Bullfighting in Russia: And then, when one of the few good things about Russia was the total absence of bullfighting, someone decides to organize a 'Portuguese-style bullfight' in Moscow. In a glimpse of wisdom, Russian officials forced the organization to cancel the show, but however they have gone to court and it's not over yet. Well, at least it's not 'Barrancos-style'. ¶

Bullfighting in Portugal: So those zany people on the tiny village of Barrancos are at it again. For those who don't know, killing bulls on an arena is forbidden in Portugal since 1928. You can stab then with long irons, but the bulls must be killed on a slaughterhouse after the show is over. However, for the 73th straight year, a small village next to the Spanish border wants to do it the Spanish way, that is, the bull must die in the arena while a few psicopats and old ladies scream in joy. That always means police, media, stupid people shouting and in the end, everything is done according to that stupid, STUPID, S T U P I D tradition. "Because traditions must be followed", they say. I say we sell Barrancos to Spain in exchange for a good tortilla recipe. ¶

I downloaded Jabber, a good shot at an universal instant messaging program that is actually quite nice. One problem though: You must open an account in Yahoo IM, MSN IM and ICQ (that means downloading those spyware-ridden, merch-bound apps) before Jaber works. Nothing that a few loads of fake data about me (John Murdoch of Trinidad and Tobago) won't solve...¶

So nice of you, Howard. Very nice. Nice indeed: The Australian government is refusing to allow a Norwegian ship with 400 Afghan refugees to dock, because apparentely 9000 illegal immigrants a year is a life-threatning problem. A tiny European country like Portugal receives 30000 illegal immigrants a year, and they are not sending this country to hell. The politicians are, but that's another story. Personally, I think that America's big pet on the Indian and Pacific oceans has lost their reason in demanding that the Taleban be polite to their Western prisioners. Wise men say that if you want others to treat you well, you treat well the others. 'Wise'... phff... such a useless word nowdays.¶