Angel >> The CRTC Last week, consumers were finally given some good news by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The CRTC ordered residential phone rates to be frozen for four years, and imposed limits on the big monopolies’ ability to set prices. It also froze the costs of pay phones, opened the possibility of a consumer’s bill of rights and split the business and consumer markets. That means companies can’t cut prices for corporate customers and make up the difference by raising residential ones. Consumer groups are applauding the move, one of the few good news stories to come out since the industry began deregulation.

Insect >> The enfeebled Y chromosome At the 11th World Congress on Human Reproduction, held this week at McGill, biologists discussed the poor state of the male-only Y chromosome. One said that due to the rapid decrease in the number of genes per chromosome (from 2,000 millions of years ago to a piddling 14 today), humanity is on its way to extinction. As well, our sperm counts are down, and the quality of our spunk is also worse than it was only 70 years ago. The culprit: environmental toxins, electromagnetic radiation, pesticides, chemicals and heavy metals.