Mar 06, 2000
*** "WE HAVE every reason to be shocked at the fact
that this form of espionage, which has been going on a number of years, has not prompted
any official protest."
(Speaker of European Parliament Nicole Fontaine commenting on news that
a US-led spy network has been eavesdropping on billions of private calls, faxes and
e-mails in Europe)
*** "IRONICALLY, MUCH of the leather found in stores
around the world comes from India, where cows are held sacred, but where Western demand
for cheap leather has spawned a grotesquely cruel underground industry . . . Please think
twice when buying your next jacket, belt, pair of shoes or gloves."
(Jason Baker, spokesman for India branch of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA), an international animal rights group, on the release of the
video depicting cruelty to animals)
*** "JETHMALANI REPRESENTS only rich clients. He does
not understand that all litigants cannot visit New Delhi to appeal in the supreme court
from decisions of a single judge of a (state) high court."
(Senior Mumbai lawyer Manubhai Vashi protesting the move to disallow
second appeals in the same state high court by Indian Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani. Some
500,000 lawyers across the country held a one-day strike on February 24)
*** "THE ACCUSED[s] made profits a priority despite
their responsibility as top executives of a pharmaceutical company to protect
patients’ lives."
(Judge Mikio Miyoshi of the Japan’s Osaka District Court
sentencing three ex-presidents of Green Gross pharmaceutical company whose
HIV-contaminated products which infected 1,434 people, 493 of which have already died of
AIDS)
*** "THE U.S. known as the ‘land of the
free’ ranks first in the world in its proportion of prisoners to the entire
population."
(Official Xinhua news agency of China blasting the US criticism of the
country’s human rights practices)
*** "JOSPIN IS NOT wanted in Lebanon and I don’t
want him to think of visiting this country before apologising for the affront he caused to
the Lebanese resistance and people."
(Deputy leader of Hezbollah fighters, Sheikh Naim Qassem, warning
French prime minister Lionel Jospin not to even contemplate visiting Lebanon before
apologising for his remarks branding the group’s attack on Israel
‘terrorist’)
*** "THE SCREENFRIDGE scans groceries as they are
placed inside, taking note of the freshness dates recorded in bar codes or microchips and
advising the homemaker which shelf has the most suitable temperature for each
product.’
(Comments on the introduction of ‘smart’ appliances in near
future towards fully automated households in near future in Europe. The inactive gadgetry
will help run homes by remote control)
*** "ADDING SCENT to movies will be like adding colour
to the movies."
(Joel Bellenson, one of the founders of Florida-based DigiScents and
inventor of iSmell, a pencil sharpener-like box which attaches to computer like a printer
to produce thousands of smells to match the pictures on the websites. Bellenson says that
websites and e-mail of future would be able to include ‘just about any smells you
care— or fear— to imagine)
*** "THE RICHES have not contributed to the welfare
and well being of the largest part of humanity. Peoples of the developing world have not
benefited from them."
(Former South African president Nelson Mandela speaking at Emirates
International Forum in Dubai saying that globalisation has helped only rich countries to
take decisions that suit them while poorer nations have no influence in shaping the
policies defining the terms of the global trade)
*** "SOME OF the horrors inflicted on the civilian
population are going to create scars that are going to take a very long to heal. There is
sort of spiritual pollution about closing your eyes to human rights abuses on such a
dreadful scale."
(Chris Patten, the European Commission’s external relations
commissioner, asking Russia to understand the international outrage at atrocities in
Chechenya and to stop blaming the West for its failures)
Edited by Syed M. Aslam
