This is a sticky subject.

In a bid to manage expectorations in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Beijing is renewing efforts to curb spitting.

The Asian Wall Street Journal reports that offenders can be fined as much as fifty yuan (approx. P350 or a day’s wages for a Filipino worker) if caught spewing in public. The latest initiative targets a habit that has been long ingrained in the city. Beijing’s dry desert air and high level of pollution can trigger a rapid buildup of stringy phlegm, which is almost as swiftly deposited in sidewaiks, drains and just about anywhere, according to the AWSJ.
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The blonde bombshell is an American cultural icon. Her various incarnations over the years have been objects of worldwide fascination and ridicule. Alternately despised and idolized, the wellspring of thousands of dumb-blonde jokes, the image of the blonde sexpot is now an indelible part of pop culture.

The most famous and enduring figure of this archetype is of course Marilyn Monroe. Part of their (morbid) attraction is how a number come to meet premature and tragic ends. The latest in this sad but engrossing parade is Anna Nicole Smith.

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Sex in space. Now that’s an interesting angle.

They say love can do that to you. Drive you crazy, to the point of murder. Lisa Nowak, U.S. astronaut and mother of three, got caught up in an insane vortex of passion and now stands charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. Hers is a bizarre, cautionary tale just in time for Valentine’s Day.

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House Deputy Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano was suspended for a period of 45 days Tuesday by the ethics committee of the House of Representatives for “improper conduct and unparliamentary behavior” for allegedly accusing without proper proof the First Family of keeping millions of dollars in a German bank. Overall, the whole sorry affair proved to be a boost to his candidacy. As pointed out by the Inquirer, all the publicity he is getting couldn’t hurt his chances of joining his sister Pia in the Senate after the May elections.

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The Philippine Senate has unanimously approved a bill that will lower the price of medicines by allowing anyone to import patented drugs which are sold cheaper in other countries. Called parallel importation, this practice is restricted by the Intellectual Property Code and has been vigorously opposed by huge multinational drug firms like Pfizer.

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