July 23, 2002

Surprisingly MGM hasn’t yet started to fire people for producing a series of dud movies. 11:58:05 PM

The Nasdaq has only 1,229.05 more points to go. 11:38:17 PM

Even with the criticism by the US government over Israeli’s attack on a Hamas leader that also killed civilians I doubt the US would apply the same standard to itself if the only obstacle to killing Osama bin Laden was the possibility of civilian casualties. The US has already said they don’t track civilian deaths during the war in Afghanistan. 11:37:22 PM

Salon has joined forces with Userland Software to start Salon Blogs.  Hi there Salon people, link to me! 11:33:34 PM

Slate reveals that the soft drink, Fanta does not have a particularly appealing history. It writes: In the late '30s, the realities of war and the unpopularity of foreign-owned firms in Nazi Germany made it difficult for Coca-Cola's German affiliate, GmbH (in which Coke held majority ownership), to get ingredients, maintain bottling plants, or even communicate with the parent company. So the head of Coca-Cola GmbH decided to launch a new soft drink, "relying on available ingredients—often the leavings from other food industries," Pendergrast writes. A salesman suggested a name based on the German word fantaasie—Fanta. It was advertised as "a product of Coca-Cola GmbH," and Pendergrast says the firm "continued bottling Fanta … even at the height of the bombing." When the war ended, a telegraph was received at Coke's Atlanta headquarters: "Coca-Cola GmbH still functioning. Send auditors."   12:19:51 AM