Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Weird News

Now and then I come across a fantastic news story. Is the news getting more weird or am I just noticing it more? Here are a few samples from the weird news file:
1. Ms. Pan Alying, a schoolteacher in China's Shandong province, had her purse snatched (containing her mobile phone, bank cards and cash) and decided to try pleading with the thief by sending text messages to her stolen phone. According to Xinhau new agency, she patiently sent 21 sympathetic notes to the man, with no answer. The day after the last one, she found a package at her door containing her purse and all its contents intact, with a note, "I'm sorry. ... I'll correct my ways and be an upright person."
2. Surgeons at London's Great Ormond Street Children's Hopsital, recognizing the similarities between a hospital operation and a car race, asked a team of mechanics from Ferrari's Formula 1 racing group to critique their procedures for moving patients from the operating room to intensive-care units. The Ferrari team took notes and devised a protocol that smoothes the process and minimizes chances that a piece of needed equipment or a vital message is overlooked. Doctors say the new protocol, which includes changes like banning nonessential chatter and disconnecting wires in a specific order, has already reduced hospital errors.
3. Jyrki Kasvi, an incumbent parliamentary candidate in Finland, has launched a new version of his campaign website, written entirely in the Star-Trek language Klingon.
My question: Is the website in Klingon as we heard it on the original Star Trek show, or has it first been translated to a Finnish dialect of Klingon? And how do we know Mr. Kasvi is actually from Finland and not Klingon?