KOREAN TRIPLETS SEIZED. All triplets in North Korea are being forcibly removed from parents after their birth and dumped in bleak orphanages. The policy is carried out on the orders of Stalinist dictator Kim Jong-il, who has an irrational belief that a triplet could one day topple his regime. The number three is thought to be auspicious in North Korea and triplets are revered. It is believed they are likely to rise to positions of power, which accounts for Kim's insistence that they are all raised in state-run orphanages, where their development can be controlled. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:56 PM ( 4:54 PM ) The Rat PRIZEWINNING PEKINGESE "HAD SECRET FACELIFT." # Posted by The Rat @ 4:54 PM ( 4:47 PM ) The Rat SILLY, BUT CUTE. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:47 PM ( 4:46 PM ) The Rat RAT-A-TOUILLE ET COMPAGNIE. Bizarre. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:46 PM ( 4:45 PM ) The Rat YIKES. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:45 PM ( 4:42 PM ) The Rat "...when they saw the blossoms fall on a spring morning, or heard the leaves fall of an autumn evening; or when they sighed to see the drifts of snow and ripples reflected in their mirrors increase with each passing year; or when they were startled into realizing the brevity of life on noticing dew on the grass or foam on the water; or when, having fallen in the world, they have become estranged from those they loved." —Ki no Tsurayuki in the preface to the Kokinshû, listing circumstances under which the poets he admired had composed waka # Posted by The Rat @ 4:42 PM Friday, March 28, 2003 ( 3:47 PM ) The Rat A CORRECTION FROM THURSDAY'S L.A. TIMES, quoted on OpinionJournal: A "Counter Intelligence" review in the Food section March 19 quoted the owner of Mr. Pickles Deli in Los Angeles recalling a radio comment by talk show host Laura Schlessinger about the restaurant's brisket. Schlessinger said that the brisket does not need to be adulterated by ketchup, not that the brisket is the first step before adultery. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:47 PM ( 3:47 PM ) The Rat BABY PLATYPI. And, some cute rats. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:47 PM ( 3:41 PM ) The Rat IF YOU'RE LIKE ME and your Middle East geography sucks, here's a useful site. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:41 PM ( 3:33 PM ) The Rat FORTUYN KILLER "ACTED FOR MUSLIMS." # Posted by The Rat @ 3:33 PM ( 3:27 PM ) The Rat TOO-GOOD-TO-BE-TRUE NEWS STORY. Four City Council members have proposed an ordinance against fibbing. "We wanted to slow down on this lying," [Acting Mayor Jo] Hamlet said this week. "Plus, I'm bored... It's been a long winter." # Posted by The Rat @ 3:27 PM ( 3:24 PM ) The Rat AL QAEDA FIGHTING WITH THE IRAQIS, according to British military interrogators. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:24 PM ( 3:21 PM ) The Rat BEST OF THIS WEEK'S SEARCH REQUESTS. freeloading men rat cheese preference hillary clinton fakes crucified crucifixions fetish condoleezza rice pic sex (result 1) antony mark porn rat surrender iraqi gay nude men (result 4) rat pitchers (result 5) rat volkswagen pregnant rat cartoon galleries of big tis [sic] and big ass zorak emoticon # Posted by The Rat @ 3:21 PM ( 11:49 AM ) The Rat We call that a leaden sleep, and it seems as though, even for a few moments after such a sleep is ended, one has oneself become a simple figure of lead. One is no longer a person. How then, searching for one's thoughts, one's personality, as one searches for a lost object, does one recover one's own self rather than any other? Why, when one begins again to think, is it not a personality other than the previous one that becomes incarnate in one? One fails to see what dictates the choice, or why, among the millions of human beings one might be, it is on the being one was the day before that unerringly one lays one's hand. What is it that guides us, when there has been a real interruption—whether it be that our unconsciousness has been complete or our dreams entirely different from ourselves? —The Guermantes Way # Posted by The Rat @ 11:49 AM Thursday, March 27, 2003 ( 3:05 PM ) The Rat WELCOME to the Google searcher who got here looking for "paleoconservatives + nude." Yes, this site is result #1 on that search. If you'll pardon her, the Rat going to go hang herself now. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:05 PM ( 2:45 PM ) The Rat THE RAVER/DJ NAME-O-MATIC. Found while looking for a good DJ name to help out Zorak. # Posted by The Rat @ 2:45 PM ( 11:50 AM ) The Rat HOW TO KEEP A DORK ENTERTAINED FOR HOURS. Check out this nifty site, featuring the first lines from lots and lots and lots of books. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:50 AM ( 11:41 AM ) The Rat HEY OLIGARCH, check out Elaine Donnelly's new piece on women POWs. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:41 AM ( 11:37 AM ) The Rat THE LATEST FROM URUGUAY. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:37 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL PASSES. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:24 AM ) The Rat SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE, THE GAME. Scottish man scoops fortune on "virtual horse." # Posted by The Rat @ 11:24 AM ( 11:21 AM ) The Rat "SLOW EARTHQUAKE" IN OREGON. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:21 AM ( 11:18 AM ) The Rat YOU KNOW YOU NEED ONE. I present the Yurt FAQ, link via Eve. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:18 AM ( 11:06 AM ) The Rat HOW OLD ARE YOU? Use the age calculator and find out. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:06 AM ( 11:04 AM ) The Rat PHOTO of that replica of the Statue of Liberty that was vandalized in Bordeaux. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:04 AM ( 11:03 AM ) The Rat WRITE YOUR OWN CAPTION. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:03 AM ( 11:00 AM ) The Rat "WE HEAR THAT France's most popular television station, TF1, was scheduled to show 'Air Force One' Sunday night in prime time, but replaced it with 'some sappy Val Kilmer film,' our man in Paris says. 'The weasels didn't want to show Harrison Ford as a U.S. president battling terrorists.'" Via Page Six. This is also funny. As is this, though not war-related. