Saturday, July 12, 2003

It Ain't Easy QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND "Christ, you know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be. The way things are going, they're gonna crucify me." - - John Lennon THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY July 12 - 1969 -- Half of the Top 40 AM radio stations in the USA ban the Beatles' "The Ballad of John & Yoko" because of the lyrics, "Christ, you know it ain't easy..." July 13, 1985 -- "Live Aid," a 17-hour rock concert broadcast on radio & TV from London, England & Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to 152 countries, raises $70 million for famine relief in Africa. Organized by Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldof & features dozens of major acts -- Baez, Bowie, Dylan, Jagger, McCartney, Elton John, Tina Turner take part. It's estimated the shows were either watched or listened to by an audience of one & a half billion. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: Betty Bower's America's Best Christian Gift Of God Shop For gifts that say, "I have much better taste than you, dear!" http://www.bettybowers.com/ This is where Rhino got the "Repent & Reload" image above, and last weekend's"American Economy Weapon Of Mass Destruction" image RHINO HERE: This weekend's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is an article from The San Francisco Chronicle featuring a behind the scenes glance at WorldLink TV, specifically, Peter Coyote's "The Active Opposition." Many readers will remember that Peter Coyote's political email list was a significant inspiration for my beginning this weblog & when he became busy with producing "The Active Opposition", in addition to his acting & voice-over work, he passed his list to me. This Chron article is a great read. But 1st, a Rhino's Weekend Blog Public Service Announcement: If by chance any of you Rhino's Blog Readers happen to be potheads, your help is being requested by Heather Miller Coyle of the Connecticut State Forensic Science Laboratory. She wants you to send her samples of your favorite strain of Mary Jane. Someone once tried to get the Rhino to try a sample of what this pothead called, "The Shit That Killed Elvis." DNA profiles link dope to its source New Scientist , July 2003, Forensic scientists in the US are applying DNA fingerprinting methods to the cannabis plant. They say the technique, which is being used to create a database of DNA profiles of different marijuana plants, will help them to trace the source of any sample. "It links everybody together: the user, the distributor, the grower," says the database's creator, Heather Miller Coyle of the Connecticut State Forensic Science Laboratory in Meriden. "That's the real intent of it, to show it's not just one guy with a little bag of marijuana, but it's a group of people." A method for spotting the tiniest traces of marijuana, based on detecting DNA unique to cannabis chloroplasts, has already been developed in the UK ( New Scientist print edition, 7 August 1999). But the profiling method, based on the same principles as DNA fingerprinting of people, can distinguish between closely related cannabis plants ( Croatian Medical Journal , vol 44, p 315)... ...Coyle is establishing a database of DNA profiles from hundreds of marijuana samples seized in Connecticut. ... The database is being extended to include samples from all over the US and the rest of the world. "We invite anyone to send us samples," says Coyle. YEAH RIGHT!  ISN'T SHE  SUGGESTING SENDING DOPE THROUGH THE MAIL? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993919 No humor here - but a great web source of info & stats for your & your kid's projects. What Country Watches the Most TV? NationMaster.com Answers That Question and Many More By Charles Bowen, Editor & Publisher, JULY 08, 2003 You're writing a story about television and you wonder who are the most square-eyed folks in the world. Would you believe in terms of television sets per capita, the United States is no higher than fourth in the world? The U.S. is behind Monaco, Bermuda, and Christmas Island. Or you're writing about longevity and wonder where in the world people live the longest. (The answer is Andorra, averaging 83.4 years, followed by Macau, San Marino, and Japan. The United States, incidentally, is 42nd on the list of nations, at 77.4 years.)... ...Such statistical snapshots can enliven many kinds of stories and a new Web site called Nation Master makes it quick and easy to dig up the data. The site has more than 300 statistical data sets, ranging from library books, forested land, Internet users, and airports. For easy reference, the home page features the most frequently requested stats, such as taxes and military expenditures per capita... THIS ARTICLE  IS POSTED AT: What Country Watches the Most TV? EXPLORE NATION MASTER AT: http://www.nationmaster.com 6:46:44 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - WorldLink TV aspires to be the anti-network WorldLink TV aspires to be the anti-network. So it's operating as a nonprofit and setting out to become the first national channel dedicated to providing Americans with global perspectives. Jane Ganahl, Fan Francisco Chronicle, Monday, June 30, 2003 A production meeting has been going on for more than two hours in the small conference room of WorldLink TV on Battery Street. The sandwiches are long gone, the room is starting to get uncomfortably warm, and the team is only halfway through reworking the script for the next night's taping of the new satellite network talk show, "The Active Opposition." Peter Coyote, the actor/author/activist and now TV host, reads aloud from a script he's written for himself. "Back to Washington, to Arjun Makhijani. As a scientist and specialist in nuclear fission, what is the public not being told about the dangers we face?" David Michaelis, a respected Israeli television journalist of many decades, dryly notes: "That question could result in a five-minute lecture." Coyote responds in semi-mock indignation. "Well what's wrong with that? We want to save the world from imminent destruction, but it has to be catchy! And in sound bites no longer than 30 seconds!" The group chuckles. They know that while this may be true of network TV talk shows, where experts are trained to make points in vociferous sound bites, quite the opposite is true of "The Active Opposition." On this 90-minute, no- commercial-interruptions talk show, guests are allowed, as producer Stephen Olsson puts it, "to speak freely, to actually develop and explain a thought, idea or position."... READ IT ALL AT: WorldLink TV MORE ABOUT WORLDLINK TV AT: http://www.worldlinktv.org "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 6:05:01 AM    comment

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