A Palestine here, a Lebanon there, Londons everywhere!

Before you blame the Americans for being somewhat lacking in Geography, let me apprise you with some facts. The US has some six Londons, two Bagdads and one Lebanon. Have a look at Texas alone. It is littered with historical places like Athens, Carthage and Palestine. You'll also come across cities like Edinburgh and Paris. Then there are cities named after Newton, Dickens & Dumas. That’s just one state of the US. The Americans truly have “The whole world in their lands”.

Insult of the day

How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap, stinking chip oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles, you eunich jelly thou!
---Alex, in The Clockwork Orange

Nice blend of Shakespearean English, Captain Haddock-isms and street-side slang! It very well depicts the feeble intellectualism of Alex eclipsed by his violent nature. That’s why the tagline of the movie aptly said – “Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.”

Song of the day

When some pretty maiden sulks, she turns prettier
When a train leaves the station, it turns 1-2-3

Adapted from:
Koi haseena jab ruth jati hai to, aur bhi haseen ho jati hai;
Station se gaadi jab chhut jati hai to, ek do teen ho jati hai
----Veeru, in Sholay

The Calculus Affair

I read “The Calculus Affair” some time back. I was reading it for the 4th time, which is much below my overall average for Tintin comics (15+ times). Hence, ample scope for research existed. Ultimately, two interesting facts were unearthed:
1) Herge’s “self-portrait” as a journalist. This can be seen where, following the strange incidents of glass-breaking, Marlinspike Hall becomes a popular tourist spot.
2) The ubiquitous whiskers of Kurvi-Tasch - Used as a swear word, emblem on Nazi-style badges and also as a diacritical mark!
Sadly, all this research can already be found at Wikipedia!

Disposing UK's nuclear waste

Firing nuclear waste into the sun, placing it in Antarctic ice sheets so it sinks by its own heat to the bedrock, or putting it under Earth's crust so it is sucked to the molten core. These are three of the 14 options the government's advisers are considering to get rid of the UK's troublesome nuclear waste legacy.
Nuclear waste stays dangerous for 250,000 years and even the best constructed concrete bunker is likely to need upgrading every 100 years or so.
UK government's estimates it will soon have 500,000 tonnes of higher level nuclear waste it has no home for, even if it never builds another nuclear power station.
Complete news article at http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,1191443,00.html