Fish for Friday

Town of Hillsborough

[Anonymous items from the editor's correspondence]

My daughter, Jennifer Weaver, is running for Town Board of Hillsborough, NC. Wow!

Forget Town Board, Jenn—run for the NC House! We need you desperately!!

North Carolina State Capitol

Even the New York Times has an editorial about North Carolina this morning [July 11]: "The Decline of North Carolina." It says, for example, "Nearly 700 people have been arrested in the 'Moral Monday' demonstrations, as they are known. But the bad news keeps on coming from the Legislature, and pretty soon a single day of the week may not be enough to contain the outrage."
    One of numerous pieces of bad news: "The Legislature is rushing to impose voter ID requirements and cut back on early voting and Sunday voting, which have been popular among Democratic voters. One particularly transparent move would end a tax deduction for dependents if students vote at college instead of their hometowns, a blatant effort to reduce Democratic voting strength in college towns like Chapel Hill and Durham."
    With that sort of thing being passed in Raleigh, it isn't clear that the jerks over there can be voted out in the next election.
    [Note: The Burlington, NC Times-News ran the editorial on its features page the next day, asking readers to let them know whether if they think the editorial is right. One Times-News reader has responded:

I think the NY Times editorial has it exactly right. I'm about to the point that I might go over to Raleigh to camp out in civil protest. I hope that the EXPRESSION of outrage will increase to match the outrage itself, even to the point that it will take the other six days of the week, too, to even begin to contain it.]

Pin-up poster:

Notice the meat on the hood of the vehicle: Why are those folks smiling?...
    ...It's at the Werribee Open Range Zoo in Victoria Australia, and only the hood of the car is outside the glass cage with lions. The rest of the car is on the inside. Very interesting way of interacting with the lions:

This is absolutely amazing, an 86-year-old gymnast:

Your blog recently mentioned the untimely and suspicious nature of the death of journalist Michael Hastings. Here is some follow-up information that may be of interest: "Was Michael Hastings' Car Hacked? Richard Clarke Says It's Possible."

Mary Louise Kelly

Mary Louise Kelly, former NPR correspondent and author of "Anonymous Sources" was a recent guest on the Diane Rehm Show, and the conversation turned to Edward Snowden and his situation. Kelly made some comments that were very interesting, considering her informed, insider background. On the possibility of Snowden going to Venezuela or some other place in South America, she opined the he would most likely be found "in a gutter" in a very short period of time. She suggested that a safer route for Snowden would be to go to Iran, which she said "would like to raise a finger" toward the U.S. and is a place where President Obama would be hesitant about sending a Seal team after Snowden.

He can't come home because of his government, but his fellow citizens consider him a whistle-blower, not a traitor: "Snowden Is A Whistle-Blower, Americans Say In Poll."

This has been a crazy week: "NSA Rejecting Every FOIA Request Made by U.S. Citizens."

Jason Everman

I had seen this and skipped it: "The Rock ’n’ Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero." Thanks for bringing it back around. Everman’s character, and luck good and bad, are improbable beyond anything I’ve seen.

After 77 years of Wimbledon futility, Andy Murray, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, became the first male from Great Britain to win England's signature tennis tournament since Fred Perry in 1936: "Wimbledon, Day 13: Andy Murray wins Wimbledon." Proving once again that if you want something done successfully in England, get someone from Scotland to do it.

This has been a week for wicked wild news and politics: "'Full Figured' Woman Kicked Out of Missouri Swimming Pool For Wearing Bikini."

Ricky Gervais makes a false start:

Maybe you should interview this woman...or recruit her as a contributor...."Pastor may leave Baptist church after wife's 'Shiite Baptist' column."

Despite assurances in North Carolina by Republican lawyers, former tobacco growers, hog farm operators, PTA presidents, and other self-appointed experts on fracking, folks who have actually seen it in action in West Virginia have differing opinions: "Explosion at West Virginia fracking site seriously injures four."

Fire at a West Virginia frack site in 2010

St. Joseph's Hospital Center

I guess it's a fish, but damn, I just don't know what to say....
    If you aren't yet terrified of doctors and hospitals, this tale should get you there: "Patient awoke to doctors mistakenly preparing to remove her organs." In case you don't read the entire article, here is the part to be most aware of: "A report from the American Association for Justice claims that preventable medical errors are the sixth largest cause of death in the U.S." The flip side of the story worth pondering: a woman survives a drug overdose, just misses being cut open while alive, and is still so depressed she kills herself at age 41? There is nothing here that is good news for doctors, psychiatrists, counselors—or their patients.

Hawk at 40X camera speed [i.e., shown at 1/40th its speed]:


Sample the spam: "I meet African guy on dating site, he convinced me to come down and live with him pretending to Love me, after coming down from the States with a enough money which I intended investing with and even went to extent of selling my father’s properties of(USD4.5million) he is trying to made away with my money. Which I deposited the money shipping company where he took me in a root area. I'm a foreigner here and it is dangerous for me here, this is why I need your gesture assistance. Will you be of help? Sincerely yours...."

Something [George Carlin on "The Male Disease"] I believe you will like:


Makes ME want to laugh:

Oooh, that tickles!:

Hey! Shouldn't the big one be on the bottom?

Here is some fun music you can send someone who needs cheering up:

Heard a nice anecdote about Mozart at a concert the other night. One of his piano/violin sonatas was debuted in 1784 with Mozart at the piano with a sheet of paper before him. The emperor noticed through his opera glasses that the sheet was blank, so later he summoned Mozart to explain. Mozart told the emperor he hadn't had time to write it down yet. The emperor was amused.

Word of the Day [July 10]: clerihew. \ˈkler-i-ˌhyü\ n : a light verse quatrain rhyming aabb and usually dealing with a person named in the initial rhyme.
    For example:

James T. Carney
doesn't need to make up blarney
to regale us with his stories,
his wry reports are rich in reading glories.

Limerick of the Week:

The Republicans do their awful best
to put the people's right to vote to test—
    they must be suffering malady
    to cause so much of calumny—
let's vote 'em all out and send 'em home to rest.

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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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