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:00 AM ( 10:51 AM ) The Rat WAR NEWS FROM MTV AND PEOPLE MAGAZINE. Via the NYT (requires free registration). # Posted by The Rat @ 10:51 AM ( 10:50 AM ) The Rat From wine what sudden friendship springs! —John Gay, "The Squire and his Cur" # Posted by The Rat @ 10:50 AM Wednesday, March 26, 2003 ( 1:54 PM ) The Rat ATLAS HAS OFFICIALLY SHRUGGED IN COPENHAGEN. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:54 PM ( 12:52 PM ) The Rat SEX TIPS FROM DONALD RUMSFELD. An old Esquire piece, via Volokh. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:52 PM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat YOU AND ME AND BABY MINUS ME MAKES TWO. "Oh, wow, this is such a magical time! You're really, really going to have a baby! And I'm not!" Via the Onion, which has some great stuff this week (don't miss "Top Anti-War Slogans" and "Casual Sex Surprisingly Formal"). # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat FRENCH'S ISN'T FRENCH! # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat THE RAT, overhearing herself on Instant Messenger: "As the saying goes, I have a lot of bitterness... I mean, anger. Well, that too." # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat PEACE ACTIVISTS PLANNING TO DISRUPT MANHATTAN. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE. This morning's batch of e-mail spam included something from a Valium supplier. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat LARGEST UNDERWATER PRESS CONFERENCE. Because you've always wondered. From that Guinness site. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat THE PRESS'S "50 MOST LOATHSOME NEW YORKERS." # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat WHY NOT TRY some of the zillion quizzes Zorak has linked recently? The Rat's outcomes (Air Force, Pi, Ecstasy, Histrionic, Pervert, Psycho) should come as a surprise to no one. What branch of the military do you belong in? What number are you? Which drug should you be hooked on? Which personality disorder do you have? Why will you go to hell? How emotional are you? # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat PETA OBJECTS TO USE OF EMBEDDED SEA LIFE. Now there's a news flash. "The Navy claims they are not putting these animals in harm's way, but they've removed these animals from their homes, relocated them to foreign waters in the Persian Gulf, and are forcing them to not only inspect the waters, but to actually swim up to potential terrorists under the water, clamp a cuff on their leg, and deploy a floating marker. How can anyone say these animals are not being put in harm's way?" # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat "SHOCK AND AWE," CTD. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM ( 11:56 AM ) The Rat In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. —Douglas Adams # Posted by The Rat @ 11:56 AM Tuesday, March 25, 2003 ( 1:09 PM ) The Rat SEND SOMEONE A PERSONALIZED RAT ATTACK. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:09 PM ( 11:20 AM ) The Rat THE STANDARD ON OSCAR NIGHT. While Moore's tirade isn't worth dissection, the crowd's reaction is. The first section, about the 2000 election, received loud applause. The section on duct tape and orange alert received a mix of cheering and jeering and by the time he finished with his references to the Vatican and the Dixie Chicks, he was drowned in a chorus of boos. During most of this the camera showed not Moore, but the audience. In a move that must have tied up Gil Cates and ICM in negotiations for a week, the producers went out of their way to show America that the stars weren't clapping. Harrison Ford sat with his arms folded, Calista Flockhart angrily pursed her lips, and Adrian Brody looked on condescendingly. For the most part, those seated on the orchestra level sat on their hands. So who was booing Michael Moore? The people in the balconies. At the Oscars, the orchestra level is reserved for the glitterati and the upper tiers for the riff-raff. So only "normal" people were booing Moore. Which leaves unanswered the question, why didn't the stars boo him? Why simply sit there, the equivalent of voting "present" on a resolution in Congress? Clearly, the answer is that they wanted to cheer. Just not as much as they want that seventh house in Maui. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:20 AM ( 11:20 AM ) The Rat ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS IN ASIA TARGET COCA-COLA. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:20 AM ( 11:20 AM ) The Rat NIFTY PHOTO OF A SATELLITE LAUNCH. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:20 AM ( 11:20 AM ) The Rat AL-JAZEERA LAUNCHES ENGLISH-LANGUAGE WEBSITE. The site itself is here, but you may have trouble accessing it because of this. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:20 AM ( 11:20 AM ) The Rat "MINUTES LATER, ACTOR-ACTIVIST TIM ROBBINS THREATENED US WITH BODILY INJURY..." # Posted by The Rat @ 11:20 AM ( 11:20 AM ) The Rat "A gentleman," Ford explained, "will always cut a cad." I took a quick drink of brandy. "Would he cut a bounder?" I asked. "It would be impossible for a gentleman to know a bounder." "Then you can only cut someone you have known on terms of equality?" I pursued. "Naturally." "How would one ever meet a cad?" "You might not know it, or the fellow could have become a cad." "What is a cad?" I asked. "Isn't he someone that one has to thrash within an inch of his life?" "Not necessarily," Ford said. —Hemingway describing a conversation with Ford Madox Ford in A Moveable Feast # Posted by The Rat @ 11:20 AM Monday, March 24, 2003 ( 11:18 AM ) The Rat THE GULF WAR DRINKING GAME, via Eve. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:18 AM ( 11:18 AM ) The Rat FRENCH COASTAL PATROL VESSEL PELTED WITH CHICKEN FEATHERS. Via The Sun. Cowardly French sailors are enjoying a holiday on the Thames—while our brave boys and girls risk their lives to topple Saddam. Crew of the coastal patrol vessel FS Flamant are unashamedly flying a Tricolour while moored in central London. So The Sun steamed into action yesterday by blitzing them with white feathers—the coward's symbol. We hired a 38ft yacht for our daring assault on the 150ft ship, which is moored next to Tower Bridge. First, we hoisted up the Red Ensign flag as we left St Katharine's dock. Then we circled the ship and shouted to the crew: "We have le feather blanc for you grands poulets"... # Posted by The Rat @ 11:18 AM ( 11:18 AM ) The Rat PETER SINGER, CALL YOUR OFFICE. