A Paris judge on Monday asked two medical experts to determine whether rock star Johnny Hallyday was the victim of a botched operation that landed him in hospital with a severe infection. Hallyday's lawyer described the decision as an "important step" in the case against Stephane Delajoux, dubbed the "surgeon to the stars", who performed the operation in Paris in November to correct a herniated disc. An infection specialist and a neurosurgeon will take several months to study Hallyday's medical records before making a decision, lawyer Virginie Lapp said.
Hallyday's lawyer described the decision as an "important step" in the case against Stephane Delajoux, dubbed the "surgeon to the stars", who performed the operation in Paris in November to correct a herniated disc.
An infection specialist and a neurosurgeon will take several months to study Hallyday's medical records before making a decision, lawyer Virginie Lapp said.
A four-time Olympic ski jump champion is being investigated for an alleged Christmas Day knife attack on his wife, Finnish police say. Finnish legend Matti Nykanen, 46, was arrested after an incident that left his wife with head and hand injuries. Police said the man known as the flying Finn was suspected of trying to stab Mervi Tapola and then strangle her.
Finnish legend Matti Nykanen, 46, was arrested after an incident that left his wife with head and hand injuries.
Police said the man known as the flying Finn was suspected of trying to stab Mervi Tapola and then strangle her.
The more unkind of us media observers are aware that this sportsman-come-striptease artist was paid a monthly sum by one of the Finnish tabloids to 'stay in the news'. That has made him the most gossiped-about Finnish celebrity-with-nothing -to-celebrate. But does it also make the tabloid complicit in multiple stabbing incidents? You can't be me, I'm taken
Yesterday I watched a CNN host ask two experts: "Is stepping up the war in Afghanistan really the best use of our tax dollars?" The killing, maiming and displacement of untold thousands is discussed in terms of the best use of capital. A dehumanized and monetized capitalist society sees everything in dollars and cents and return on investment. Even infant mortality is rated that way, though seldom does anyone admit it. Saving a black ghetto baby has a low return on investment, according to some human services analysts, as regards their lifetime contribution to the gross national product. I actually heard an expert on a television panel show say this.Yet Americans sitting in front of their TV sets do not find this one bit odd. Or even mean spirited, much less an indication of a cruel society. No American thinks of himself or herself as cruel, or connected in any way with the world's largest human and environmental killing machine. No American doubts his inalienable right to drive around or run air conditioning or drink wine from grapes grown in Chile at the expense of a national war on the environment and those of the world's people who have been born amid energy resources. If there are things such as cruelty and injustice, we the people aren't the ones doing it. We the voters and taxpayers are not the CIA snatching people off to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to be raped with broken bottles and boiled alive to extract those "terrorist confessions" that keep the war on terror alive. We simply finance such operations.
Yesterday I watched a CNN host ask two experts: "Is stepping up the war in Afghanistan really the best use of our tax dollars?" The killing, maiming and displacement of untold thousands is discussed in terms of the best use of capital. A dehumanized and monetized capitalist society sees everything in dollars and cents and return on investment. Even infant mortality is rated that way, though seldom does anyone admit it. Saving a black ghetto baby has a low return on investment, according to some human services analysts, as regards their lifetime contribution to the gross national product. I actually heard an expert on a television panel show say this.
Yet Americans sitting in front of their TV sets do not find this one bit odd. Or even mean spirited, much less an indication of a cruel society. No American thinks of himself or herself as cruel, or connected in any way with the world's largest human and environmental killing machine. No American doubts his inalienable right to drive around or run air conditioning or drink wine from grapes grown in Chile at the expense of a national war on the environment and those of the world's people who have been born amid energy resources. If there are things such as cruelty and injustice, we the people aren't the ones doing it. We the voters and taxpayers are not the CIA snatching people off to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to be raped with broken bottles and boiled alive to extract those "terrorist confessions" that keep the war on terror alive. We simply finance such operations.
With a bend of the knees and an arch of the back, a Japanese engineer today set a world flight record for a paper plane, keeping his hand-folded construction in the air for 26.1 seconds.Using a plane specially designed for "long haul" flights, Takuo Toda narrowly failed to match his lifetime best of 27.9 seconds, a Guinness world record set in Hiroshima earlier, but achieved with a plane that was held together with cellophane tape.Today's flight, inside a Japan Airlines hangar near Haneda airport in Tokyo, was the longest by an unadulterated model. "I felt a lot of pressure," Toda told the Associated Press after his feat. "Everything is a factor ‑ the moisture in the air, the temperature, the crowd."
With a bend of the knees and an arch of the back, a Japanese engineer today set a world flight record for a paper plane, keeping his hand-folded construction in the air for 26.1 seconds.
Using a plane specially designed for "long haul" flights, Takuo Toda narrowly failed to match his lifetime best of 27.9 seconds, a Guinness world record set in Hiroshima earlier, but achieved with a plane that was held together with cellophane tape.
Today's flight, inside a Japan Airlines hangar near Haneda airport in Tokyo, was the longest by an unadulterated model. "I felt a lot of pressure," Toda told the Associated Press after his feat. "Everything is a factor ‑ the moisture in the air, the temperature, the crowd."
Today's Atheist Meme of the Day, from my Facebook page. Pass this on; or don't; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!
