Fish for Friday

Gustave Whitehead (1874-1927)

[Anonymous items from the editor's correspondence]

Great, just great. The one thing North Carolina had to put it on the map, and now it may be going the way of Roanoke Island: "Spiteful Conn. Senate wipes Wright Brothers from history books." Take it back Connecticut, or all we have left is Bull Durham, the movie. Until the hapless NBA Carolina Bobcats reclaim their original Hornets name and streak to glory under the executive leadership of Michael Jordan...hahahahaha....

If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the famous, erudite scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." His mind sees things differently from most of us. For example:

Borrow money from pessimists—they don't expect it back.
All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.
Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

    More here.

Volen Siderov

For three weeks Bulgarians have been protesting their corrupt new government. The protests started when the government chose Delyan Peevski for chief of the State Agency for National Security. Bulgarians would not stand for this. ["After Political Appointment in Bulgaria, Rage Boils Over," NY Times.] To explain why I cite the memorandum of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia:

According to representative polling data, 85 percent of Bulgarians support the protest against the appointment of Mr. Peevski, a media mogul and politician, a front-man of corporate interests with strong influence over the last three governments. The respondents put remarkably little confidence in the current government and parliament at the beginning of their term (23 and 14 percent, respectively—lowest point since the 1990s), while only 18 percent reckon Oresharski’s cabinet will fulfill its full mandate.

    No matter the anger and disapproval of Bulgarians, the government still refuses to give its notice. Moreover it is interesting to note how this government came to power. The answer is Volen Siderov, leader of Bulgaria’s ultra-nationalist Ataka minority party, a person who has often been characterized by Israeli ambassadors and politicians as an anti-Semite and racist. Tell me, isn't this a shame for any country? For a country like Bulgaria that saved its Jews in WW2? "The ins and outs of Siderov’s stunts."

Hotshots, in memoriam

Haunting echoes of a modern tragedy: "The Granite Mountain Hotshots."

I received a dire-sounding plea this week from an acquaintance named Celeste

I came down to England with my family for a short vacation and everything was going fine until last night when we got mugged at gunpoint. They made away with all our money, credit cards, cellphones, and other things but thank God we still have our passports.
    We've been to the embassy and the Police but they're not helping issues at all. Our flight leaves tonight but we've got problem paying our bills.
    The hotel manager won't let us leave until we pay. I need your help...I need you to loan me $1500. I will refund it as soon as we get back.You can wire the money to me through western union money transfer. Since I will be using my passport as means of ID,you will need my full name and location below,
        Receivers Name: Celeste Lincoln
        Location: 96 Craven Park Road
                      NW10 8SE, United Kingdom
        Amount: $1500
    Please get back to me the confirmation number of the transfer (MTCN) once you are done with the transfer. I will forever grateful if you can do this for me. THANKS.

I replied:

Celeste, is this for real, or has your email been hacked by a scam artist?
    And is this note being read by Celeste or by the scam artist, who may have stolen Celeste's identity and now be trying to steal money from the people listed in her contacts?
    I am deeply skeptical that Celeste would have "come down to England."

Okay, who's first?

They think they're ready to fly:

Paul Krugman writes that North Carolina Republicans are making "War on the Unemployed." Just in North Carolina?

Your blog recently mentioned a "creationist" museum in Kentucky, so I thought your readers might be interested in this story about what is going on with similar museums and parks around the country: "Adam, Eve and T. Rex." I also heard a radio report that cast an interesting light on why T-Rex had such big teeth despite it being a vegetarian, at least according to the creationists. The talking points used by a guide at one of the museums included the little-known tidbit that T-Rex used its big teeth to crack nuts for Adam and Eve to eat. Which lends further credence to at least one scientist's opinion that "the Flintstones is a documentary" for the creationists.

"Father" Guido Sarducci is hilarious!

There is an old naval warfare expression about "firing a shot across the bow" as a warning one is prepared to do battle. In a metaphorical sense, it seems to fit what a group of atheists did in Florida: "Atheists unveil Fla monument near Ten Commandments."
    Atheists have been punched around, or worse, by religion for eternity. Good to see the gloves coming off and the counter-punching happening.

Jimmy Carter's view of religion has matured: "Carter: Religions Perpetuate Women’s Woes." Former President Jimmy Carter says religious leaders, including those in Christianity and Islam, share the blame for the mistreatment of women and girls across the world.

In a case of pop-art imitating life, a Pittsburgh-based artist is pushing for a Barbie makeover: "Artist Does Barbie Makeover to Create ‘Real-Life’ Doll." To assist the process he created a model of more "real-life" proportions than the long-time tall and skinny Barbie that catches so much flack for being an unattainable ideal that allegedly inspires girls to starvation-diet eating disorders. The "new" Barbie is shorter and substantially thicker in the waist and thighs. So in a time when more and more girls are overweight to obese, instead of having a supermodel proportioned doll they can't hope to look like, they can instead have a chunkier proportioned doll they can't hope to look like. Which raises two questions: 1) why bother?; 2) if Barbie is inspiring girls to starve themselves to look like her, why are girls overweight in record numbers?

As for females striving to be successful, sometimes they just have to kick that dead weight of a guy to the curb and get on with running their own race: "Horse throws rider, goes on to win race at Belmont."


A Memphis man is facing several charges—including DUI and vehicular homicide – following a fiery two-car crash on Interstate 240 near Midtown: "Charges Filed After Deadly Crash; Driver Going Wrong Way On 240."

Update on Mississippi carrying: "Judge blocks Mississippi open-carry gun law." [WMC-TV] A state judge has ruled that the law is vague and an injunction is needed to stop irreparable harm.

A Coahoma County deputy is facing felony charges, accused of beating an innocent man with his baton: "Deputy Accused of Beating Innocent Man with Baton" [Clarksdale,MS]

Limerick of the Week:

By the usual definition of cross-eyed, I'm not,
but left and right images with opposing tilts I've got—
    the right slants off to the left
    but the left is not so deft,
and I cross from looking left-eyed to looking right a lot.

_______________
Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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