Logic & Sanity

"even in France"

The Weekly Standard relays this funny story:

France's daily Le Parisien revealed on December 20 that one of that country's best-known public magistrates, Pierre Hontang of Bayonne, is now under intensive Justice Ministry scrutiny for his alleged behavior at the Fifth Conference of European General Prosecutors in Germany this past May. Hontang attended the gathering as keynote speaker for a session on "fundamental principles of ethics for prosecutors." According to a preliminary report by a joint task force of French and German police investigators, however, Hontang also slipped away from the conference at least twice, both times in order to visit a brothel. And while he is thought the first time to have used his own money for what one detective called "activities that are a little

shameful for a magistrate of this standing," Hontang's return trip was apparently paid for with a credit card he'd stolen from a German colleague at the prosecutors' conference.

"The affair came to light," according to the Times of London, "after M. Hontang complained to the owner of the brothel . . . about the quality of its work. The owner noticed that he had not paid with his own credit card and alerted German police officers."

French justice minister Dominique Perben has asked the country's Conseil Suprieur de la Magistrature to suspend M. Hontang pending completion of the inquiry. "It just wasn't something we could ignore," a Conseil spokesman told reporters, "even in France."

That "even in France" part all by itself makes the whole story worthwhile, don't you think?

Indeed!

No kissing in Dubai!

A drunken Italian tourist has been fined more than $3,000 (£1,566) for hugging and kissing a woman in public in the United Arab Emirates.

Police took the couple in for questioning after seeing them embracing in the back of a taxi near Dubai airport, said local paper Gulf News.

Officers say the pair confessed to kissing and hugging, and the Italian also admitted to being drunk.The woman, an Egyptian national, had to pay $500 for lewd behaviour in public.

Considered one of the most liberal emirates, Dubai currently boasts about 5m visitors a year - many of them Westerners - and is keen to establish itself as the Gulf's business and leisure hub.

Kiss is like so... gross.

Photos from Phuket

Amazing tsunami aftermath photos from Phuket taken by an amateur photographer here and here.

American Red Cross is taking donations (via Amazon.com) for the South Asia Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster relief.

22,000+ dead

Over 22,000 in 9 countries are dead and a million are homeless as a result of the tsunamis caused by the strongest earthquake in 40 years.

Is a disaster of such a magnitude possible here in US? Sure is:

Cities from Miami to New York would get swamped by waves up to 50 metres high, capable of surging up to 20 kilometres inland, according to Day's research.

Thanksgiving for Turkey

There's a very interesting piece in the current issue of Weekly Standard (12/27/2004, Volume 010, Issue 15) by Mustafa Akyol. The article lobbies for the admission of Turkey into the EU, and is peppered with interesting facts and observations:

Compared with the Arabs, the Turks were latecomers to the Muslim faith. The former were politically and intellectually more advanced until the 13th century, when the Arabs' brilliant civilization was nearly destroyed by one of the most devastating conquests ever, the Mongol catastrophe. The Arabs never recovered, and the leadership of Islam passed to the Turks. The Turks flourished, especially under the Ottoman Empire, the global superpower of the 16th and much of the 17th centuries. Although it then entered a steady decline, the Ottoman Empire survived as a powerful state until World War I.

The political power of the Turks, and their continual interaction with the West, gave them an important insight: They learned to face facts. While the Arabs stagnated in their closed tribal universe, the Turks had to rule an empire, make practical decisions, adopt new technologies, and reform existing structures. This praxis helped them develop new religious perceptions, too. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), for instance, the sultan's head of Islamic affairs, Ebussuud Effendi, authorized the charging of interest by foundations working for the betterment of society. This is still a revolutionary idea in the Islamic world, where banking is generally associated with the usury denounced in the Koran. To this day, legal and theological gymnastics are required to make Western banking and investment acceptable to most Muslims.

During the 18th century, the Ottomans started to reform their age-old sharia laws. A big step was the abolition of slavery. While this was a nonissue in many parts of the empire, there were strong reactions from the Arab Middle East, whose tribal social structure still relied on slaves. The fiercest resistance took the form of a revolt in the Arabian peninsula--led by none other than Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the eponymous founder of Wahhabism, the fanatical sect that is breeding most Islamic terrorists today.

After World War I, Turkey became an independent nation. Here again, its experience differed from that of the Arab world, which was colonized by the British and the French. The colonial experience of the interwar period gave rise to an anti-Western nationalism in nearly all the Arab states, to which Turkey was immune. After World War II, when most Arab states became allies of the Soviet Union, Turkey again took a different path and aligned itself with the United States and NATO.

