The Ovi magazine today

Noam Chomsky on the Politics of the Essence of the Human Mind by Emanuel L. Paparella

Noam Chomsky is considered one of the pivotal linguists of our time. He follows a long heritage on the nature of language which begins with the ancient Greeks and continues with Giambattista Vico in the 18th century.

Whither Democracy in America? Part 3: Myths and Lessons of Athenian Democracy by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
The word democracy derives from the ancient Greek dēmokratia (literally, rule by the people) formed from the roots dēmos "people," "the mob, the many" and kratos "rule" or "power."

"Charles Darwin and a pool party" by Alexander Mikhaylov
"Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind." - Thomas Babington Macaulay

"I wish" by Bohdan Yuri
"Poets are mysterious, but a poet when all is said is not much more mysterious than a banker." - Allen Tate

'Killing Fields' journalist dies

A Cambodian-born US journalist whose enslavement and escape from the Khmer Rouge became the subject of the famous film, The Killing Fields, has died.

Dith Pran died at a hospital in New Jersey from pancreatic cancer at the age of 65, according to his former New York Times colleague, Sydney Schanberg.

They were in Cambodia in 1975 to report the fall of Phnom Penh to Khmer forces.

Mr. Dith was not allowed to leave, and had to endure four years of torture and starvation before escaping to Thailand.

In 1980, Mr. Schanberg described his colleague's ordeal in a magazine article, and later a book, called "The Death and Life of Dith Pran". It became the basis for the Oscar-winning Hollywood film, The Killing Fields.

Pran was a true reporter, a fighter for the truth and for his people!

Don’t forget, summer time

Don’t forget, summer time at 3 AM Sunday morning when the clock is shifted one hour forward. The shift to summer time will bring some interruptions in banking services and affect rail travel.

The annual switch to summer, or daylight saving time is established practice within the European Union and takes place on the same day and at the same stroke of the clock in all member countries.

Blade runner composer’s birthday

Vangelis Papathanasiou, born March 29, 1943 and he is mostly known through just his first name, has made a remarkable career in music composition.

The musical talents of Vangelis first became obvious at a very early age. His parents tried to encourage him to study with a professional teacher, but he did not respond well to formal education, as he was generally unwilling to follow instructions. At the end of his school years, he and some friends formed a band called "Formynx", which became popular. In 1968 Vangelis moved to Paris.

Together with Demis Rousos and Lucas Sideras, he formed "Aphrodite's Child". This group scored an immediate world wide hit with their first release, "Rain and Tears". Later on, the band split and he continued solo in Paris writing music for movies.

His career launched and Vangelis received an array of awards, among them an Oscar in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film "Chariots of Fire". The music of Vangelis is too diverse to be described as pop, rock, classical, jazz, or new age.

Explaining his music, Vangelis says, "All I try to do is let people know what I think through my music. I just bring the music to you and it is up to you to do what you want with it".

Apologies for the …ghost

A hospital has apologized to a patient after a nurse claiming to be a medium said she had seen a ghost on a ward.

Gillian Davies, who was recovering from surgery, complained about the incident and the level of care she received at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Denbighshire. An independent review ruled that the hospital "skirted over" the ghost incident, and the nursing care given to Mrs. Davies fell below standard.

Mrs. Davies, 48, of Mostyn, Flintshire, said she wanted lessons to be learned. She was convalescing following an operation to remove one of her breasts when a nurse who claimed to be a medium said she had just seen a ghost.

Let’s hope that the treatment in that hospital and the therapeutic methods are not …ghosted too!

Tower's royal lions

Two lion skulls found during excavations at the Tower of London originated in north-west Africa, genetic research suggests.

The big cats, which were kept by royals during medieval times, have the same genetic make-up as the north African Barbary lion, a DNA study shows. Experts believe the animals were gifts to English monarchs in the 13th and 14th centuries. At the time, the Barbary lion roamed across much of Africa.

The two well-preserved lion skulls were recovered during excavations of the moat at the Tower of London in 1937. They have been radiocarbon dated to AD 1280-1385 and AD 1420-1480.

Researchers at the University of Oxford extracted DNA from the skulls, and found that it matched that of the north African Barbary lion.

Before putting them on the shield, they had them …alive!

Gallery piece 'owned by Hitler'

A painting owned by The National Gallery was once in the possession of Adolf Hitler, an expert has claimed.