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:18 AM ( 11:18 AM ) The Rat If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? —The Gulag Archipelago # Posted by The Rat @ 11:18 AM Friday, March 21, 2003 ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat "I'm very interested to know whether they used Scuds. If they're firing [Scuds], of course that shows that there's a violation." —Hans Blix, quoted in the Post "I heard reports that we fired Scud missiles on Kuwait. I would like to tell you that we don't have Scud missiles and why they were fired, I don't know." —Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, quoted on OpinionJournal # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat GUINNESS (OF WORLD RECORDS FAME) has a searchable website. May I note that anybody who thinks this guy holds the record for "most worms charmed" clearly hasn't heard about the Rat's love life. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat CRACKDOWN ON DISSIDENTS IN CUBA. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat BEST OF THIS WEEK'S SEARCH REQUESTS: "nude camps" (result 225) "woman on fire fetish" "erotic crucifixions of women" "nude mice and cartoons" "robert french and gay or heroin" "rat problem Venice" "how can you tell whether a rat is a man or woman" (result 3) "incest sex stories" "bitch slap emoticon" "divorce 'younger woman'" (result 320) "mitochondrial pic" "cock & ball kicking pic" "MARK ANTONY OWNED MANY ITEMS" "rat and duck kissing" "chuck e cheese kuwait" "invasion rats pictures" "ugly rat photo" "i show you my blank boobs for free" # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat CHIRAC'S LATEST. And, Britain releases data on France's and Germany's trade with Iraq. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat VIA PROFQUOTES.COM: "So say you have a pen full of... camels... and there is a small hole in the fence, and you want to find out how often they go through the fence, and say the other side of the fence is the desert, so once the camels are through the fence they are free. So the camel keeper arranges a way such that camels that get through the hole are sent right back. But say some of the camels have wings, only you can't see the wings cause they are invisible... Well that's exactly what we have here." # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat HAMAS URGES IRAQI SUICIDE ATTACKS. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat KANAN MAYIKA'S WAR DIARY, via TNR. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat CHINA TRIES AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat FAT BASTARD CHARDONNAY. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM ( 11:36 AM ) The Rat Co-worker. Hey, what will I tell the boss? Homer. Tell him I'm going to the back seat of my car, with the woman I love, and I won't be back for ten minutes! —The Simpsons # Posted by The Rat @ 11:36 AM Thursday, March 20, 2003 ( 5:18 PM ) The Rat RICIN FOUND AT THE GARE DE LYON. # Posted by The Rat @ 5:18 PM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat THE VOICEon Jae-Hyun Seok, an NYT freelance photographer jailed by China for his coverage of North Korea. His arrest while documenting an escape attempt by North Korean refugees drew scant attention, even in his own newspaper. Last week, Chinese officials stepped up the pressure and transferred him from a detention center to a high-security prison... # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat AN ARTICLE ON RICHARD MOLL (of Night Court fame, for those heathen among you who don't remember). # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat THE U.N. PICKED THE WRONG SWEDE. We should have sent Crown Princess Victoria in instead of Hans Blix. Officers at Swedint, the military's international arm, said the princess had completed the course with high marks. "The crown princess is a good shooter," Capt. Lars Wetterskog told TT. "A most capable girl." Victoria ran just over half a mile with full combat gear in four minutes and 45 seconds—roughly what's required for Sweden's special forces. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat WSJ SUGGESTS a method of retaliation for France's diplomatic betrayal. Each year more than 900,000 foreigners move legally to America. The number is limited by law, and the State Department allocates a certain number of immigration slots per country. No more than 25,620 may enter from any one land in a given year, and a 1965 law bars economic immigrants from entering the country if there are any Americans available and qualified to perform the job the newcomer is seeking. By slightly amending this law, varying the country allocations and the distribution of work permits to specific countries, and indeed particular individuals and professions in those nations, we can use the brain drain as a pinpoint method of sending a message to recalcitrant allies. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat MONICA LEWINSKY TO HOST NEW FOX REALITY SERIES. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat A GOOD ONION RERUN. Bowing to outcry from consumers and parents groups, the McDonald's Corporation announced Monday that it is discontinuing its new advertising mascot, "The Hammurderer," a mischievous, homicidal imp who kills McDonaldland characters and takes their sandwiches... The Hammurderer is quickly becoming regarded as the worst-received advertising mascot since Kool-Aid's 1989 discontinuation of "The Grapist," a huge purple monster who sodomizes thirsty children. