THE OLD MAN
OF THE MOUNTAIN

Presiding over Franconia Notch, a mountain pass in northern New Hampshire not far from where I live, is a dramatic natural rock formation high on the side of Cannon Mountain which vividly suggests a man's profile. It is called the Old Man of the Mountain. Its flinty visage stares east toward Mt. Lafayette, my favorite climb of all the White Mountains.

Daniel Webster wrote of the Old Man: "Men hang out signs indicative of their respective trades. Shoemakers hang out a giant shoe; jewelers a monstrous watch; and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth. But in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

And you thought you had a bad day!

Deadly Garbage Collapse in Philippines

MANILA (MSNBC; July 10, 2000) - A mountain of garbage collapsed at a Manila dump Monday then burst into flames, burying dozens of squatter houses and killing at least 31 people, officials said. At least 68 people were missing and 29 others injured. The victims were squatters who make a living by scavenging recyclable materials from the site.

It was not immediately known what triggered the fire that engulfed part of the area, called Promised Land. The dump often smolders from spontaneous combustion of rotting garbage.

Promised Land? Those Filipinos; poor in material things, but rich in irony.

How do you say “Duh!” in Farsi?

Iranian Transsexual Unhappy With Experience As Woman

TEHRAN (Reuters; June 19, 2000) - An Iranian man who recently had a sex change to become a woman wants to reverse the operation because she finds life as a woman insufferable in Iran, a newspaper said Monday.

The 25-year-old Maryam, formerly Mehran, underwent a sex change last year, despite strong parental opposition.

But she soon regretted the decision, finding it difficult to cope with ``restrictions'' surrounding a woman's life in the conservative Islamic society.

``I can't go on living with the new identity, after years of living as a man with no restrictions,'' she told the daily Iran.

``First I thought I would get used to it, but life has become painful and intolerable. So I want a new sex change.''

Sex change operations are legal in Iran, but there are no provisions for would-be transsexuals to test out their new identity first.

The social reforms of President Mohammad Khatami -- elected in May of 1997 with overwhelming support of women -- have eased the lot of women somewhat.

But women still struggle under the burdens of a legal code and a value system that severely limits their freedom of action and subordinates them to husbands, brothers and fathers.

Iran has a mandatory dress code for women, requiring them to cover their hair and body. While men get on public transport through the front door, women must use the back door.

Courts give a woman's testimony only half the weight of that of a man and inheritance, divorce and child custody laws overwhelmingly favor men.

Official statistics show suicide rates among women far outstrips those of men -- the opposite of Western societies.

What on Earth was this guy thinking? Give me a good old American crossdresser who enjoys dolling up in his wife’s lipstick and undies; getting stoned to death is not my idea of fun kink.

Lost Weekend

Man Freed After Night in Sex Shop

PARIS (Reuters; March 7, 2000) - A young Frenchman who dozed off while watching a porn film in a sex shop Saturday had to be rescued by police after he woke up in the middle of the night to find the shop locked and the owner gone for the weekend.

The 25-year-old managed to amuse himself for most of Sunday, the daily Liberation said.

But by mid-afternoon his interest in the material available finally ran out and he phoned the police to free him from the shop in Reims, northeast France.

I hope the shop keeper has liability insurance that covers carpal tunnel syndrome!

Excuse me? “Rigorous” what?

August 24, 2000; Washington, DC (New York Times)

New Rules on Use of Human Embryos in Cell Research
The National Institutes of Health issued long-awaited rules yesterday that would permit federally financed researchers to work on human embryonic stem cells, cells derived from the very early embryo.
President Clinton, in a press conference yesterday, referred to the “potentially staggering benefits of this research.”
“I think we cannot walk away from the potential to save lives and improve lives, to help people literally get up and walk, to do all kinds of things we could never have imagined,” the president said, “as long as we meet rigorous, ethical standards.”

Yeah, getting up and walking pretty much boggles my imagination too.

For more important news stories you may have missed, check out The Old Man’s News Stand.

According to UPI, readers of the nation's top gossip magazines read more about President Clinton in 1999 than about any other figure. The president was mentioned 731 times...while first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton finished second on the New York Observer's annual survey of the most mentioned public figure, with 401 mentions.
Monica Lewinsky was third with 303 mentions...replacing former prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who dropped down to 10th place thisyear.

* * * * * During his visit to the United States, the Pope met with President Clinton. Instead of just an hour as scheduled, the meeting went on for two days. Finally, a weary President Clinton emerged to face the waiting news media.
The President was smiling and announced the summit was a resounding success. He said he and the Pope agreed on 80% of the matters they discussed. Then Mr. Clinton declared he was going home to the White House to be with his family.
A few minutes later the Pope came out to make his statement. He looked tired, and discouraged, and was practically in tears. Sadly he announced his meeting with the President was a failure.
Incredulous, one reporter asked, "But your Holiness, President Clinton just announced the summit was a great success and the two of you agreed on 80% of the items discussed."
Exasperated, the Pope answered, "Yes, but we were talking about the Ten Commandments."

The Old Man was swept up in the scandal, amused by it more than anything else as the first President from my generation squandered his political capital, much to my relief as the nation seemed to get along just fine as the politicians waded into the mud with each other. If you didn't get enough then, click here to share some of The Old Man's general views upon the politics of the Clinton Era or The Old Man's more jaded views of the scandal that eventually tired him and the rest of us.

The Old Man would like to thank Yahoo! GeoCities for erasing this page compliments of the new and improved File Manager. Seemed to me the old one worked fine, thank you very much. Until I reassemble the index to this site, please start by clicking here.