Saturday, May 13, 2006

In the papers...

From the Telegraph, this story about tackling crime in Naples:
Tourists checking into hotels in Naples this summer are to receive an unusual gift as part of an innovative scheme to protect visitors from gangs of "Rolex-snatchers".
Every guest will find a cheap plastic watch by their beds emblazoned with a motif of either a pizza or Mount Vesuvius.
Attached to the watch will be a piece of paper saying: "Leave your Rolex in the hotel safe, and keep track of your holiday time with this simple sign of welcome."
It is hoped that the tackiness of the watch, the centrepiece of a £150,000 programme dubbed "Operation Bluff the Bandits", will deter the crime-ridden city's myriad bag snatchers and pickpockets.
There's a story about the spread of a certain brand of Protestantism in the Ukraine (some readers may find the content offensive):
The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is not quite sure which part of Sunday Adelaja's weekly services it likes the least.
The dubious Russian pop and the pom-pom-waving Cossack dancers are certainly contenders. The hot babes in choir dress swaying to the music might win the vote of its many older and weaker-hearted clergymen.
Or it could be the thousands of Ukrainian teenagers squealing as the diminutive Nigerian pastor preaches the word of God.
In the 1,000 years that it has been in existence, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has faced down many threats ranging from Reformation-era heretics to Soviet iconoclasts and modern day schismatics.
But never before has it had to see off an intruder who encourages his congregants to "shake their booty and praise the Lord". Mr Adelaja is a serious threat, even if it took the Church a while to realise it.

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