Dr Birgit Schwartz, who is researching Hitler's art collection, says Cupid Complaining To Venus once hung in the Nazi leader's private gallery. She made the discovery while studying photographs from his personal library. A gallery spokesman said they had "no reason to doubt the claim" and appealed for anyone with information about the Lucas Cranach painting to come forward.

The gallery bought the painting in 1963 from New York dealers E&A Silbermann. It shows Cupid holding a honeycomb and telling Venus that he has been stung by bees. The National Gallery said it had only recently learned that the portrait was acquired in 1945 by Mrs Patricia Lochridge Hartwell, an American war correspondent in Nazi Germany.

Japan, WWII and a …Nobel

Japanese judges have thrown out a libel case against Nobel prize-winning author Kenzaburo Oe, who was accused of lying about the country's war time past.

Mr Oe's book Okinawa Notes claims that the Japanese military ordered hundreds of civilians to commit suicide as US troops advanced during World War II. A retired army officer and another man said the military never gave the order, but the court dismissed their claim.

Analysts say the ruling vindicates Mr Oe's views on Okinawa's history.

Ups …he did it again!

And again and again and again! This man turns to be the hero of this blog! In Europe politicians have girlfriends, mistresses, boyfriends, Nicolas has Carla and …so what? Nothing really maters. From the other side of the ocean …here is all the excitement, all the spice!

Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been identified as a long-standing client of a second high-priced call-girl ring, The Post has learned.

The ex-governor regularly …patronized Wicked Models, the Manhattan-based operation taken down Tuesday, according to financial documents and other evidence unearthed in a yearlong prostitution investigation, law-enforcement sources said.

The revelation comes three weeks after Spitzer was outed as "Client-9" in a separate federal hooker probe involving the New Jersey-based Emperors Club VIP.

Cuba on mobile phones

Cubans are to be allowed unrestricted access to mobile phones for the first time, in the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro.

In a statement in official newspaper Granma, state telecom monopoly ETECSA said it would offer mobile services to the public in the next few days. Some Cubans already own mobile phones, but they have had to acquire them via a third party, often foreigners.

Cuba's rate of cell phone usage remains among the lowest in Latin America. Now Cubans will be able to subscribe to pre-paid mobile services under their own names, instead of going through foreigners or in some cases their work places. However, the new service must be paid for in foreign currency, which will restrict access to wealthier Cubans.

That was the reason George W. Bush could not speak with Fidel, but now …problem solved!

Flexible silicon chips

Normally fragile and brittle silicon chips have been made to bend and fold, paving the way for a new generation of flexible electronic devices.

The stretchy circuits could be used to build advanced brain implants, health monitors or smart clothing.

The complex devices consist of concertina-like folds of ultra-thin silicon bonded to sheets of rubber. Writing in the journal Science, the US researchers say the chip's performance is similar to conventional electronics.

"Silicon microelectronics has been a spectacularly successful technology that has touched virtually every part of our lives," said Professor John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the authors of the paper. But, he said, the rigid and fragile nature of silicon made it very unattractive for many applications, such as biomedical implants.

"In many cases you'd like to integrate electronics conformably in a variety of ways in the human body - but the human body does not have the shape of a silicon wafer."

Turner paintings head for Moscow

An exhibition of the works of J.M.W. Turner is to go ahead at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow later this year. Tate Britain is lending over 100 of the artist's works for the show which will run from November until February.

The Pushkin exhibition, which is being sponsored by billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov, will feature over 100 of Turner's works. It marks the first time any of Turner's paintings have been seen in Moscow since the 1970s.

"The generations have changed since Turner was last in Moscow and it's important that the young see him," said Ainaida Bonami, the Pushkin's deputy director. The paintings on loan will include Norham Castle, Sunrise, one of Turner's most popular works, and a self-portrait.

Sorry for Tupac claim

The Los Angeles Times has apologized for claiming rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was involved in a 1994 shooting of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur.

The apology follows a claim that the newspaper was conned by a prisoner who doctored the documents used. "The bottom line is that the documents we relied on should not have been used," said editor Russ Stanton. Combs has already called the report "completely untrue" and "a lie". Writer Chuck Philips said he "got duped". Two years after the attack in New York, Shakur died in a separate shooting incident in Las Vegas.