Do read the the whole thing.

Arafat's money...

By now most people heard about Arafat diverting money from Palestinian projects. The New Zealand Herald provides details on how some of it was invested:

Arafat, who died on November 11 at 75, disclosed US$799 million of investments in documents the Palestinian Authority has released that show he did not just invest in building basic services in the West Bank and Gaza.

Arafat used a holding company to buy stakes that ranged from US$285 million ($400 million) in Egyptian cellphone company Orascom and its affiliates to some US$30 million in private equity, mostly in the US.

These included American software companies such as Simplexity (US$3.2 million), Vaultus (US$2.1 million) and US$1.3 million in Strike Holdings, which owns the Bowlmor Lanes bowling alley in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

At a time when the authority was starved for funds, Arafat's money managers placed bets from Tel Aviv to Silicon Valley on venture capital funds, software start-ups and telecoms companies.

Just damn!

I am not a big fan of american cars, but damn! Pontiac GTO - 6.0L Gen IV LS2 V8 engine, 400hp, rear wheel drive. I'ld drive that. Maybe not in the winter, though.

Get your Jew on!

Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is having a "Hannukah Hotties" review this Friday:

Hannukah Hotties

Hannukah Hotties is a classic burlesque review of all Jewish women, all of whom know exactly what it takes to get your Jew on ... and off!

Featuring Dottie Lux from Red Hots Burlesque (left) and Darlinda Just Darlinda (http://www.acedigitalarts.com/) (right). PLUS Adam Fisher and the Vangeline Theater (http://www.vangeline.com).

ALSO, join us as we celebrate an ancient Jewish tradition: order some Chinese takeout on Xmas Eve! Chinese takeout menus will be available for deliveries to Galapagos.

The girls look skanky, but mmmmm..... Chinese food!

Bull for sale

Wall Street's famous "Charging Bull" statue, a symbol of unbridled capitalism and a major tourist draw, has been put up for sale, with bidding expected to start at five million dollars.

The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported that artist Arturo Di Modica, who sculpted the 7,000-pound (3,175 kilo), 16-foot (five-meter) bronze had decided to sell his creation to the highest bidder.

Di Modica, who put 360,000 dollars of his own money into the work that was inspired by the 1987 market crash, has put some strict conditions on the sale.

I wouldn't be surprised if Arturo Di Modica gets more then $10,000,000 for it. The super rich Wall St. types will try to outbid each other and it surely will end up in somebody's front yard.

Here's some history of the statue:

In December 1989, New Yorkers awoke to find a 7,000-pound bronze bull in front of the New York Stock Exchange, at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street. Italian native and self-taught sculptor Arturo DeModica, a resident of Manhattan’s SoHo district, created the charging bull, the symbol of a thriving stock market. He had forklifted the statue during the middle of the night, without permission. While police seized the statue and brought it to an impound lot, the public demanded the bull’s return. New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the Bowling Green Association relocated “Charging Bull? to Bowling Green in lower Manhattan. Today, tourists and investors alike visit the bull, shown at left, rubbing the statue for good luck.

UPDATE

Arturo Di Modica says "I put the bull up for sale because I need the money to create more masterpieces for New York". Any deal will require the buyer to donate the statue to the city of New York, but will allow his/her name to be inscribed on a plaque next to it.

"Homeless"

Paula Headley dressed for her job in Midtown — wearing a filthy blanket and a pathetic look on her tear-streaked face. Then she headed home at the end of a busy day — clad in a casual-chic jogging outfit and a warm hat.

Meet the Fifth Avenue faker — a fixture for four years on the famous thoroughfare, where she begs change from high-fashion shoppers.

Last Saturday, camped out in front of the Louis Vuitton store, it took her only 20 minutes to collect $18 in bills, several dollars more in coins and one cup of cocoa from a middle-aged man who also gave her a gentle warning, "Careful, it's hot."

When work was over for the day, Headley hobbled slowly across Fifth Avenue, doubled over as if in pain. She walked into a telephone kiosk — and, like Superman, emerged transformed.

Wearing her jogging clothing, she stood straight up, took a sip of the cocoa and strode off.

Precisely why I rarely give money to beggars. Street performers? Sure, but when it comes to beggars I am very, very, very reluctant. NY Post is estimating that if she begs 40 hours a week, she is making over $100k. That's tax free, ofcourse. She said she wound up on the streets when she lost both her parents at age 24...

You can read the rest here.

UPDATE

When a reporter and photographer asked Headley what she was up to, the con woman opened up her tea cup, hurled the liquid at the lensman and then shuffled off in search of a better spot to ply her trade.