Al Gores Nobel Prize

I must congratulate Al Gore on his Nobel Peace Prize. He really does deserve it. Although, I must say, the thing I most notice about Al Gore, is how large he has become since 2000. Here is a man preaching about the merits of global restraint in carbon emissions, and there is certainly no restraint shown in his waistline.

One of the things that salesman are taught is that fat salesmen earn less than thin ones. This is shown in study after study. (Its also shown that bearded salesmen earn less than clean shaven ones, but thats a different story). This seems to be confirmed by the fact that I cant think of a recent example of a fat American President. But Al Gore hasnt let his waistline affect his progress in gaining recognition for global warming. In effect he has done a sales job promoting a very difficult product, that no one wanted to know about at all. And as I recall, he even had a beard a while back.

Actually, if we are sticking to sales, I think the most interesting thing I have read recently, is that waitresses who touch their customers at least once, get tipped more than waitresses who dont. The study doesnt specify where they touched their customers, and I guess really thats the whole point. Maybe there will be clairification later.

News Headlines October 8

Apparently a helicopter carrying bodyguards of Pakistani President Musharraf crashed killing four people.

This may be a gross distortion of reality, but it seems to me, flying in a helicopter carries with it a fairly high likelihood of crashing. They are always crashing. And it seems to me that, unlike small planes, where its often novices behind the wheel, in helicopter crashes, even having a ton of experience counts for little. Plenty of the crashes you read about involve experienced military personnel. In fact, I once read, that your average helicopter crashes once every ten years.

Meanwhile, from an article in a South Africa news website today:

"Police spokesperson Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu said the 33-year-old woman was caught "red-handed" in possession of human body parts in a hospital parking lot by members of the Durban Organised Crime Unit. Police believe the body parts were destined for the 'muti market' "

What is this Muti market? No explanation is given. What is the demand for human body parts like in South Africa? Do people have such regular need for body parts that they had to start a market for it?

In other news, a study in the UK has found that one child is bullied every 10 minutes. And he's getting sick and tired of it...