Written By: Kevin Dunne
Vatican City
While James Bond may be the world’s worst spy (everybody knows who he is, so it defeats the purpose), he is one of the most beloved characters of the past decades. Shockingly enough, it would seem that one of Bond’s fans is none other than the Pope…or at least the Vatican. In its most recent publication, l’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s newspaper, gave nothing but praise for the newest Bond film, Skyfall. While it may not be the exegesis that would be expected from the world’s most religious state, the newspaper has gone under some transformations to make it appealing to a wider audience.
Egypt
November is a sacred month to American men who wish to get in touch with their inner lumberjack. It is a time to revolt against shaving and maybe listen to a song by The Beards about how great it is to have a beard. Sadly, the joy experienced by some, is not universal. Dozens of police officers in Egypt were suspended in February for growing beards in accordance to their Islamic faith. On Wednesday, the officers called to be rehired, stating that the beards were grown to state their faith, instead of a political idea. The men, however, are still waiting to return to their jobs.
United Kingdom
Instead of getting down to some killer tunes like the “Monster Mash” or “The Time Warp,” or watching horror films like The Evil Dead II on Halloween, researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London were busy sciencing it up. “Professional” psychics, Patricia Putt and Kim Whitton agreed to participate in a study to test their clairvoyant talents. The duo was asked to write notes relating to five hidden subjects behind a test screen, but failed to do so. How the two psychics failed to see that they wouldn’t pass the test is unclear, much like their supposed talents.
United States
Nerds, geeks, dweebs, and dorks across the world, nay, the galaxy, collectively fainted on the 30th when it was announced that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm for just $4.05 billion. Many have been on-edge about the deal, especially when it was announced that a seventh Star Wars movie would be released in 2015, with subsequent movies being released after. Since Disney now owns all of Lucasfilm, fans can finally get to see beloved characters like Jar Jar Binks team up with King Louie, or R2D2 and Wall-E team up in a buddy cop movie. Who knows, maybe we’ll finally get a second Star Wars Christmas Special.
[box type=”info” color=”#000000″ bg=”#999999″]The opinions expressed in The Papyrus online do not necessarily represent those of Greenville College or the Greenville College Publications Board.[/box]
