“Dick Rowland Image”

”Shoots (News, Views and Quotes)”

– Judge Nixes Government Delay of Doctors’ Trial

AAPS Accuses Prosecutors of Stall Tactics

Contact: Kathryn Serkes

Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, 202.333.3855, mailto:kaserkes@att.net see Web site at: https://www.aapsonline.org

TUCSON, AZ – July 3, 2003 — A federal judge has told prosecutions to
stop dragging their feet, and get on with the trial of Tucson physician,
Jeri Hassman, accused of 67 counts of wrongful prescribing of pain
medication for her patients.

In a court proceeding this week, prosecutors from the United States
Attorney’s office asked to delay the trial for almost a year. But Judge
David Bury refused, noting in his opening remarks that the trial had
already been continued from the original May 28 court date.

“The federal government was ready to indict Dr. Hassman, to shut down
her practice, to force her pain patients to find another physician, and
to drive her into bankruptcy,” said Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive
Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a
national physician organization that supports Dr. Hassman.

“But when it comes time to go in the courtroom where Dr. Hassman will
finally be found innocent, it claims that it is not ready to go to
trial, where it would have prove its case to a jury,” said Dr. Orient.
The FBI has been investigating Dr. Hassman since 1998, and executed a
search warrant in May, 2002. “Isn’t that enough time to pull a case
together if they really had one?”

Dr. Orient said that the prosecution’s case may be falling apart because
of their reliance on a suspect expert witness. “Apparently, the
government now thinks that its own expert witness used to get the
indictment and to get Dr. Hassman’s DEA registration suspended isn’t
good enough for the trial. They want more time to shop for a new one,”
she said.

Dr. Orient further points out that the witness, Dr. Bradford Hare, was a
key witness in the first trial of Dr. Robert Weitzel of Utah, who was
charged with murder and convicted of negligent homicide and manslaughter
in the deaths of five elderly patients. But Dr. Weitzel was eventually
acquitted at a second trial when it was exposed that the government had
concealed problems with the evidence of the expert witnesses.

“They can hold her hostage with these delays. They can ruin her without
ever going to court to prove a thing with demands that drive up her
legal bills, and prejudicial assertions that besmirch her reputation. If
they can’t make a case by now, maybe they should admit to making a
mistake and let a good doctor get back to treating her patients,” she
concluded.

– Do Over

It might be funny if so much were not at stake. Months after the
“federalization” of airport security was supposed to solve all the
problems of air travel, airports are pining for the day of private
security forces. Turns out the Transportation Security Administration
produced a rigid, bureaucratic work force that cannot adjust to meet the
rapid changes experienced by the up-and-down airline world.

PWow. The next thing you know, the public sector union trying to
organize the government’s screeners will say that private contractors
are a bad idea who will put the nation at risk.

“It’s the wrong message in the war on terror,” Peter Winch, national
organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees, told The
Washington Post. “For TSA, just supervising a bunch of contract
operations would lead to different standards at different airports. It
would get away from one national security system.”

Nonetheless, if airports see that TSA screeners cannot get people on and
off planes in a timely, safe manner, they will look elsewhere.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55670-2003May29.html?nav=hptoc_b

Above article is quoted from The Reason Express, Reason’s Weekly
Dispatch June 3, 2003 https://www.reason.com

”Roots (Food for Thought)”

– Direct Democracy and the Size of Government

By Amy K. Frantz

The initiative and referendum allow voters to have a direct voice in
government, but research appears to show that, overall, these tools of
direct democracy have little or no effect on limiting the size or growth
of government. Professor Gary M. Anderson explores this concept in
“Referendum, Redistribution, and Tax Exemption: A Rent-Seeking Theory of
Direct Democracy,” a chapter from POLITICS, TAXATION, AND THE RULE OF
LAW, a new book from Public Interest Institute.

Twenty-four states allow some type of initiative or referendum process.
The initiative process permits citizens to draft their own legislation
and, if they are able to obtain enough support by gathering signatures
on a petition, to place that measure on the ballot for consideration by
the voters. With the referendum, voters consider laws that were
previously enacted by state or local governments. A referendum can be
undertaken by citizens, gathering signatures to allow consideration of a
previously-enacted law, or by the Legislative body itself, seeking voter
approval of a law it has adopted.