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat GEORGE WILL on Daschle's comments. Presumably Daschle meant that Bush has failed to secure the support of the French and a majority of other Security Council members for enforcing the plain meaning of Resolution 1441, which the French co-authored and which the Security Council unanimously adopted. But had the president succeeded, the result would have been the "serious consequences" that 1441 calls for: war. The French and everyone else, including Daschle—the regime-change-endorsing, use-of-force-authorizing Daschle—understood that. So Daschle's position is: America is "forced to war" because presidential diplomacy failed to produce a broader coalition for war... # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM ( 10:12 AM ) The Rat "Your head says one thing, your whole life says another. Your head always loses." —Humphrey Bogart, Key Largo # Posted by The Rat @ 10:12 AM Wednesday, March 19, 2003 ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat TODAY IS PHILIP ROTH'S BIRTHDAY! Celebrate by looking at pictures of Ursula Andress, who was also born today. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat FLORIDA MAN CAN KEEP "JEWBAN" LICENSE PLATE. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat Unwearied still, lover by lover, They paddle in the cold, Companionable streams or climb the air; Their hearts have not grown old; Passion or conquest, wander where they will, Attend upon them still. —from "The Wild Swans at Coole" # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat AND ON A RELATED NOTE, here is the homepage of the Rat Fan Club. The Rat Fan Club, founded in 1992, focuses on rats as companion animals. The club currently has about 540 members in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland, and the U.S. Our goal is to share our love of rats, promote them as companion animals, and spread information about their proper care. If you love your rats, want to give them the best care possible, and want to share your love of rats with other rat lovers, then The Rat Fan Club is for you! To join the club, just subscribe to The Rat Report, our monthly 8-page newsletter... # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat FANS SAY MOVIE NOT HELPING RATS' IMAGE. Pet rats are intelligent and loyal, owners and breeders say. But they fear those virtues are being obscured by "Willard," the new remake of a 1971 horror film about a young man who trains an army of killer rats. "The funny thing is, I've had mice, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and I've been nipped by all of them. I've never been bitten by a rat," said Pat Hunt of B'wana Don's Pet Center in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. Rats often serve as classroom pets because they get along with children and they're smart enough to be trained. They're nothing like the bloodthirsty beasts portrayed in "Willard," said Christine Reed, manager of a pet store that caters to rat owners. "Professionally speaking and as a pet owner of rats, I can say this movie is generating people wanting rats for the wrong reason," Reed said. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat WRITE YOUR OWN CAPTION. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat DAVID FRUM takes on those twits at Chronicles and The American Conservative. The writers I quote call themselves "paleoconservatives," implying that they are somehow the inheritors of an older, purer conservatism than that upheld by their impostor rivals. But even Robert Taft and Charles Lindbergh ceased accommodating Axis aggression after Pearl Harbor. Since 9/11, by contrast, the paleoconservatives have collapsed into a mood of despairing surrender unparalleled since the Vichy republic went out of business. James Burnham famously defined liberalism as "the ideology of Western suicide." What are we to make of self-described conservatives who see it as their role to make excuses for suicide bombers? # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat "I'M SURE THAT AS A LEADER HE LOVES HIS PEOPLE." Jacques Chirac, referring to Saddam Hussein, in this interview. Via OpinionJournal. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat WORLD'S VIEW OF AMERICA WORSENS. After reading this article, you'll return the favor. Respondents in the nations asserted that U.S. foreign policy had more of a negative effect on them than a positive one—with only the British evenly divided. All of them opposed taking part in a war to end Saddam Hussein's rule, even though most believed that the Middle East would be more stable after an American-led invasion. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat WHEN YOU RETIRE, GO TO NORWAY. Residents of five retirement homes in Norway drank a toast to the police this week, thanks in part to the 2,000 cans of free beer they got from them. Police in Vaagsoy, 373 miles northwest of the capital, Oslo, confiscated the Germany beer earlier this year, but weren't sure what to do with it. They didn't want to dump it, but they couldn't keep it for themselves, either. "The other option would have been to destroy the beer," police inspector Nils Bakke said Wednesday. Holm said it made more sense to give it to residents of the retirement homes. "There will be a more controlled use here," she said. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM ( 11:39 AM ) The Rat "I am the Raskolnikov of whacking-off!" —Alexander Portnoy # Posted by The Rat @ 11:39 AM Tuesday, March 18, 2003 ( 7:29 PM ) The Rat PEOPLE LIKE THIS need to read things like this. "There was a machine designed for shredding plastic. Men were dropped into it and we were again made to watch. Sometimes they went in head first and died quickly. Sometimes they went in feet first and died screaming. It was horrible. I saw 30 people die like this. Their remains would be placed in plastic bags and we were told they would be used as fish food... on one occasion, I saw Qusay [President Saddam Hussein’s youngest son] personally supervise these murders." This is one of the many witness statements that were taken by researchers from Indict—the organisation I chair—to provide evidence for legal cases against specific Iraqi individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. This account was taken in the past two weeks... # Posted by The Rat @ 7:29 PM ( 7:29 PM ) The Rat MARC FISHER on the tractor standoff. I hate to be giving advice to Saddam Hussein at this moment, but clearly, the most effective path for any enemy of America is to put on a helmet that makes him look like Franz Liebkind, the unreconstructed Nazi in Mel Brooks' "The Producers," get himself a John Deere tractor and drive it into a shallow decorative pond. That'll shut down any American city but good. # Posted by The Rat @ 7:29 PM ( 7:29 PM ) The Rat THE SEVEN DEADLY ICE-CREAM FLAVORS! # Posted by The Rat @ 7:29 PM ( 7:29 PM ) The Rat "THE IRON CURTAIN LOOK." # Posted by The Rat @ 7:29 PM ( 7:29 PM ) The Rat "The love impulse in men very frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict." —Bringing Up Baby # Posted by The Rat @ 7:29 PM Monday, March 17, 2003 ( 12:11 PM ) The Rat IRISH-AMERICANS GEAR UP FOR "THE REINFORCIN' O' THE STEREOTYPES." Via The Onion. