Gang leaders in Chicago are mellowing with age, wealth and family obligations. The city’s Crime Commission reports that feared bosses of the Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, Vice Lords and Four Corner Hustlers are moving into the suburbs. “They have small children and are looking for a place to live because they don’t want them to grow up in gang territory,” explained a police spokesman. Admirable priorities, and Neighbourhood Watch meetings should be interesting.
Grapes are filled with melatonin, a useful sleep hormone, or at least researchers at the Institute of Plant Virology, in Milan, claim they are. But the world of grape science is being shaken by an unseemly row over the suggestion. The Society of Chemical Industry, which is based in London, flatly contradicts the Italian assertion, saying data has been misinterpreted. World Cup rivalry is everywhere.
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Farming is tough in Scotland, with incomes falling 8 per cent last year. So thank goodness for water buffaloes. Steve Mitchell, 24, has 130 of the beasts helping him to remain on land in Fife farmed by his family for generations. Demand for buffalo meat is high. “They haven’t been intensively farmed and I think that’s why they’ve retained their fantastic flavour and healthiness,” Mitchell says. A gratuitous plug? Yes. Original thinking and any subsidy-free agriculture deserve encouragement.
Avoiding work is a full-time job and seems to be getting harder, at least in America where Workaholics Anonymous now has self-help branches in 35 cities. New figures suggest that employees are working three hours a week more than their parents did, the equivalent to nearly four extra weeks a year.
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An unnamed film director has infuriated Sir Ian McKellen by suggesting that gay actors never convince straight audiences in heterosexual roles. “If that were true,” says the openly gay actor, “Heath Ledger wouldn’t be allowed to be in Brokeback Mountain because he’s, presumably, a happily married young man who doesn’t have a gay bone in his body. And couldn’t you just tell?” Yes, absolutely, but a puzzling last sentence.
Sources: Chicago Tribune, CBS News, The Herald (Glasgow), CBS News, World Entertainment News Network