The LA Times, which published the original story on its website, initially said its claims were based on FBI records, witness accounts and other unnamed sources. Mr. Stanton launched an investigation following claims published earlier this week on The Smoking Gun website.

"We apologies to both our readers and to those referenced in the documents and in the story," he said. The Smoking Gun claimed the documents used were fabricated by a prison inmate with a history of exaggerating his place on the rap music scene.

The newspaper said its story, published on 17 March, was based on FBI records, interviews with people at the scene of the shooting, and statements to the FBI by an informant. None of the sources were named. Mr. Philips, who wrote the story, said a former FBI agent examined the documents in question on his behalf and said they appeared to be legitimate.

But he said he now wished he had done more to investigate their authenticity. And if he did would he find anybody’s involvement? This is very tricky answer and still leaves suspicions in the air!

Check-in Heathrow

All luggage check-in has been suspended at Heathrow's new £4.3bn Terminal 5, after cancelled flights and baggage delays blighted its opening day.

British Airways, which has sole use of the terminal, cancelled 34 flights due to "teething problems" and was later forced to stop luggage check-in. Technical difficulties have also led to baggage delays of up to four hours.

BA blamed the glitches on problems with "staff familiarisation", which had a knock-on effect on bags and flights. In a day of problems at the new terminal, airport operator BAA said a baggage belt had stopped working, meaning a halt to check-in for passengers with bags.

Not a good day for flying to Heathrow but then which is ever a good day and how much this new terminal has helped?

Atkinson will be … Fagin

Rowan Atkinson is to star as Fagin in the forthcoming West End stage production of Oliver! The cast will also include the winners of the BBC show I'd Do Anything - one actress will play Nancy and three boys will take turns to play the lead role.

Blackadder star Atkinson, 53, said the role was a long-held ambition. "In the 1980s I enjoyed doing a lot of West End theatre and since then have been distracted very much by Mr Bean and film-making," he said.

"I had been thinking for some time about returning to the stage and the idea of the role of Fagin, which has long intrigued me. "Some time ago I even played the role in a school production so it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss."

Endeavour in Florida

The US space shuttle Endeavour has landed successfully in Florida after the longest mission of its kind to the International Space Station.

Endeavour's descent was slightly delayed by poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center. During their 16-day mission, the space shuttle's crew installed the first part of a Japanese research laboratory and assembled a Canadian robot.

The robot will carry out maintenance on the exterior of the space station.

just …guess who

A man says ...he’s …pregnant!

An Oregon man is five months pregnant, according to a US magazine. Thomas Beatie, who used to be a woman, appeared in the most recent issue of The Advocate, a magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers.

Beatie wrote the article and it included a picture of him while he was 22 weeks pregnant. According to the story, he went through a sex change, but decided only to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy.

Beatie was able to keep the reproductive organs he was born with. The article said he stopped getting the injections and was able to get pregnant!!!

Well a man …not exactly man!!!

Dolphins woo for sex

A South American river dolphin uses branches, weeds and lumps of clay to woo the opposite sex and frighten off rivals, scientists have discovered.

Researchers observed adult male botos carrying these objects while surrounded by females, and thrashing them on the water surface aggressively. Writing in the journal Biology Letters, they say such behaviour has never before been seen in any marine mammal.

The boto lives in only two rivers, and numbers are thought to be declining. A group of British and Brazilian researchers studied the dolphin's unique courtship behaviour over three years in the Mamiraua Reserve, a flooded rainforest area on the Amazon.

The beauty of the nature!

Breast MRI scans might wrong

Lumps detected in women at a high risk of breast cancer using hi-tech MRI scans overwhelmingly turn out to be false alarms, a Dutch study suggests.

But while researchers found five out of six scans which suggested a problem were wrong, they were nonetheless very effective at spotting invasive cancers. And while false-positives caused anxiety, the study did not find women were rashly opting for mastectomies.

The findings were published in the Annals of Oncology. Women with certain genes have as much as an 85% risk of breast cancer.

In the UK, NHS guidelines say that a woman with a family history of the disease may be offered yearly MRI scans if her doctors think it is appropriate, in addition to the recommended mammogram.

MRI scans - which use magnetic resonance imaging - are more sensitive than standard mammograms, and as such are seen as particularly effective in picking up early breast cancers in younger women with denser breast tissue.