Initiative and referendum provide the voters a means to overcome their
elected officials’ lack of action or actions taken in the officials’ own
self-interest rather than the interests of the citizens they represent.
“In other words, the institutions of direct democracy in the form of the
initiative/referendum amount to a kind of constitutional constraint on
the behavior of governmental decision-makers.”

However, as a means to limit government spending, “direct democracy”
doesn’t seem to make much difference. Studies on this subject do not
yield any significant results. Some studies show the initiative process
results in higher expenditures; others show government expenditures are
lower when the initiative process is available to voters. “Often the
true aim of initiatives and referendums is clearly to ease and
accelerate [the] growth [of government].”

Governments impose “coercive levies” on society, sometimes to raise
revenue, other times to attempt to influence behavior (e.g., imposing
higher tobacco taxes to discourage smoking). The tax burden created by
this imposition is “allocated between the producers and consumers. This
allocation process is accessible to private interest groups who may
invest resources for the purpose of affecting the burden distribution in
their favor.”

In the states in which the initiative process is available, interest
groups that would typically lobby the government might instead turn to
the initiative process as a more secure and long-lasting means of
achieving their goals. An interest group may obtain a favorable outcome
from the Legislature, with the passage of a law that places more of the
tax burden on some other segment of the population. But the Legislature
can only provide a statutory solution; as the Legislature changes, the
interest group must continue to lobby to maintain support for the law.
However, if the interest group can use the initiative process to secure
a Constitutional Amendment, it will be more difficult in the future to
eliminate or change the benefit it provides to the interest group.

The initiative and referendum process – tools of direct democracy — are
often promoted as a means of limiting the size and scope of government.
In this chapter, the author contends that, “whatever its other impacts
or implications [the initiative and referendum process] functions as a
means by which the tax burden is rearranged to the benefit of particular
interest groups and to the detriment of others; in other words, a
coercive wealth transfer.”

Above article is quoted from Public Interest Institute at Iowa Wesleyan
College, Institute Brief June 2003, https://www.limitedgovernment.org

”Evergreen (Today’s Quotes)”

“To really participate in the Divine Task, man must place his ideals as
high as possible, out of reach if necessary.” — Lecomte Du Nouy

“[The Constitution preserves]the advantage of being armed which
Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation [where]
the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James
Madison

”’Edited by Richard O. Rowland, president of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, 1314 S. King Street, Suite 1163, Honolulu, HI 96814. Phone/fax is 808-591-9193, cell phone is 808-864-1776. Send him an email at:”’ mailto:grassroot@hawaii.rr.com ”’See the Web site at:”’ https://www.grassrootinstitute.org/

“Dick Rowland Image”

”Shoots (News, Views and Quotes)”

– Judge Nixes Government Delay of Doctors’ Trial

AAPS Accuses Prosecutors of Stall Tactics

Contact: Kathryn Serkes

Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, 202.333.3855, mailto:kaserkes@att.net see Web site at: https://www.aapsonline.org

TUCSON, AZ – July 3, 2003 — A federal judge has told prosecutions to
stop dragging their feet, and get on with the trial of Tucson physician,
Jeri Hassman, accused of 67 counts of wrongful prescribing of pain
medication for her patients.

In a court proceeding this week, prosecutors from the United States
Attorney’s office asked to delay the trial for almost a year. But Judge
David Bury refused, noting in his opening remarks that the trial had
already been continued from the original May 28 court date.

“The federal government was ready to indict Dr. Hassman, to shut down
her practice, to force her pain patients to find another physician, and
to drive her into bankruptcy,” said Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive
Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a
national physician organization that supports Dr. Hassman.

“But when it comes time to go in the courtroom where Dr. Hassman will
finally be found innocent, it claims that it is not ready to go to
trial, where it would have prove its case to a jury,” said Dr. Orient.
The FBI has been investigating Dr. Hassman since 1998, and executed a
search warrant in May, 2002. “Isn’t that enough time to pull a case
together if they really had one?”

