Fun_People Archive
4 Jan
Germans & Compuserve Play Hot Potato - & - Best Stressed Puns of 1995

Date: Thu, 4 Jan 96 01:17:55 -0800
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Germans & Compuserve Play Hot Potato - & - Best Stressed Puns of 1995

Excerpted-from: SPJ Press Notes 1/3 (Geimann)
by Steve Geimann <SGeimann@AOL.COM>

   GERMAN DENIES ORDER IN COMPUSERVE CASE
   Bavarian prosecutor Manfred Wick said Tuesday his office didn't give
CompuServe list of 200 Internet discussion groups or ask on-line service
to block access, or face criminal penalties, The Associated Press
reported.
   "We did not make any stipulations. It was the decision of CompuServe
alone," Wick said.
  Official in CompuServe's German operation said the decision on which
bulletin boards to block was made in Columbus, Ohio, home office,
although spokeswoman Daphne Kent said if they didn't comply.
   CompuServe "considered that a threat and acted accordingly" in
blocking access, she said.
   Several messages posted on CompuServe forums and other Internet
discussions groups were highly critical of CompuServe for blocking
access, with many members threatening to cancel or drop the service.
   A reply posted Tuesday by CompuServe said the blockage was
temporary while the company investigates the issue, and noted the
company was provided with a list of mailing lists and bulletin boards that
might violate German law.
   "The issues being investigated in Germany, like those being addressed
across the industry, need to remain focused on the individuals and groups
placing content on the Internet," the company added.
   Meanwhile, Americans for Gay Rights in San Francisco launched a
month-long boycott of two popular German beers, beginning by pouring
bottles of Beck's and St. Pauli Girl beer down the sewer in front of the
Goethe Institute, the German cultural center, in San Francisco.
   "We want to send the German government a message that says we want
them to keep their hands off the Internet," Michael Petrelis, a spokesman
for the group, told Reuters.

...

   PUNDIT PICKS PRIME PUNS
   The International Save the Pun Foundation published its "Best Stressed
Puns of 1995," including a haiku entry from Malaysia, an Irish limerick and
a take off on Charles Dickens.
   In his year-end message, Chairman Norman Gilbert said "paranamours,"
or lovers of puns had sent contributions from around the world to help the
Toronto-based group achieve its goal of "stamping out alliteracy."
   Gilbert cited the best Haiku from an unidentified Malaysian member:
   "In need of some dough
   A thief got into my house
   Intruder window."
   Finalists:  "It is better to have loved a short person and lost than never
to have loved a tall;"
   --"In England they do not have a kidney bank, but they do have a
Liverpool;"
   --"If a centipede a bucketful, how much would a precipice? A sheer
drop."
   Another passage tells how Charles Dickens was despondent in a Paris
bar, telling the bartender "It is the worst of times, for I am without an
idea for a new work. Let me partake of a vodka martini," to which the
bartender responded "Olive or twist?"
   The year's best list also included an Irish limerick:
   "There once was a fellow named Clyde
   Who fell into an outhouse and died.
   His unfortunate brother
   fell into another
   And now they're interred side by side."

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