|
Alo-Ha! Friday Charles Memminger |
France and friends lust
for Iraqi oil bucksIt is somehow refreshing to discover that France, Russia and Germany were not against the war in Iraq based on some high, noble moral grounds but simply because of greed.
Turns out that high-placed officials from those countries, if not the governments themselves, were receiving millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from the United Nations administered "Oil For Food" program in Iraq. The idea was that Saddam could sell oil to feed his people. But "Oil For Food" quickly became "Cash For Oil" and Saddam stuffed the pockets of various officials of the UN and the aforementioned countries. Now that we know the true impetus for France et al running interference for Saddam, we should invite them back into the fold. Moral indignation is hard to get your hands around. Pure greed is something we all understand.
Now the news ...
Legislature goes to pot
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) » Journalists slipped envelopes containing small quantities of marijuana into Bulgarian legislators' mailboxes to protest a tough new drug law, drawing heated reactions from the indignant lawmakers.The letters were part of a campaign against parliament's recent decision to criminalize the possession of a single dose of any kind of narcotic substance.
("This is absolutely intolerable," said legislator Brislav Tsekav. "And as soon as we're finished eating the pizzas and Subway sandwiches, we're going to do something about it.")
Running afowl of drugs
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) » A Nicaraguan defense lawyer whose client is facing cocaine charges, argued the narcotics were actually in the possession of the suspect's rooster and two hens.Attorney Manuel Urbina said the 67 kilos of cocaine and a revolver were found hidden in a case housing a fighting rooster and two hens. "The law is clear that whoever is in possession of the drugs is the one who should be accused," the lawyer said.
(Prosecutors said if the drugs did belong to the chickens, "They're going to fry.")
Face it, it's not really art
NEW YORK (AP) » French performance artist Orlan, who has undergone numerous plastic surgeries to transform her face and body to challenge traditional perceptions of beauty, says "art has to shock."And with her "carnal art," which has included reshaping her face to resemble Zimbabwe's Ndebele giraffe women and performing during her surgeries, she believes she achieves that end."
(Art critics are not amused. "As a piece of art, she should hang," said one. "Not in the Louvre, but a nice tree somewhere.")
Honolulu Lite on Sunday:
First it was "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy." Then there was "Queer Eye For The Straight Woman." Hey, what about "Straight Professional Lady of the Evening Freebie For The Poor Ugly Straight Guy?" That would be a huge audience demographic.Quote Me On This (The Wright Stuff):
"I talk to myself a lot but it bothers some people because I use a megaphone."
"I'm not afraid of heights but I'm afraid of widths."
"When I die, I'm going to leave my body to science fiction."
-- Steven Wright
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society
of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears
Tuesdays, Thursdays , Fridays and Sundays.
E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com