Check out Israel's entry to this year's Eurovision, Push the Button. It's disturbingly catchy. Lyrics (in a combination of English, French and Hebrew) are here. The runner-up, Salaam Salami, is also pretty... um... extraordinary.

(For those of you who have never seen the Eurovision song contest before, yes, pretty much all of the music is that bad. But of course, there's controversy -- the contest organizers want to ban Israel's entry because of "inappropriate political content." This link also has translated lyrics)

Since nobody seems to have translated Salaam Salami, ( here"s a go at itCollapse )

Yes, it's political. And yes, it's about sausage. We live in a strange world.

For those of you who haven't seen this, the Rev. Ted Haggard, a prominent conservative leader, (and who was prominently featured in the recent documentary Jesus Camp, btw) recently resigned after admitting to the at least partial truth of allegations that he's been popping meth and screwing male prostitutes. But he qualified his admission:

One of the nation's most influential conservative Christian leaders, the Rev. Ted Haggard, said today he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a self-described male escort. But Haggard denied allegations by the man that he ever used the drug or had sex with him.

You know, this makes me miss straightforward bullshit like "I didn't inhale!"

(Incidentally -- this story is prompting so much amusement in no small part because, what a shock, the Rev. Haggard spends a lot of time preaching against homosexuals. Until a few days ago, he was one of the up-and-coming powers of the religious right wing. Hey, with habits like these, maybe he should run for Congress...)

From Reuters: Troops battle 10-foot marijuana plants.

One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the Army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana.'"

Me: Here's a headline you don't see in civilized countries. "Fatah Gunmen Attack Parliament."
Officemate: Sure you do. Whenever Fatah comes and attacks people's parliaments.

Only in the Middle East...

I always knew that being in Israel occasionally made tourists go a little odd, but normally it happens in Jerusalem rather than Eilat. And, um, doesn't involve dolphins.

Apparently, police investigations of prostitution in Spotsylvania, MD are very thorough:

According to the affidavit, after receiving a tip about possible impropriety at Moon Spa, two unidentified Spotsylvania detectives promptly visited the spa and each paid $60 for 30-minute massages in separate rooms. A woman known only as Mimi gave the detectives a bath, a brief massage and then performed a sex act on them. "For her services, 'Mimi' was paid a $50 'tip,' " Doyle wrote. Police made two more visits with similar results.

The New York Times has a very short article about changing rules for credit on scientific papers. Somehow, a creative writer managed to sneak in a sample page from the "Journal of Imaginary Genomics" after these rules are implemented; it's worth the look.

I was just at the donations page for Médecins Sans Frontières, and was amused to see the list of titles you can fill in on the form...
( Which would you like to be?Collapse )

Which list, I suppose, makes good sense for an organization like this. But it's not often that you see "Emperor" used on a web form in complete seriousness.

I would make a poll out of this, but I don't think lj could handle that long a radio list...

(From a WP article about rioting in China)

"he was also director general of the Dongzhou Buddha Council, which the statement described as 'a superstitious organization in charge of divine activities in Dongzhou.'"

I believe that some game that I run in the future will have to contain a Dongzhou Buddha Council, which will be in charge of divine activities in the area. Although I can't imagine who would sit on it.