Dowbrigade

It’s the end of an era. The flamboyant giants who strode the earth during the
second half of the past century are slowly fading into history. Papa Doc Duvalier
has joined the other Loas in Vodun, and his pale imitation of a son/successor
Baby Doc is still holed up in the south of France. The enigmatic and grandiose
Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, Lion of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of
God, who not only

claimed to be a direct descendent of King Solomon and the
Queen
of Sheba but finally declared HIMSELF a God, is now worshiped in
the afterlife by the Rastafarians. The Shady Shah of Iran, Ferdinand
and Imelda, roly-poly Ruhollah
Khomeni and Uncle
Ho are no more.

Now news that Idi Amin Dada, an authentic sportsman who was once the legitimate
heavyweight champion of Africa, and who later declared himself Field Marshal,
King of Scotland and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa, has gone
into a coma in a Saudi Arabian hospital…

From
the Guardian

‘The Japanese manufacturers of a gadget that claims to translate
dogs barks into human language is planning a similar device for cats.

The feline version won’t strap on the collar as does the Bowlingual,
and a person must hold the microphone in the machine up to the cat’s
mouth and hope it says something, she said.

from
Ananova

Can a new vampire theme park raise Romania’s economy from the dead?

”Dracula exists whether I want him to or not,” says Agathon. ”So
I say, let’s put him to work for Romania.” Agathon is pushing to build
an American-style theme park around the legacy of an Irish novel based
on German accounts of
Transylvanian folklore. Call it ”Dracula Park.”
from the Boston
Globe

Satan walks the earth, currently between the pipes in Buffalo, NY.
I’m sure he feels right at home.  Check
out his Stats ID number at  ESPN.com

from
Volokh

Nice phot
collection from a Thai site called "A
Glimpse of Thailand:
– Things beautiful, strange, odd, and interesting."

from Boing Boing