Dr. Orient said that the prosecution’s case may be falling apart because
of their reliance on a suspect expert witness. “Apparently, the
government now thinks that its own expert witness used to get the
indictment and to get Dr. Hassman’s DEA registration suspended isn’t
good enough for the trial. They want more time to shop for a new one,”
she said.

Dr. Orient further points out that the witness, Dr. Bradford Hare, was a
key witness in the first trial of Dr. Robert Weitzel of Utah, who was
charged with murder and convicted of negligent homicide and manslaughter
in the deaths of five elderly patients. But Dr. Weitzel was eventually
acquitted at a second trial when it was exposed that the government had
concealed problems with the evidence of the expert witnesses.

“They can hold her hostage with these delays. They can ruin her without
ever going to court to prove a thing with demands that drive up her
legal bills, and prejudicial assertions that besmirch her reputation. If
they can’t make a case by now, maybe they should admit to making a
mistake and let a good doctor get back to treating her patients,” she
concluded.

– Do Over

It might be funny if so much were not at stake. Months after the
“federalization” of airport security was supposed to solve all the
problems of air travel, airports are pining for the day of private
security forces. Turns out the Transportation Security Administration
produced a rigid, bureaucratic work force that cannot adjust to meet the
rapid changes experienced by the up-and-down airline world.

PWow. The next thing you know, the public sector union trying to
organize the government’s screeners will say that private contractors
are a bad idea who will put the nation at risk.

“It’s the wrong message in the war on terror,” Peter Winch, national
organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees, told The
Washington Post. “For TSA, just supervising a bunch of contract
operations would lead to different standards at different airports. It
would get away from one national security system.”

Nonetheless, if airports see that TSA screeners cannot get people on and
off planes in a timely, safe manner, they will look elsewhere.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55670-2003May29.html?nav=hptoc_b

Above article is quoted from The Reason Express, Reason’s Weekly
Dispatch June 3, 2003 https://www.reason.com

”Roots (Food for Thought)”

– Direct Democracy and the Size of Government

By Amy K. Frantz

The initiative and referendum allow voters to have a direct voice in
government, but research appears to show that, overall, these tools of
direct democracy have little or no effect on limiting the size or growth
of government. Professor Gary M. Anderson explores this concept in
“Referendum, Redistribution, and Tax Exemption: A Rent-Seeking Theory of
Direct Democracy,” a chapter from POLITICS, TAXATION, AND THE RULE OF
LAW, a new book from Public Interest Institute.

Twenty-four states allow some type of initiative or referendum process.
The initiative process permits citizens to draft their own legislation
and, if they are able to obtain enough support by gathering signatures
on a petition, to place that measure on the ballot for consideration by
the voters. With the referendum, voters consider laws that were
previously enacted by state or local governments. A referendum can be
undertaken by citizens, gathering signatures to allow consideration of a
previously-enacted law, or by the Legislative body itself, seeking voter
approval of a law it has adopted.

Initiative and referendum provide the voters a means to overcome their
elected officials’ lack of action or actions taken in the officials’ own
self-interest rather than the interests of the citizens they represent.
“In other words, the institutions of direct democracy in the form of the
initiative/referendum amount to a kind of constitutional constraint on
the behavior of governmental decision-makers.”

However, as a means to limit government spending, “direct democracy”
doesn’t seem to make much difference. Studies on this subject do not
yield any significant results. Some studies show the initiative process
results in higher expenditures; others show government expenditures are
lower when the initiative process is available to voters. “Often the
true aim of initiatives and referendums is clearly to ease and
accelerate [the] growth [of government].”

Governments impose “coercive levies” on society, sometimes to raise
revenue, other times to attempt to influence behavior (e.g., imposing
higher tobacco taxes to discourage smoking). The tax burden created by
this imposition is “allocated between the producers and consumers. This
allocation process is accessible to private interest groups who may
invest resources for the purpose of affecting the burden distribution in
their favor.”

