It’s hasta la vista, OJ
QUESTION Was OJ Simpson cast as the original Terminator?
OJ Simpson was offered the role of the android in The Terminator at a party but was never seriously considered for it by the film’s director James Cameron.
The casting of NFL star and Naked Gun actor Simpson was the idea of Orion Pictures cofounder and film producer Mike Medavoy.
In 1995, O.J. was found not guilty of murdering his former wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman, but in a civil case two years later, a jury found Simpson responsible for both deaths. In 2008, he was part of a gang jailed for a kidnapping, assault and robbery at a Las Vegas hotel-casino. He served nine years behind bars before being released last year.
Orion was a production company that released blockbusters such as Platoon, Amadeus and Dances With Wolves.
Cameron recalled: ‘Mike Medavoy at Orion called me up one night and said, “I just went to this party and I got the movie cast!” Now, of course, every filmmaker loves to hear that some douche executive has cast your movie for you. And he said, “OK, O. J. Simpson for the Terminator.”
‘I was like, “Hey Mike. Bad idea! You’re going to have this black athlete chasing this white girl around LA with a fricking knife and a gun? We’re not doing that.” Which was fortunate, but also unfortunate in that life ended up imitating art.’
The Terminator was eventually released in 1984 with Arnold Schwarzenegger cast as the killer T-800 cybernetic android.
Jim Garfield, Luton, Beds.
QUESTION Do some countries have a thriving cockroach-farming industry?
THERE are hundreds of cockroach farms in China, where they are used as an ingredient in medicine or as a source of protein for livestock feed. One cockroach farm in Xichang, Sichuan Province, is home to six billion insects, roughly equivalent to the number of humans on the planet.
In some parts of China they are sold as human food. The correct way to prepare a cockroach is to fry it twice in a wok of smokinghot oil. The second time makes the shell crispy and the inside succulent. The flesh is said have the consistency of cottage cheese and to taste like chicken.
The main species used is the copper-coloured Periplaneta
americana. They are most widely used in the Chinese medicine industry. Cream made from powdered cockroaches is used as a burn treatment in some of the country’s hospitals. Cockroach syrup is said to cure gastroenteritis, duodenal ulcers and pulmonary tuberculosis.The sheer number of insects locked in these farms poses a serious hazard. If billions of cockroaches escaped – with their famous indestructibility, voracious appetite and rapid breeding, they could soon make a local town uninhabitable. W. Gregg, Stafford.
QUESTION During the world wars, were battlefield ambulances and medics respected by all the combatants?
THE first Geneva Convention of 1864, ‘for the amelioration of the Condition of Wounded and Sick in the Armed Forces in the Field’ was the brainchild of Henri Dunant, a Swiss businessman. He had witnessed the 1859 Battle of Solferino, between the French-Piedemontese and Austrian armies in Italy. This left about 40,000 wounded on both sides, who lacked medical attention.
Returning to Switzerland, Dunant wrote about what he had seen and campaigned for the better treatment of battlefield wounded.
This resulted in the publication of the first convention. There were three more over the years. The second dealt with the treatment of the wounded at sea and the third and fourth dealt with the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians in wartime, respectively.
The convention covers a range of provisions for the wounded; from humane treatment through to the protection of buildings where the wounded are being treated. It also covers the protection of civilians helping wounded soldiers.
The First Geneva Convention also demanded respect for the Red Cross symbol covering medical staff, ambulances, hospitals and, after the signing of the second convention, hospital ships.
Only countries which had signed the Geneva Convention consider themselves bound by it, though some voluntarily treated the convention as guidelines. Only 12 countries signed the original on August 22, 1864. Britain signed the following year. Today, 196 countries, all recognised by the UN, have signed the conventions.
By and large all sides during World War I observed the Geneva Convention. In France, truces were arranged to allow for the collection and treatment of the wounded in No Man’s Land. Truces were also arranged during World War II. During World War II the Nazis breached the conventions, especially when regarding Russian wounded and prisoners.
The Fuhrer Order, issued on October 18, 1942, stated all captured special forces personnel (mainly commandos) were to be executed, was a direct contravention of the Convention. Three wounded members of the SAS were executed under this order.
The Soviets breached the convention when they executed 22,000 Polish military officers, police and members of the intelligentsia after the Russian invasion of Poland in 1939. Many of the dead were buried in mass graves in Katyn Forest. The Japanese did not sign the first or subsequent Geneva Conventions until after World War II. Their dreadful treatment of both the wounded and prisoners of war is well documented. Breaches of the Geneva Conventions are considered war crimes. There are two categories of breach; minor and grave. A grave action is one carried out deliberately, rather than through neglect. Bob Cubitt, Northampton.
QUESTION What’s the most amount of brothers – or sisters – that have played in a county GAA team?
IT was the Ó Sés of Kerry football, Marc, Tomás and Darragh, that truly set the bar – not only did they all appear on the same side, they are the only set of brothers to win All-Stars in the same year (2007). And of course there are the legendary Spillanes – Pat, Mick and Tom – also of the Kingdom, who hold 19 All-Ireland senior medals between them, which remains a record for siblings. In comparison, the Ó Sés have won a paltry 15 between them! Ger McGrath, Killarney, Co. Kerry.
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