Well, to tell you the truth, Mr. Lay said, I hardly ever notice anything. I mean, I didnt notice anything was wrong when Enrons finances were going up in flames. So its only understandable that I wouldnt notice a little thing like the jury going off to deliberate how much time Ill spend in jail.
A Life Of Lorenzo Da Ponte:Talent Flies; Practical Reason Walks
Among the worlds favorite operas, we find three of them with a libretto penned by Lorenzo Da Ponte and music by none other than the astonishingly delightful Viennese ear-confectioner Mozart. The list is a delight in itself: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovann, and Così Fan Tutte.
We learn in the new book, The Librettist of Venice, by Rodney Bolt, that Da Ponte grew so close with the unequalled Mozart both of whom, we learn, were not only talented but vain, insecure and ambitious that while writing Don Giovanni, they worked in adjoining lodges and shouted to each other through their windows.
Da Ponte even dared to contend with Mozart, who believed the text should be subservient to the music, while Da Ponte was certain that the words should be primary, in fact, that without his poetry even Mighty Mos music would be nothing.
Yet how Da Ponte tumbled from the heights. Hard as it may be to imagine, he wound up in New York, running, at one time, a grocery store on the Bowery.
Sun Will Only Burn For 5 Billion More Years; Humans Express Concern
We are often reminded that the sun will only shine in a way that can support life way out here on the earth for only about another five billion years. Sensing the eventuality of the cataclysm, were easily inclined to express our concern, along with our sympathetic distress for those far-off folks who will be standing on the earth when old Father Sol begins to turn down the heat.
It seems to us, however, that we have far more immediate concerns, for example, if we can last, in the event of a surprise nuclear war, maybe another billionth of a second.
So lets ask the question that, as far as we know, has yet to be considered. How might we band of explosive rabble rousers last for another five billion years, rather than self-destructing any time sooner?
First, of course, we should consider dealing with the biggest tomahawks that are in the air, primarily, the three Bs, by which we dont mean the names of three eternal classical composers but pollution, population, and pop goes the A-Bomb.
Meanwhile, what invitingly positive items might we busy ourselves with during the next five billion years or so? After all, our unrealistic and yet, we suspect, achievable goal is more than just hanging on for the essentially eternal ride; its enjoying the wondrous flight through space and time.
New Cause of High Blood Pressure Revealed; Expecting Logical Behavior
A new study in The New England Journal Of Medicine reveals that one of the principal causes of high-blood pressure in the contemporary world is logical thinking.
A researcher commented on the surprise finding, saying, Look its basically an illogical world out there. So the more you try to deal with it logically, the more upset youre bound to become and up shoots your blood pressure. We found that, when we convince patients to give up interfacing with the world with the expectations that logical thinking sets up, they immediately become far more relaxed and, as a result, their blood pressure drops, often returning to normal levels.
In Mogadishu, Coke Is Branded As The Infidel Thing
Islamic militants who have taken over in Mogadishu and dropped the dark veil of medievalism over the minds of the citizenry have branded Coca-Cola as un-Islamic.
A hard-line sheik has declared that Westerners are enemies of Islam and their products should not be consumed.
The man has followers. One, who owns a tea shop, said, “Out of ignorance, I was selling and drinking Coca-Cola, but now I hate it so much.’
Ehud Olmert, MD, Lances Inflammed Boil; Aims To Drain Infection
Noticing that inflammatory behavior by Hezbollah and Hamas has been festering more and more acutely, Ehud Olmert, MD in this case, Military Doctor decided that, to avoid a wider infection, he had to lance the boil immediately.
The life-threatening activities of Hezbollah and Hamas had simply reached a point where sugical intervention became imperative.
While all who care about human life must regret the loss and maiming of it anywhere, we also know that Lebanon is too weak to clean out Hezbollah itself, while Hamas in Gaza has no intention of remedying itself.
A Cialis A Day Keeps The Uncertainty Away
The maker of Cialis will apply to the FDA for approval of a once-a-day version of its ED treatment. The company maintains that a daily dose will allow the benefactor to enjoy more spontaneous delight than he can with what the manufacturer refers to as its “on demand” version.
The company maintains that side effects of the new dosage are mild and consist primarily of an inexplicable bulge in the pantaloons.
Dr. Ira D. Sharlip, professor of urology at the Univesity of California, San Francisco, stated, “For patients who are more sexually active, which generally means younger patients, whose sexual activity is more spontaneous, it will be an attractive alternative, provided the cost is not prohibitive.”
Smoking Gun In Cancer Revealed; It’s The Smoking Throat
OK, smoke fans, the facts are out once again. According to the new and pretty inarguable Cancer Atlas and the updated Tobacco Atlas, which were published by The American Cancer Society, if “Smoky, The Scare” gets his way, tobacco use is projected to kill a billion people in this century. (By the way, wouldn’t it be more reassuring if the word Prevention was in the Society’s name?)
Now, thats what we call recreational population control. The figure amounts to ten times as many folks as smoking sent choking to the grave in the 20th century.
And ready for this? Tobacco use causes one in five cancer deaths, or a total of 1.4 million graveward bound souls a year.
Now, heres the good and much underappreciated news: Dr. Judity Mackay, a senior policy adviser of the World Health Organization, tells us, “We know with cancer, if we take action now, we can save 2 million lives a year by 2020 and 6.5 million by 2040.”
So heres our bit to stop cancer in its tracks. And were not going to pull any punches, because, if you still smoke, you obviously havent listened to anybody yet, and we care about you too much not to give you our best shot.
Movie Stars As Sources Of Wisdom
They bring themselves to our attention by committing to memory, or by reading off one kind of prompter or another, words devised by others. But once they ascend to the starry vault that hovers over us, do we expect of them anything consonant with the ability to recite the usual inanities? No, suddenly we want these storied performers to transform themselves into the wise harbingers of original insight and exemplary advice.
Internet, Which Began As Tech Wizardry, Ends Up As Ad Wizardry
The Internet, which began as the inspiration and implementation of technical wizards, has apparently ended up as the playground of advertising wizards. Witness the incessant publicity about such Internet prodigies as Google Adwords. And wherever can you click that an ad doesnt flash at you, featuring one beast or another, from a barrel of monkeys to a cobra, or glitteraty type - all in an energetic effort to call your attention to everything from low mortgage rates to cures for erectile dysfunction.
Dolphins Know Each Other By Name; Also Play Poker On Saturday Night
Dolphins, which we already know are unusually bright, especially for mammals without arms or legs, are apparently even smarter than we suspected.
Avant Garde Composer Creates New Piece, Called Making Popcorn
In an interview prior to the concert, the composer commented on the work, which was commissioned by the Boston Pops. Its a new piece for percussion. As you know, there have been more additions to the percussion section of the orchestra than to any other one. Take, for instance, the brake drum and the ratchet, which is really just a noisemaker. My hope is that the success of my new composition will make the popcorn machine a standard ingredient of the symphony orchestra.