In the states in which the initiative process is available, interest
groups that would typically lobby the government might instead turn to
the initiative process as a more secure and long-lasting means of
achieving their goals. An interest group may obtain a favorable outcome
from the Legislature, with the passage of a law that places more of the
tax burden on some other segment of the population. But the Legislature
can only provide a statutory solution; as the Legislature changes, the
interest group must continue to lobby to maintain support for the law.
However, if the interest group can use the initiative process to secure
a Constitutional Amendment, it will be more difficult in the future to
eliminate or change the benefit it provides to the interest group.

The initiative and referendum process – tools of direct democracy — are
often promoted as a means of limiting the size and scope of government.
In this chapter, the author contends that, “whatever its other impacts
or implications [the initiative and referendum process] functions as a
means by which the tax burden is rearranged to the benefit of particular
interest groups and to the detriment of others; in other words, a
coercive wealth transfer.”

Above article is quoted from Public Interest Institute at Iowa Wesleyan
College, Institute Brief June 2003, https://www.limitedgovernment.org

”Evergreen (Today’s Quotes)”

“To really participate in the Divine Task, man must place his ideals as
high as possible, out of reach if necessary.” — Lecomte Du Nouy

“[The Constitution preserves]the advantage of being armed which
Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation [where]
the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James
Madison

”’Edited by Richard O. Rowland, president of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, 1314 S. King Street, Suite 1163, Honolulu, HI 96814. Phone/fax is 808-591-9193, cell phone is 808-864-1776. Send him an email at:”’ mailto:grassroot@hawaii.rr.com ”’See the Web site at:”’ https://www.grassrootinstitute.org/

”Gang Boss Killed by Parrot”

SYDNEY — A Scottish-born underworld boss who survived a bombing, shooting, and a heart attack has died of pneumonia from a parrot.

James McCartney Anderson, who left Scotland for Australia, was well known to police in Sydney, where he managed bars, nightclubs and strip clubs.

He was also a suspect in one of Australia’s greatest unsolved murders, when a woman went missing after visiting one of his clubs, the Glasgow Daily Record reported Saturday.

Despite surviving several brushes with death, “Big Jim” caught an infection after feeding rosell parrots a few weeks ago.

It developed into avian pneumonia and hospital doctors treating him discovered that the 73-year-old was suffering from cancer. He died just days later.

The newspaper said while Anderson had a fearsome temper, he mostly maintained a cheery disposition. His typical farewell was, “Remember, mate, every day’s a bonus.”

”Naked Austrian Statue Shocks Mayor”

SALZBURG, Austria — Even Prince Charles may find it hard to keep a stiff British upper lip as he passes by the giant statue during his weekend trip to Salzburg, Austria.

That is what is worrying Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden as he prepares to receive the heir to the British throne, who is well-heeled in the art of British understatement, BBC reports.

The cause of His Honor’s worry?

The statue, unveiled Friday, is named “Arc de Triomphe.” It depicts a naked man bending over backwards with his hands on the ground, while his manhood, shown in two-feet long erection, thrusts skyward.

Mayor Schaden says it would be impossible for Prince Charles to avoid seeing the figure when he arrives in the city of Mozart’s birth. He wants the sculpture taken down immediately.

It seems no one sought the mayor’s permission to put up the art. The artists who did the work say the piece has a royal theme about it with the majestic arch of the man bending over.

”Medical Center is Really a Hair Salon”

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand-funded trust for Maori people is paying for a medical center but it is, in fact, a hair salon.

The Dominion Post reported the building, leased for 10 cents a year to a Maori trust to provide health services is being used instead as a hairdressing salon by the sister of the trust’s chief executive.

Former employees of Waipukurau-based Te Whatuiapiti Trust, which receives more than $800,000 (USD470,000) a year in taxpayer funding to improve Maori health, say the trust is rife with nepotism.

The chief executive of Te Whatuiapiti Trust is former dental nurse Brenda Kupa-White. Her brother, former sheep shearer Russell Kupa, is the chairman.

Among trust employees are Kupa, two other sisters, his wife and his stepfather.

Kupa told an employee he once counseled a psychiatric patient by telling him to sit down before he knocked him down.