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:11 PM ( 12:10 PM ) The Rat STAR OF DAVID CARVED INTO JEWISH WOMAN'S WRIST (link in French). # Posted by The Rat @ 12:10 PM ( 12:09 PM ) The Rat NEW SLEEP RESEARCH. People sleeping less than eight hours a night were slower to react, less able to think clearly and perform simple memory tasks, the researchers report in the March issue of the journal Sleep. They also performed as poorly on certain tasks as the individuals evaluated after one or two nights of sleeplessness. And, click here for a new study on yawning. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:09 PM ( 12:00 PM ) The Rat AWESOME PEANUTS CARTOON. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:00 PM ( 11:59 AM ) The Rat SMART FAMILY FIELDS BOOK, MOVIE OFFERS. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:59 AM ( 11:58 AM ) The Rat FOUND THIS STORY off a News of the Weird reference. Two days before stabbing Dennis Cottrill, 71, who was out for a walk, Thomas Clark, 30, logged on to the Ask Jeeves website to ask: "What sentence would I get for stabbing somebody in an unprovoked attack?" # Posted by The Rat @ 11:58 AM ( 11:53 AM ) The Rat A REPORTER FOR THE BRITISH NEWS OF THE WORLD TABLOID has been arrested for trying to smuggle guns onto an airplane as part of an expose on airport security. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:53 AM ( 11:52 AM ) The Rat Mitch. Hi Curly. Kill anyone today? Curly. Day ain't over yet. —City Slickers # Posted by The Rat @ 11:52 AM Friday, March 14, 2003 ( 1:21 PM ) The Rat "OUR NEWSPAPER OF RECORD." Tom Gross shreds the New York Times for its coverage of Israel. A must-read. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:21 PM ( 1:16 PM ) The Rat GIANT CHEETO UNVEILED IN IOWA, thereby giving me an excuse to link again to that "World's Largest Roadside Attractions" page. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:16 PM ( 1:15 PM ) The Rat WISH WE COULD DO THIS WITH U.N. HEADQUARTERS... # Posted by The Rat @ 1:15 PM ( 1:14 PM ) The Rat FRANCE, CHINA, AND SYRIA have been illicitly supplying Iraq with materials for long-range surface-to-surface missiles, William Safire reports. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:14 PM ( 1:11 PM ) The Rat VATICAN MISLAYS THE KEYS TO HEAVEN. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:11 PM ( 1:02 PM ) The Rat WHO IS THIS "EVE"? # Posted by The Rat @ 1:02 PM ( 12:50 PM ) The Rat CLICK HERE for a very weird close-up shot of our national bird (not to be confused with the "New Jersey state bird"). And here, for some reasons to wish you were in California. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:50 PM ( 12:49 PM ) The Rat WORLD'S FIRST BRAIN PROSTHESIS TESTED. If they need any more candidates, I've got a list of names... # Posted by The Rat @ 12:49 PM ( 12:48 PM ) The Rat MISSOURI SENATORS SAY WAR IS INEVITABLE, BLAME FRENCH. Definitely a contender for headline-of-the-day. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:48 PM ( 12:47 PM ) The Rat COLLEGE PRESIDENT HELD ON POT CHARGES. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:47 PM ( 12:46 PM ) The Rat IF WE CAN SEND THREE CHICOMS INTO SPACE WHY CAN'T WE SEND THEM ALL? # Posted by The Rat @ 12:46 PM ( 12:45 PM ) The Rat THIS WEEK'S SEARCH REQUESTS. "jordanian porn" "Cambodian women to marry" "bound in duct tape fetish" "Mitochondria eve pregnant" "annoying french phrases" Also note that while my page is ranked 24th on a search for "horny after childbirth," it ranks 5th on a search for "rat cartoons in a hamburger." # Posted by The Rat @ 12:45 PM ( 12:44 PM ) The Rat You do me wrong to take me out o' the grave... —King Lear # Posted by The Rat @ 12:44 PM Thursday, March 13, 2003 ( 10:58 AM ) The Rat "THE BIGGEST COOKIE IN THE WORLD"? # Posted by The Rat @ 10:58 AM ( 10:57 AM ) The Rat STUCK IN FRANCE WITH NOTHING TO DO? Fear not! Just go to this website to find a strike near you. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:57 AM ( 10:55 AM ) The Rat A NEW TAKE ON DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS. Our P.R.C. pals are introducing mobile execution vans. Link via James Morrow. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:55 AM ( 10:55 AM ) The Rat A DUTCH WOMAN IS PLANNING TO MARRY HERSELF on May 28. The Rat tried to marry herself once, but she couldn't stand her in-laws. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:55 AM ( 10:54 AM ) The Rat THE PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN has passed the Senate 65-32. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:54 AM ( 10:54 AM ) The Rat I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them on long winter evenings. —Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep # Posted by The Rat @ 10:54 AM Wednesday, March 12, 2003 ( 1:58 PM ) The Rat TWO MEN BRAWL; CHICKEN DEAD. "The two had met several weeks ago at an anger-management seminar..." This is almost, but not quite, as perfect a news story as the crack-cocaine-fueled Krispy Kreme truck joyride that left a 15-mile-long-trail of doughnuts in its wake last March. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:58 PM ( 10:21 AM ) The Rat THE RAT would like her friends to know that when the time comes for them to free her from prison, they will win major style points for doing it like this. A group of at least four men in police uniform attacked the prison in Fresnes, south of Paris, to free Antonio Ferrara, an Italian national convicted of armed robbery who had already escaped from jail once. The men fired repeatedly with rocket launchers at the prison doors to blow them open and at the watchtowers, causing serious damage but no injuries. They entered the prison through two separate doors and then passed explosives to Ferrara, who used them to blast through the bars over his cell window and escape, in the third jail break this year in France. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:21 AM ( 10:20 AM ) The Rat STANLEY KURTZ on that Canadian court's ruling that a child can have three legal parents. (Note that the ruling means we can all be like Gilgamesh now.) # Posted by The Rat @ 10:20 AM ( 10:19 AM ) The Rat BROODING AMPLIFIES SADNESS. You heard it here first. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:19 AM ( 10:18 AM ) The Rat NICE ANECDOTE from Rod Dreher (read the part in italics). # Posted by The Rat @ 10:18 AM ( 10:17 AM ) The Rat PETA HAS FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN ITS EFFORTS to get "better living conditions" for turkeys that have been pardoned by the president. What I don't get is the part about the plan to put chickens in the turkey's pen "for mental stimulation." Full story here. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:17 AM ( 10:16 AM ) The Rat FIVE POINTS to whoever can guess why Communist China has banned Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Woman, Beast of Burden and Let's Spend the Night Together from the Stones' tour next month. (For instance: "I'll never be your beast of burden" line could spark insurrection in the laogai. Or: Contains the line "I've walked for miles, my feet are hurting," which could cast the Long March in a negative light.) # Posted by The Rat @ 10:16 AM ( 10:15 AM ) The Rat SADDAM READY TO KILL IRAQIS. Now there's a news flash. OTOH you gotta like the nickname "Chemical Ali." # Posted by The Rat @ 10:15 AM ( 10:14 AM ) The Rat Beauty comes out of unexpectedness, and stares at us, 'as though we were the ones who'd made a mistake.' —Anne Carson in If Not, Winter, quoting a poem by Yannis Ritsos # Posted by The Rat @ 10:14 AM Tuesday, March 11, 2003 ( 1:52 PM ) The Rat "YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO GO INTO A PEN WITH AN AMOROUS OSTRICH," a Scottish ecologist notes. Full story here. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:52 PM ( 1:36 PM ) The Rat IF YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT AN "AUSTRALIAN EAST COAST FREETAIL MICRO BAT" LOOKS LIKE, click here. If you ever wondered what a U.N. weapons inspection looks like, click here. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:36 PM ( 1:24 PM ) The Rat PREEMPTIVE SURRENDER. Forgot to link this yesterday. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:24 PM ( 1:22 PM ) The Rat O VS. OPRAH. This is pleasing in so many ways... A federal judge has tossed out the claims of a publisher of a German erotic magazine who accused Oprah Winfrey of jeopardizing his magazine by launching one with a similar name. Judge John G. Koeltl threw out the accusations brought by Ronald Brockmeyer, the German publisher of O Magazine, saying there was no evidence of any actual confusion between his publication and O, The Oprah Magazine. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:22 PM ( 1:17 PM ) The Rat THE NEW MTA FARES. Grr. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:17 PM ( 1:09 PM ) The Rat ANTIWAR PROTESTORS TRASH 9/11 MEMORIAL. Antiwar protesters burned and ripped up flags, flowers and patriotic signs at a Sept. 11 memorial that residents erected on a fence along Whittier Boulevard days after the terrorist attacks in 2001 and have maintained ever since. However, although officers witnessed the vandalism Saturday afternoon, police did not arrest three people seen damaging the display because they were "exercising the same freedom of speech that the people who put up the flags were,' La Habra Police Capt. John Rees said Monday. "For this to be vandalism, there had to be an ill-will intent,' he said. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:09 PM ( 1:09 PM ) The Rat PSYCHO-CAT! # Posted by The Rat @ 1:09 PM ( 1:07 PM ) The Rat UPSET INDIAN LAWMAKERS SCREAM FOUR HOURS. Upset by a budget proposal to raise the price of fertilizer, lawmakers in India's lower house of parliament shouted their opposition for four hours on Tuesday. The tactic was so effective the finance minister withdrew the plan. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:07 PM ( 1:07 PM ) The Rat One can tell by your kiss that your gin is excellent. —The Beggar's Opera # Posted by The Rat @ 1:07 PM Monday, March 10, 2003 ( 4:49 PM ) The Rat THE STUFF ZAGAT COULDN'T PRINT. Some of these are priceless. Among my favorites: They put the salmon in salmonella Heart-stopping food in a life-taking neighborhood Also known as Ebola Café Waiters just back from the jihad If I say anything bad about the place, I might get whacked Could have changed my oil two times from the bottom of the pasta dish Waitresses trained by Joseph Stalin The quiche of death Gay Chuck E. Cheese So romantic that wives feel like mistresses and vice versa # Posted by The Rat @ 4:49 PM ( 12:43 PM ) The Rat NEW FINDINGS ON FETAL CONSCIOUSNESS. # Posted by The Rat @ 12:43 PM ( 12:36 PM ) The Rat THE LATEST ON "CYBERBULLIES." # Posted by The Rat @ 12:36 PM ( 12:15 PM ) The Rat "BILL CLINTON IS USED TO PEOPLE SAYING THAT HE CHEATS ON HIS WIFE, BUT DON'T DARE ACCUSE HIM OF CHEATING ON HIS GOLF GAME." Via Page Six. "Apparently, being president means never having to say double-bogey," [New York Times reporter Don] Van Natta writes, refering to Clinton's habit of taking "mulligans," or do-over shots. Van Natta first made the accusations in a Times story in 1999. In the Public Affairs spring catalog, he recounts the aftermath of his article: "A week later, I heard from one of Clinton's closest friends, Terry McAuliffe. 