KEY POINTS:
Things got bumpy for Brussels Airlines when superstitious passengers complained about its logo. The airline's stylised "b" caused concern because it was made up of 13 dots. The company said it was "taken aback by the strength of feeling", the BBC reports. A spokesman for the airline said: "They said they were not pleased with an aircraft with a logo with 13 balls because they think it brings them bad luck." But the customer is always right and Brussels Airlines added a fourteenth dot to its logo.
* * *
Romanian Bishop Calinic Argatu fears his priests' fat tummies suggest they enjoy too many worldly pleasures and have ordered them to lose weight. He wants them to extend their fast over Lent and recommends extended prayer sessions to reduce weight. The bishop, in charge of the Arges region, said: "Oversized bellies only prove to people that priests have a good life and are not concentrating on their holy mission." However, he is not recommending they take up sport, which was not appropriate for men of the cloth. "Marathon prayer sessions will work much better." One priest responded: "I do not believe that God dislikes big bellies. He brought into the world thin and fat people and makes no difference between them."
* * *
Unnecessary health spending: An Auckland District Heath Board document from the community and public health advisory committee reads: "It was noted in the Cancer Control Health Improvement Plan that 'death in old age is an inevitable and natural event' and suggests that management prepare a paper on this to initiate a debate in the committee in a couple of months." What's there to debate?
* * *
A story in Sideswipe referred to the Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz, who was photographed looking through his binoculars, apparently with the lens caps still on. The BBC photographer claimed Peretz nodded as an associate explained what he was viewing - the implication being the minister was going through the motions not really interested in what was going on or too dumb to say he couldn't see anything. President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton have been caught out by this photo opportunity before and the BBC, the Australian and the Jerusalem Post, with other media, have published the story as a gaffe. However, a reader claims the lens covers could in fact be special filters designed to stop flashes of reflected sunlight and giving away the position of the holder to the enemy. Urban Legends reference page Snopes.com concluded the explanation was a possibility (as was one which theorised they might be night vision devices that also work during the day).