”Midnight Might have Psychological Problems”

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — A Simi Valley thieving cat might be suffering psychological problems – but he’s certainly is causing problems for his owners and their neighbors.

The Simi Valley Star says Midnight, the marauding four-legged street pirate, nightly plunders garages, sheds, back yards and patios. He proudly carries home to his distressed owners, Sue and Richard Boyd, various articles of feline value.

Sue Boyd told the newspaper: “We wake up in the morning and go out and there’s stuff under the truck. The cat leaves things all over. We don’t want these things.”

Midnight apparently likes apparel — shoes, hats, shirts, panties — all of which his owners daily put in a bag and hang from their mailbox so neighbors can reclaim missing items.

A animal behavior psychologist says one solution might be to give the klepto cat an obsessive-compulsive medication.

The Boyds are considering giving Midnight a feline obsessive-compulsive medication but, for now, “All we can do is laugh.”

”Playboy: Men Subscribe for the Articles?”

NEW YORK — Playboy Magazine is celebrating its 50th birthday by selling some of its assets, including proofs of the first James Bond novel, published in Playboy in 1963.

The London Telegraph said Playboy is not only well known for its women, but for its literature as well. The magazine, over the years, has featured such authors as Ian Fleming, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke.

And as part of its 50th anniversary, more than 300
Playboy items will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York. Bidders at the Dec. 17 auction are expected to offer as much as $25,000 for some items.

Included in the auction will be more than 70 original prints of photographs, such as an early portrait of Marilyn Monroe and John Derek’s nude picture of his wife, Bo, which is expected to gain up to $7,000 in bids.

Other paintings, drawings and cartoons used to illustrate the magazine over the 50 years are included in the sale.

”Menopause Researchers Turn to Ewes”

BOULDER, Colo. — Researchers studying menopause are increasingly using sheep in clinical studies because sheep experience many of the same problems as humans.

Colorado State University research projects verify that under induced menopause sheep behave much like menopausal women.

When their ovaries are removed, older ewes experience hot flashes, eye trouble, bone density loss and other symptoms of menopause.

That means research that would benefit menopausal and post-menopausal women, such as about estrogen replacement therapy, osteoporosis treatments, and prevention of arthritis and sight-inhibiting changes can be conducted on ewes.

As an example, a Colorado State University study measured hot flashes with tiny embedded temperature loggers in ewes. It showed that estrogen replacement results in milder and less frequent hot flashes. That phenomenon was previously unreported in other animals with the exception of laboratory rats with their ovaries removed or in research monkeys.

”Airport Detector Beeps Scanning Manatee”

SARASOTA, Fla. — Airport security went underwater in Florida to locate a medical thermometer lodged in a manatee.

Lab workers at the Mote Marine Laboraties in Sarasota fed two dime-sized thermometers to Buffett, a 1,800-pound manatee to record his intestinal temperature July 1.

They expected him to pass them both within eight days, but only one appeared, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported Saturday.

Manatee expert Debborah Colbert came up with the idea of using an airport metal-detecting wand to determine where the missing thermometer was exactly.

So Chris Kelleher of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport agreed to get into Buffett’s tank and wand him over.

The thermometer was found deep inside, and near the end of Buffett’s intestinal tract. He eventually passed the gadget July 14 reassuring the scientists who feared it would cause an infection.

”Mobile Phones Come to Iraq”

BAGHDAD — Mobile phone networks are springing up in Iraq even before occupation authorities have gotten round to handing out official licenses.

Iraq’s communications systems have been devastated, first by 12 years of sanctions and then by the bombings in the Iraq war.

At present, only two official mobile networks exist — one, in Baghdad, is operated by MCI by bankrupt U.S. telecom firm WorldCom which is used for U.S. personnel, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The other covers the south and is run by MTC-Vodafone, a consortium operated out of Kuwait.

Both are based on the GSM mobile standard, used by 60 million people in 20 neighboring Arab countries and also by about 70 percent of mobile users worldwide, according to the BBC.

”New Magazine Shows What America is Like”

WASHINGTON — A new magazine sponsored by the U.S. government is intended to show people in the Mideast what America is really like, officials say.

