-Caveat Lector- SkeptiNews 990125b - - - - - - - - - - - All The News That's Fit To Question : Passages starting with : are editorial comments to provoke discussion. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Afghan Taliban Sees Muslim Rulers Erring On Beard. KABUL (Reuters) - A senior official of Afghanistan's Taliban government said some Muslim rulers were violating Islamic injunctions to grow long beards. "Growing a beard is an order of Islam's prophet (Mohammad)," Maulvi Shamsuddin, deputy minister of Taliban's religious police, told reporters. But he said: "Many Muslims, some heads of Islamic states, including that of Saudi Arabia, do not abide by this order." http://nt.excite.com/news/r/990125/12/odd-beard : Does your religion prescribe the state of your body hair? Should it? Why? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Twenty Reasons For UK To Join USA. LONDON (Reuters) - The taxes in the US are lower than in Britain, the scandals are sexier, Viagra is more readily available. And if that's not enough to convince Britain to join the United States rather than look toward a United Europe, Britain's Sun tabloid came up with 17 more reasons. http://nt.excite.com/news/r/990125/07/odd-join : Are evil Brit mind-control wizards masterminding the amalgamation? Is this the next step of the Illuminati's world domination plot? Is it a good idea? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Genome Project Could Protect Against Attack. ANAHEIM, Calif. (Reuters) - Itemizing all the genes in potential biological weapons such as anthrax or bubonic plague could prevent extremists from ever using them against the United States. Experts called for a kind of bioterrorism genome project, similar to the Human Genome Project currently under way in which scientists are racing to map out, or sequence, every gene in the human body. See http://cnn.com/US/9901/24/BC-SCIENCE-BIOTERROR.reut/index.html # Gene may be tied to nicotine addiction. (AP) Scientists have isolated another gene that might affect a person's vulnerability to cigarette addiction. The finding may help researchers develop new ways to stop smoking. Having a certain form of the gene makes it easier to kick the habit, or perhaps to avoid getting hooked in the first place. See http://www2.nando.net/noframes/story/0,2107,10792-18504-132860-0,00.html and http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558177938-804 : Are humans engineered for addiction? By whom? Can we be re-engineered to thwart or potentiate bioterrorism? What genomes would you like to sequence? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Forget Beanie Babies, These Rocks Are Hot! Meteorites become the next collector's item - Call it the Armageddon syndrome, the Deep Impact effect, or a spinoff from other sky-is-falling Hollywood movies. Factor in the 1996 finding that primitive life forms may exist in a Martian rock discovered in Antarctica. Add the cachet of owning an out-of-this-world conversation piece and an investment that looks certain to increase in value. The result: Meteorites are now the hottest natural-history collectible. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990201/1mete.htm : Is UFOlogy just the publicity arm of the meteorite marketing business? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # APPLE RECRUITS HAL 9000. The computer maker calls on history's most sinister computer to remind us that the Macintosh is Y2K compliant. See http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/tip/culture/story/17519.html *** Intel agrees to change its chips. WASHINGTON (AP) Intel Corp. bowed to concerns by privacy groups upset over new technology that allows consumers to be identified as they move across the Internet. The company promised it will offer free software to allow customers to easily turn off the feature permanently on its new line of Pentium III computer chips. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558188510-fb6 : Will Y2K interfere with ID-tracking? Is your implant Y2K compliant? Are evil computers a threat? Are computers our friends? Will you boycall Intel? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # FOOTLIGHTS TO THE MAX. Composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson needed some outlandish scenery for their new opera. They wound up ditching conventional notions of staging. All the world's a stage - see http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/tip/culture/story/17496.html : When will all entertainment, all observations, all experiences be virtual? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *** Pope meets Mexico's affluent. MEXICO CITY (AP) A day after ministering to the masses, Pope John Paul II reached out to the rich, celebrating a private Mass for bankers, politicians and other church patrons. Well-dressed couples climbed out of luxury cars at the Vatican's nunciate (embassy) for the gathering, offering a stark contrast to Sunday's exuberant Mass before an estimated 1 million people at a dusty, trash-filled auto racetrack. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558188399-4a9 *** Also: Pope focuses on converts, see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558185859-652 *** : Would you like to minister to the affluent? How would you convert them? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Medical Short Takes: # BIOTERRORISM COULD TARGET ETHNIC GROUPS BY GENETIC MAKEUP http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/DeanFullTextTopics.cfm?ID=8875 # NEW MICROBES POSING HEALTH RISKS TO HUMANS, MARINE LIFE http://www.healthcentral.com/news/newsfulltext.cfm?ID=8867 # A DEADLY MYSTERY: WHY DID AMOCO LAB SCIENTISTS GET BRAIN TUMORS? http://www.healthcentral.com/news/newsfulltext.cfm?ID=8866 # ASIAN MENSTRUAL-PAIN FOLK-REMEDY TIED TO LEAD POISONING http://www.healthcentral.com/news/newsfulltext.cfm?ID=8847 # DEFINITION OF SEX, CONTINUED - Are you getting any? http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/DeanFullTextTopics.cfm?ID=8828 # BANQUET HONORS THOSE IN PRISON FOR ABORTION-RELATED CRIMES http://www.healthcentral.com/news/newsfulltext.cfm?ID=8864 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Testicle cells to treat disease. (BBC) Doctors may soon use tissue from testicles to treat brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/specials/anaheim_99/newsid_262000/ 262938.stm : Instead of having his brain in his balls, it may be just the opposite, eh? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Look down to look up. (BBC) The American Space Agency, Nasa, has been explaining its research programme to look for extraterrestrial life. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/specials/anaheim_99/newsid_262000/ 262918.stm : Where would you look for ETs? Where would ETs look for you? Where else? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Creating artificial bugs Scientists may soon have the ability to create completely new living organisms from the raw chemical building blocks of life. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/specials/anaheim_99/newsid_262000/ 262025.stm : What artificial lifeforms would do you the most good? What would they do? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Heart in a box A Canadian scientist plans to create complete human hearts for transplants. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/specials/anaheim_99/newsid_261000/ 261707.stm : Would you like to have a working heart in a jar, beating, beating... ??? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Give kids money. Money is simple. Sex, while fun, is complicated and has consequences. Consumerism has no consequences." --Ian Shoales * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * http://www.sonic.net/~ric * ICQ# 19633976 * email INFO or SUBSCRIBE SKEPTICHAT to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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