Welcome statement


Parting Words from Moristotle (07/31/2023)
tells how to access our archives
of art, poems, stories, serials, travelogues,
essays, reviews, interviews, correspondence….

Friday, April 12, 2013

Fish for Friday

Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Limerick of the Week:
Margaret Thatcher died this week, obits were varied:
In some of them she's praised, in other's harried;
    In the long run
    We'll all have done
And be like Mrs. Thatcher dead and buried.
Medical screw-ups are now something like the 4th leading cause of "accidental" death, so I don't know if you gain by going to a doctor, or lose. Flip a coin, I guess. Apparently the annual U.S. death toll from medical mistakes is somewhere around 200,000 (according to "More Treatment, More Mistakes," in the NY Times). Also, see first interview question in "The hidden epidemic: Medical errors are the leading cause of death in the U.S." on streetrootsnews.

Just when it looked as if a televangelist was actually coming clean and admitting his shtick was a scam, it turns out he—and we—were victims of an elaborate hoax: "Joel Osteen Turns the Other Cheek on Internet Hoax." One of the best related comments: "Would Jesus wear a Rolex on his TV show?"

I would love to hear someone educated talk about those people who think "the government is out to get you and Obama is just a puppet." I'm tired of all these scared youngsters. It would earn your blog respect.

I thought you’d enjoy seeing the work of Patrick Dougherty. In talking with someone today, I remembered seeing an outdoor exhibit of his nest houses at the NC Museum of Art about a decade ago. See article, "Patrick Dougherty's Incredible Nest Houses," on environmental graffiti.



If the risk of saturated fat didn't grab your attention sharply enough to inspire you to give up red meat, maybe this will: "New Culprit in Red Meat Linked with Heart Disease," Yahoo news. [Excerpt:]
...A new study reveals that a nutrient called l-carnitine, which is found in red meat and is also popular as a dietary supplement, may also play a role in the development of heart disease.
    In a series of experiments in people and mice, scientists for the first time demonstrated that carnitine from foods as well as from supplements influenced cardiovascular risk.
Since we seem to be having problems with Friday submissions, this caught my eye as a possible theme: "Photo Friday–The Colors of Mexico," Adobe blog.
_______________
Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

Please comment

9 comments:

  1. That is quite the trawl of fish: Was "The Dead Zone" this week's theme? From the death of the woman who teamed with Ronald Reagan to begin killing off the working class as Europe and the U.S. once knew it, to yet another dietary element that could be the death of us all (except vegetarians apparently), to the medical profession killing more people than warfare - Joel Osteen should be glad he got off with just being hoaxed. In the face of all that, thank you for the wonderful diversion offered by the link to Patrick Dougherty's work, I hope folks will take time to click and look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really like your pointing this out, as it makes the somber last line of the limerick seem to have been by thematic design, which I confess it was not.

      Delete
  2. I wish there was something I could add, but I feel sad when I think of the Reagan years. It was his deregulation, which started the long slid into hell that we have been on. The Iron Lady set England up for the fall it took with her deregulation. Companies would not have regulations on them if you could trust them. It's a shame to look back into history and think of Richard Nixon as being the last liberal Republican President.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Konotahe, while I fully agree with your perspective, please allow me to lighten your mood. Google the phrase "Thatcher witch song" and read about the row in England about an attempt to mock Thatcher by driving the song 'Ding Dong The Witch is Dead' (from the 'Wizard of Oz') to the top of the charts.

    Americans may put on the figurative rose-colored glasses and remember their dead politicians for who they wish they had been, but the Brits apparently choose to remember them as they were.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Morris, yes, that's it. The Brits again have it all over on us - why didn't we think of something similar when Reagan died?

    ReplyDelete
  5. For one thing they don't have a president or a body of law makers who cannot be removed. Every 4 or 8 years we look for the knight on the white horse to come riding out of the darkness to save us---most of the time it's the white light of a east-bound train and it's headed right at you.
    We are a Nation in search of heroes. After 911 every damn body in a uniform was a hero. I think what that did was cheapen what a hero is. Those firemen who ran into those building---were doing their job. In the mist of it all were there heroes? Maybe, but no one lived to tell their story. Soldiers die everyday, the service does not count being blown up while taking a dump as being a hero. You have to do something to earn that title. But we try and make heroes of our leaders no matter how bad they were---I believe it's so we don't look like fools for electing them. I liked the tune, good beat and easy to dance to. "Up the Brits"

    ReplyDelete
  6. Konotahe, you raise a most excellent point: Do we try to make heroes of our leaders...so we don't look like fools for electing them? That is a profound consideration on which to end the day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We Americans need to be able to kook in a mirror and see ourselves for what we are.

      Delete