The magazine, called Hi, is funded by $4.2 million from the U.S. State Department.

Christopher Ross, the department’s senior adviser for the Arab world on public diplomacy said officials “looked for ways to rebuild a two-way dialogue” with Arab countries after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and it was hoped the magazine would help in that effort.

The first edition of the magazine, published completely in Arabic, is just off the presses. It is aimed at readers 18 to 35.

Hi’s editorial consultant is Samir Husni, a University of Mississippi journalism professor.

“It gives me an opportunity to serve my adopted country in a way I never dreamed I would do, in my native language,” said Husni, who is from Lebanon.

Beginning this month, 50,000 copies of the magazine are being distributed monthly to offices and newsstands across the Middle East.

Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

”Gang Boss Killed by Parrot”

SYDNEY — A Scottish-born underworld boss who survived a bombing, shooting, and a heart attack has died of pneumonia from a parrot.

James McCartney Anderson, who left Scotland for Australia, was well known to police in Sydney, where he managed bars, nightclubs and strip clubs.

He was also a suspect in one of Australia’s greatest unsolved murders, when a woman went missing after visiting one of his clubs, the Glasgow Daily Record reported Saturday.

Despite surviving several brushes with death, “Big Jim” caught an infection after feeding rosell parrots a few weeks ago.

It developed into avian pneumonia and hospital doctors treating him discovered that the 73-year-old was suffering from cancer. He died just days later.

The newspaper said while Anderson had a fearsome temper, he mostly maintained a cheery disposition. His typical farewell was, “Remember, mate, every day’s a bonus.”

”Naked Austrian Statue Shocks Mayor”

SALZBURG, Austria — Even Prince Charles may find it hard to keep a stiff British upper lip as he passes by the giant statue during his weekend trip to Salzburg, Austria.

That is what is worrying Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden as he prepares to receive the heir to the British throne, who is well-heeled in the art of British understatement, BBC reports.

The cause of His Honor’s worry?

The statue, unveiled Friday, is named “Arc de Triomphe.” It depicts a naked man bending over backwards with his hands on the ground, while his manhood, shown in two-feet long erection, thrusts skyward.

Mayor Schaden says it would be impossible for Prince Charles to avoid seeing the figure when he arrives in the city of Mozart’s birth. He wants the sculpture taken down immediately.

It seems no one sought the mayor’s permission to put up the art. The artists who did the work say the piece has a royal theme about it with the majestic arch of the man bending over.

”Medical Center is Really a Hair Salon”

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand-funded trust for Maori people is paying for a medical center but it is, in fact, a hair salon.

The Dominion Post reported the building, leased for 10 cents a year to a Maori trust to provide health services is being used instead as a hairdressing salon by the sister of the trust’s chief executive.

Former employees of Waipukurau-based Te Whatuiapiti Trust, which receives more than $800,000 (USD470,000) a year in taxpayer funding to improve Maori health, say the trust is rife with nepotism.

The chief executive of Te Whatuiapiti Trust is former dental nurse Brenda Kupa-White. Her brother, former sheep shearer Russell Kupa, is the chairman.

Among trust employees are Kupa, two other sisters, his wife and his stepfather.

Kupa told an employee he once counseled a psychiatric patient by telling him to sit down before he knocked him down.

”Midnight Might have Psychological Problems”

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — A Simi Valley thieving cat might be suffering psychological problems – but he’s certainly is causing problems for his owners and their neighbors.

The Simi Valley Star says Midnight, the marauding four-legged street pirate, nightly plunders garages, sheds, back yards and patios. He proudly carries home to his distressed owners, Sue and Richard Boyd, various articles of feline value.

Sue Boyd told the newspaper: “We wake up in the morning and go out and there’s stuff under the truck. The cat leaves things all over. We don’t want these things.”

Midnight apparently likes apparel — shoes, hats, shirts, panties — all of which his owners daily put in a bag and hang from their mailbox so neighbors can reclaim missing items.

A animal behavior psychologist says one solution might be to give the klepto cat an obsessive-compulsive medication.

