DC, BT, WP fix

Miscellaneous gleanings from newspapers.

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From the Deccan Chronicle, August 27 2004. Two entire pages (may be more, I only have two) of small print notices, numbered 1129 to 1492. All nearly identical, except for names. Examples below:

• 1129. Ch Ramulu S/o Suraiah, aged about 62 years, P 34 R 34, Occ: Retired Lecturer, Govt Jr. College Bhadrachalam, Khammam Dist. R/o S.V. Patel Road, Khammam Dist, A.P.
  
  
• 1186. N Sarvaiah, S/o Venkaiah, P 28 R 28, Aged about 62 years, Occ: Retired Head Master, Sunya Pahad Village, Near Charla Mandal, Nalgonda Dist., R/o Vidyanagar Colony, Near Charla Mandal, Nalgonda, Dist. 508 218 A.P.
  
  
• 1250. G. Tulasi Rao, S/o G. Adinarayanaya, Aged P 46 P 46 about 62 years, Occ: Retired Driver U.G. Physicial Centre, Sabbavaram, Visakhapatnam, R/o Goca Nagar, Sabbavaram District Special District-531035. A.P.
  
  
• 1416. S. Mahaboob Saheb, S/o S. Khasimsa, P 42 R 42, Aged about 62 years, Occ: Retired Road Roller Driver, O/o Sub Division Adoni, Veterinary R/o H.No. 45/196, Narasimha Reddy Nagar, Kurnool Dist., A.P.
  

What is all this? Anyone?

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From the Bombay Times, May 22 2005.

• Ad for "Off The Shelf". Has this equation: "Walking Shoes for your Morning Walk at Marine Drive (A Pair for your Wife as well, she can't be left behind) = [A picture of table plus four chairs] Rs 9500 Neptune dining set (with 2 Borosil microwave dishes with covers)."
  Below that, "India's First Hyper Furniture Mall".
  
  Q: What is a "Hyper Furniture Mall"?
  
  A: A place where they believe shoes must cost Rs 4750 a pair.
  
  
• Bono saved from choking at an eatery
  "A fan recently rescued rocker Bono from death at a Seattle eatery. ... [T]he well-meaning civilian slapped Bono on the back and said "I'm a big fan," just as the rock icon was taking a huge bite of fish. A choking Bono gasped for air as his dining companions gasped in horror. Luckily the hearty greeting took a twist when a second pat on the back from the fan dislodged the fish and sent it flying onto the next table. Surprisingly civil, the singer told the backslapping bozo, 'Mate, you better leave before I throttle you.'"
  
  What I want to know: Why can't I be so surprisingly civil that I threaten throttling? And just what did the people at the next table say when a dislodged piece of fish landed among their crockery?
  
  
• Ad: GERMAN TRAINED Ballroom Teacher Sandip Soparrkar. Starts Standard, Latin American & Salsa classes.
  
  What I want to know: What is the advantage to being trained in Germany to do Latin American and Salsa dances? And should that not be "Gerrman Trrained Ballrroom Teacherr", Mrr Soparrkarr?
  

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From the Washington Post, May 16 2005, an article called "Inventing Our Evolution". Quote from Francis Fukuyama, famous for his late-80's pronouncement of "the end of history":

We could really speed up the whole process of drug improvement if we did not have all the rules on human experimentation. If companies were allowed to use clinical trials in Third World countries, paying a lot of poor people to take risks that you wouldn't take in a developed country, we could speed up technology quickly. But because of the Holocaust --.

Yes, "poor people to take risks." Yes, he actually leaves his thought hanging in mid-air like that. Yes, Fukuyama.