'The President is furious with you. Your piece was horrible. He is so mad at you. He will never forgive you.'" When Van Natta reminded McAuliffe that he'd written far more damaging stories about Clinton, Bubba's pal shot back, "Those things bothered him, too, but this is different! You called him a cheater! The president takes his golf game... very seriously." # Posted by The Rat @ 12:15 PM ( 12:04 PM ) The Rat NEWS CRAWLS FROM THE SIMPSONS FOX NEWS PARODY. Via Shamed. During the "debate" on Fox News: POINTLESS NEWS CRAWLS UP 37 PERCENT... DO DEMOCRATS CAUSE CANCER? FIND OUT AT FOXNEWS.COM... RUPERT MURDOCH: TERRIFIC DANCER... DOW DOWN 5000 POINTS... STUDY: 92 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS ARE GAY... JFK POSTHUMOUSLY JOINS REPUBLICAN PARTY... OIL SLICKS FOUND TO KEEP SEALS YOUNG, SUPPLE... DAN QUAYLE: AWESOME During the closing credits: ASHCROFT DECLARES BREAST OF CHICKEN SANDWICH "OBSCENE"... HILLARY CLINTON EMBARRASSES SELF, NATION... BIBLE SAYS JESUS FAVORED CAPITAL-GAINS CUT... STAY TUNED FOR HANNITY AND IDIOT... ONLY DORKS WATCH CNN... JIMMY CARTER: OLD, WRINKLY, USELESS... BRAD PITT + ALBERT EINSTEIN = DICK CHENEY... RIGHT WING OF CHICKEN # Posted by The Rat @ 12:04 PM ( 12:02 PM ) The Rat Make me a willow cabin at your gate, And call upon my soul within the house; Write loyal cantons of contemned love And sing them loud even in the dead of night... —Twelfth Night # Posted by The Rat @ 12:02 PM Saturday, March 08, 2003 ( 4:57 PM ) The Rat IRAQI POLICEMEN SET WOMAN ON FIRE. Shortly after three o'clock on a hot afternoon 37-year-old Nazif Mamik Tofik, an Iraqi Kurd, approached the border post carrying two five-gallon canisters of fuel. She hoped to cross to the Kurdish-controlled side and sell them for a pound or two, which would help feed her eight hungry children. As she stepped up to the Iraqi checkpoint, a military policeman suddenly pulled a knife, slashed open the flimsy plastic containers and splashed petrol all over her. Then the head of the Iraqi border guard casually walked up to her, pulled a lighter from his pocket and set her ablaze. Soaked in fuel, she began to burn like a torch. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:57 PM ( 4:46 PM ) The Rat ASPARAGIRL ON THE LYSISTRATA PROJECT. Over at USS Clueless, Steven Den Beste has a post up about The Lysistrata Project, an effort by anti-war activists to encourage female chastity as a way to protest the war. The project of course assumes that all women are anti-war and all men are pro-war, and that furthermore the only way for women to make their political opinions known is to withhold sex, and further still that any woman would actually want to do that. It also implies that the best way that today's women have of influencing their worlds is not through their writings, speeches, jobs, money, or votes, but through their ability to have or not have sex, and that the sex will be solely with men, who are of course the real powerhouses in our society when it comes to shaping world events. You'll understand if I find that a creepy idea, akin to the MST3k short I watched on DVD the other night about the virtues of majoring in Home Economics at Iowa State. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:46 PM Friday, March 07, 2003 ( 5:18 PM ) The Rat IMPOSSIBLE OBJECTS. Some cool stuff on this page. # Posted by The Rat @ 5:18 PM ( 4:48 PM ) The Rat MAN FAKES CHOKING TO GET WOMEN'S ATTENTION. This is great. A short, dumpy man has been going around town faking choking episodes, apparently to get attention from women. He flails his arms, coughs and sputters. After a woman rushes over to help, he showers her with gratitude, hugs and kisses. "There's been no crime. Our hands are kind of tied here," sheriff's spokesman Bob Carpenter said Friday. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:48 PM ( 4:40 PM ) The Rat DATE FRESHENING HER LIPSTICK? Watch out! # Posted by The Rat @ 4:40 PM ( 4:38 PM ) The Rat THEY DON'T GIVE YOU SENTENCES LIKE THIS ON THOSE HIGH-SCHOOL VOCAB QUIZZES. Conversation with a friend the other day. A male friend—like you couldn't guess. Friend. "I think you'd make a great lesbian." Me. "What does it take to be a great lesbian?" Friend. "It's one of those ineffable qualities." # Posted by The Rat @ 4:38 PM ( 3:38 PM ) The Rat MY REVIEW of Norma Khouri's book. But don't read that, read the book. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:38 PM ( 11:02 AM ) The Rat "Well," the Boy said with gloom, "we change, don't we? It's as you say. We got to see the world... After all I took to drink, didn't I? I can take to other things." —Brighton Rock # Posted by The Rat @ 11:02 AM Thursday, March 06, 2003 ( 3:34 PM ) The Rat MICHIGAN TEENAGER takes a leaf out of Foucault's book. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:34 PM ( 3:30 PM ) The Rat PAGE O' SLOTHS. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:30 PM ( 3:24 PM ) The Rat I WONDER WHAT THIS IS LIKE WHEN YOU'RE DRUNK. Keep an eye peeled for this 40-foot colon, about to embark on a nationwide tour. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:24 PM ( 3:16 PM ) The Rat AND YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE HAVING A BAD DAY... # Posted by The Rat @ 3:16 PM ( 3:14 PM ) The Rat FOR ANYBODY OUT THERE looking to fly anyplace soon, Orbitz has this nifty new "Flex Search" feature that lets you search for the lowest fare within a window of dates rather than having to try multiple searches. (Note: Only works within the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.) # Posted by The Rat @ 3:14 PM ( 3:14 PM ) The Rat STUDY FINDS SUICIDE BOMBERS HAVE BEEN INDOCTRINATED. Thanks for the heads-up, guys. # Posted by The Rat @ 3:14 PM ( 3:12 PM ) The Rat Coworker 1. "But it's very frightening—we have no idea of what a human being without a soul would look like." Coworker 2. "I lived in Washington for twenty years, are you kidding?" —overheard at the office (some time ago) # Posted by The Rat @ 3:12 PM Wednesday, March 05, 2003 ( 4:52 PM ) The Rat WHAT KIND OF A COUNTRY makes it illegal to do this!? George Doughty hung his latest hunting trophy on the wall of his Sportsman's Bar and Restaurant. Then he went to jail. The problem was the trophy was Doughty's laptop computer. He shot it four times, as customers watched, after it crashed once too often. Doughty was jailed on suspicion of felony menacing, reckless endangerment and the prohibited use of weapons... # Posted by The Rat @ 4:52 PM ( 4:44 PM ) The Rat A FRIEND AND FORMER TEACHER to whom I sent that Maine National Guard story writes: "Sometimes I am ashamed of the behavior of my fellow 'educators.' But then I remember that many of them were mental midgets." # Posted by The Rat @ 4:44 PM ( 4:42 PM ) The Rat IRAQ TO KUWAIT: "SHUT UP, YOU MONKEY!" # Posted by The Rat @ 4:42 PM ( 4:40 PM ) The Rat NEW ZEALAND WOMAN OFFERS TO BE "CRUCIFIED FOR PEACE." "'I don't think [Bush] would have the courage to do it quite frankly, but that is the measure of a man,' she told Radio New Zealand." If this woman didn't have her head up her ass maybe she could tell us more about the measure of the mainland Chinese, who really have performed crucifixions in Tibet in modern times—it's not just a figure of speech there. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:40 PM ( 10:58 AM ) The Rat ANIMAL SPEEDS. An essential page. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:58 AM ( 10:58 AM ) The Rat WEASEL CENTRAL! Found this while reading up on why "weasels" is a pejorative too good for the French and Germans. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:58 AM ( 10:56 AM ) The Rat THAT CHOCOLATE-TASTER JOB AT FORNUM & MASON—first advertised last August, soon after Eve and I returned from London—has finally been filled. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:56 AM ( 10:54 AM ) The Rat "But you believe, don't you," Rose implored him, "you think it's true?" "Of course it's true," the Boy said. "What else could there be?" he went scornfully on. "Why," he said, "it's the only thing that fits. These atheists, they don't know nothing. Of course there's Hell. Flames and damnation," he said with his eyes on the dark shifting water and the lightning and the lamps going out above the black struts of the Palace Pier, "torments." "And Heaven too," Rose said with anxiety, while the rain fell interminably on. "Oh, maybe," the Boy said, "maybe." —Brighton Rock # Posted by The Rat @ 10:54 AM Tuesday, March 04, 2003 ( 11:22 AM ) The Rat DON'T MISS THIS WEEK'S NYTM (free registration required), which includes an intelligent piece from Judith Shulevitz on the (secular) uses of the Sabbath. Shulevitz neglects to mention that a hard-core day of rest is still observed in many parts of the world—it can be annoying at first to find the Galeries Lafayette are inaccessible on Sunday, but in the end I rather liked it. Life in Europe still has—though it has it less and less—a cyclical tempo we simply don't know how to do here in the States. Whenever I dream of living in a society with a greater respect for its Sabbatarian past—a fantasy I entertain only with anxiety, since Sabbatarians have a long history of going too far—I think of something two rabbis said. Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, best known for his tales of the golem, pointed out that the story of Creation was written in such a way that each day, each new creation, is seen as a step toward a completion that occurred on the Sabbath. # Posted by The Rat @ 11:22 AM ( 11:22 AM ) The Rat ALSO IN THE NYTM, Safire expounds on duck tape vs. duct tape (the answer may surprise you). # Posted by The Rat @ 11:22 AM ( 10:52 AM ) The Rat STALIN'S FORGOTTEN VICTIMS STUCK IN THE GULAG. Via Amy Welborn via Eve. An estimated 18 million Soviet citizens entered the gulags during the 50 years they flourished; a network of about 500 camps where at least seven million died. Coal was found in Vorkuta in the 1920s and by 1934 prisoners from all over the USSR were sucked into its pits and factories. Scattered on the town's fringes are the smashed remains of barracks, isolation cells and watchtowers. Thousands died here from disease, starvation and hypothermia. Those who survived their sentences were often too poor to return home. Most of the few still marooned have given up hope of return. "I think I will never see my motherland again," said Anastasia Bugaenko, 76, a former prisoner from western Ukraine. "I grew up in green countryside but I will die here in the snow." # Posted by The Rat @ 10:52 AM ( 10:42 AM ) The Rat DALI STOLEN, REPLACED WITH DARK, SPARKLING FOLGER'S CRYSTALS. The New York Times reported Sunday that the Dali artwork and its golden frame had been in a locked case in an area of the jail [at Riker's Island] that would normally only by used by jail personnel. A copy of a depiction of Jesus on a cross was stapled up in place of the Dali. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:42 AM ( 10:38 AM ) The Rat PROPERTY BOOM IN BAGHDAD. "Iraqis, and their neighbours in Kuwait, are gambling that when Saddam Hussein has been deposed the sites will become prime development sites for hotels, clubs and luxury homes." # Posted by The Rat @ 10:38 AM ( 10:34 AM ) The Rat HOOTERS AIR to debut Thursday. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:34 AM ( 10:28 AM ) The Rat PLANS FOR BERLIN DOG BROTHEL. No, it's not what you're thinking. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:28 AM ( 10:26 AM ) The Rat MCDONALD'S AD CONTROVERSY. From the lame-excuses file. The ITC conducted "anonymous test purchases," which it said showed "a disparity between the quantity of toppings in the purchased products against the television advertisement." McDonald's later admitted that although the contents of the sandwich were the same, "a proportion of the toppings was moved to the edge of the product for the filming, in order to be visible to viewers." # Posted by The Rat @ 10:26 AM ( 10:16 AM ) The Rat AMERICAN TOURISTS BEING HARASSED ABROAD. # Posted by The Rat @ 10:16 AM ( 10:14 AM ) The Rat Now from his breast into his eyes the ache of longing mounted, and he wept at last, his dear wife, clear and faithful, in his arms, longed for as the sunwarmed earth is longed for by a swimmer spent in rough water where his ship went down under Poseidon's blows, gale winds and tons of sea. Few men can keep alive through a big surf to crawl, clotted with brine, on kindly beaches in joy, in joy, knowing the abyss behind: and so she too rejoiced, her gaze upon her husband, her white arms round him pressed as though forever. —Odyssey XXIII, tr. Robert Fitzgerald # Posted by The Rat @ 10:14 AM Monday, March 03, 2003 ( 4:12 PM ) The Rat REMEMBER, MARCH IS NATIONAL FROZEN FOOD MONTH. Disport yourselves accordingly. # Posted by The Rat @ 4:12 PM ( 2:06 PM ) The Rat "HUMAN SHIELDS" FLEE IRAQ, CITING SAFETY CONCERNS. # Posted by The Rat @ 2:06 PM ( 1:56 PM ) The Rat THE RUDDY DUCK CONTROVERSY. # Posted by The Rat @ 1:56 PM ( 1:42 PM ) The Rat "The age of the universe has been nailed down—13.7 billion years." "Do we want to send it a card or something?" —overheard at my office # Posted by The Rat @ 1:42 PM |
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