The Boyds are considering giving Midnight a feline obsessive-compulsive medication but, for now, “All we can do is laugh.”

”Playboy: Men Subscribe for the Articles?”

NEW YORK — Playboy Magazine is celebrating its 50th birthday by selling some of its assets, including proofs of the first James Bond novel, published in Playboy in 1963.

The London Telegraph said Playboy is not only well known for its women, but for its literature as well. The magazine, over the years, has featured such authors as Ian Fleming, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke.

And as part of its 50th anniversary, more than 300
Playboy items will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York. Bidders at the Dec. 17 auction are expected to offer as much as $25,000 for some items.

Included in the auction will be more than 70 original prints of photographs, such as an early portrait of Marilyn Monroe and John Derek’s nude picture of his wife, Bo, which is expected to gain up to $7,000 in bids.

Other paintings, drawings and cartoons used to illustrate the magazine over the 50 years are included in the sale.

”Menopause Researchers Turn to Ewes”

BOULDER, Colo. — Researchers studying menopause are increasingly using sheep in clinical studies because sheep experience many of the same problems as humans.

Colorado State University research projects verify that under induced menopause sheep behave much like menopausal women.

When their ovaries are removed, older ewes experience hot flashes, eye trouble, bone density loss and other symptoms of menopause.

That means research that would benefit menopausal and post-menopausal women, such as about estrogen replacement therapy, osteoporosis treatments, and prevention of arthritis and sight-inhibiting changes can be conducted on ewes.

As an example, a Colorado State University study measured hot flashes with tiny embedded temperature loggers in ewes. It showed that estrogen replacement results in milder and less frequent hot flashes. That phenomenon was previously unreported in other animals with the exception of laboratory rats with their ovaries removed or in research monkeys.

”Airport Detector Beeps Scanning Manatee”

SARASOTA, Fla. — Airport security went underwater in Florida to locate a medical thermometer lodged in a manatee.

Lab workers at the Mote Marine Laboraties in Sarasota fed two dime-sized thermometers to Buffett, a 1,800-pound manatee to record his intestinal temperature July 1.

They expected him to pass them both within eight days, but only one appeared, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported Saturday.

Manatee expert Debborah Colbert came up with the idea of using an airport metal-detecting wand to determine where the missing thermometer was exactly.

So Chris Kelleher of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport agreed to get into Buffett’s tank and wand him over.

The thermometer was found deep inside, and near the end of Buffett’s intestinal tract. He eventually passed the gadget July 14 reassuring the scientists who feared it would cause an infection.

”Mobile Phones Come to Iraq”

BAGHDAD — Mobile phone networks are springing up in Iraq even before occupation authorities have gotten round to handing out official licenses.

Iraq’s communications systems have been devastated, first by 12 years of sanctions and then by the bombings in the Iraq war.

At present, only two official mobile networks exist — one, in Baghdad, is operated by MCI by bankrupt U.S. telecom firm WorldCom which is used for U.S. personnel, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The other covers the south and is run by MTC-Vodafone, a consortium operated out of Kuwait.

Both are based on the GSM mobile standard, used by 60 million people in 20 neighboring Arab countries and also by about 70 percent of mobile users worldwide, according to the BBC.

”New Magazine Shows What America is Like”

WASHINGTON — A new magazine sponsored by the U.S. government is intended to show people in the Mideast what America is really like, officials say.

The magazine, called Hi, is funded by $4.2 million from the U.S. State Department.

Christopher Ross, the department’s senior adviser for the Arab world on public diplomacy said officials “looked for ways to rebuild a two-way dialogue” with Arab countries after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and it was hoped the magazine would help in that effort.

The first edition of the magazine, published completely in Arabic, is just off the presses. It is aimed at readers 18 to 35.

Hi’s editorial consultant is Samir Husni, a University of Mississippi journalism professor.

“It gives me an opportunity to serve my adopted country in a way I never dreamed I would do, in my native language,” said Husni, who is from Lebanon.

Beginning this month, 50,000 copies of the magazine are being distributed monthly to offices and newsstands across the Middle East.

Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.