Fun_People Archive
5 Oct
WhiteBoardness - 10/4/97

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Sun,  5 Oct 97 21:00:48 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: WhiteBoardness - 10/4/97

Excerpted-from: WhiteBoard News for Friday, October 03, 1997


Low Earth Orbit:

At least one piece of electronics aboard the problem-plagued Mir space
station is still working perfectly -- a musical organ taken up nine years
ago by a French astronaut.

Jean-Loup Chretien, who went up on the space shuttle Atlantis which linked
up with Mir at the weekend, said that on his arrival Russian commander
Anatoly Solovyov had showed him the electric organ Chretien had taken up in
1988.

"It's still working perfectly after these years spent in radiation and in
the supposed hyper-humid atmosphere of Mir," Chretien wrote in the French
daily Le Figaro Wednesday.

"Proof in any case that very ordinary materials tolerate these conditions
very well," he wrote.
==========

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

Rio de Janeiro's "love" hotels have been ordered to close for today because
of the official visit of the Pope.The order affects an estimated 120 motels
in the city where lovers meet to conduct extra-marital affairs or where
prostitutes entertain their clients in mirror-lined rooms paid for by the
hour.

But one establishment has escaped the ban. The Ebony, in the notorious
Gloria district near the city centre, has been rented by the Catholic
Church's papal visit organising committee to provide rooms for pilgrims and
nuns. Among the services it normally offers are free pornographic films.((
===========

San Jose, Costa Rica:

Prostitutes from throughout Latin America defended their trade and one took
a swipe at the Catholic Church during a regional summit for the ancient
profession.

"In the business of prostitution, there are two sides, the men who demand
and the women who supply," Elena Eva Reinada, leader of the Argentine
delegation, said during a debate with Catholic priest Minor Calvo. "If there
was no demand, there would be no supply."

About 60 prostitutes from an unknown number of countries have gathered to
discuss the future of their profession, health issues, human rights and
discrimination.

Calvo blasted the summit as a celebration of sin, saying, "Prostitution is
a social blight that causes a woman to lose her human dignity."

The summit, sponsored by the Latin American Center for Democratic Studies
(CEDAL), is taking place behind closed doors in a San Jose suburb. It will
end on Friday.
=========

Prague, Czech Republic:

Czech police are searching for a cheeky counterfeiter after finding an
exceptionally well-forged $30 bill in the northern Czech town of Jablonec,
the local news agency CTK said.

Employees at bank Komercni Banka only realised the note was fake when they
saw the standard warning on the bill "Forging of notes will be prosecuted
in accordance with the law" reading instead: "This note is fake."

CTK said the bank received the note as a part of a daily cash deposit from
a local company. Police have warned citizens to check their wallets for the
fakes.
==========

Gorham, Maine:

After five months of searching, Shawn and Julie Keating's dream house popped
up overnight - literally.

An all-volunteer crew built the three-bedroom ranch in just 24 hours. And
while they were raising the walls, they raised $99,900 for the Maine Special
Olympics.

Dozens of contractors were brought together by the Home Builders Association
of Maine for the charity's largest fund-raiser ever. The money will be used
to build some summer cabins at Camp Tall Pines in Poland.

The idea for the project came from Jim Silva of Hancock Lumber in Sanford.
Silva said that in the mid-1980s the Home Builders Association built another
house for charity, but that project dragged on for nine months.

"I read about some associations on the West Coast building what they call
24-hour blitz houses," Silva said. "We threw out the idea, and everyone was
excited about it."

Silva, along with Glen Gervais of Custom Built Homes of Windham, and Susan
Duchaine of Design Dwellings Inc. of Gorham, brought together donations of
materials, labor and equipment from about 100 companies and contractors.

The house sits on an acre and a half of land on Dingley Spring Road that
was donated by Sold Inc. of Gorham. At the height of the workday, 42 people
worked on the house at once. Three electricians were assigned to each room,
and it took an 11-person crew an hour to shingle the roof.

"It came out exceptionally well," said Silva. "All those people who had
never worked together before.  Nobody got in anybody's way. "

Shawn Keating said he watched the workers last week and was impressed by
the quality of the craftsmanship, and all the extra features, such as a
paved driveway, alarm system and new washer and dryer. "There were 100
contractors there going like crazy," he said.

The couple put their down payment on their new house even before the mortar
in the chimney had dried.
==========

Maastricht, Netherlands:

Some psychiatric patients in the Netherlands are getting discounts to visit
brothels as a way to reduce their sexual aggression.

The Vijverdal clinic has cut a deal with a local brothel, Club D'Amour,
allowing patients to visit prostitutes for $37 instead of the regular $62.
Four patients in this southern city already have taken advantage of the
discount and were driven to the brothel from the clinic, the De Volkskrant
newspaper reported Friday.

Outside experts dismissed the project.

"It doesn't work," said W. van Ewijk, the director of another psychiatric
clinic. "There are enough prostitutes in our society, but are the number of
rapes declining as well?"

"You do not prevent abuse by sending men to a bordello," he told De
Volkskrant.

The Health Ministry has distanced itself from the program.

"It's a private initiative," said ministry spokesman Dick van Vliet, adding
that the national health insurance program does not pay for the visits.

The Vijverdal clinic would not comment on their policy.
==========

© 1997 Peter Langston