Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

When it comes to science, Muslims had a good run in the Middle Ages, but haven't accomplished much since—but it apparently isn't a great idea to point out the obvious: "Backlash after Dawkins's Muslim jibe." Excerpt: "He responded to the barrage of ensuing criticism by telling his followers: 'A statement of simple fact is not bigotry. And science by Muslims was great in the distant past.' In a further posting he wrote: 'Where would we be without alchemy? Dark Age achievements undoubted. But since then?'"

To me, there is just something viscerally revolting about the custom shown in this video story: "It's Condor vs. Bull in Peruvian Ritual." What a relief to see the condor fly off at the end of the video....

California Condor

With its stance against environmentally safe alternatives to lead bullets, the NRA has fallen into the netherworld of those who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity: "NRA to Condors: Sorry, but We’re Going to Keep Killing You With Lead Bullets." Instead of accepting scientific studies that prove lead bullets in dead animals can create dangerous levels of lead in animals and birds that scavenge on carcasses, and acknowledging that waterfowl hunters successfully transitioned from lead to steel shot for the betterment of the environment, the NRA is apparently instead portraying the campaign to ban lead bullets as an effort to stop hunting and discourage people from shooting.

Just came upon a possibly apocryphal story about Shakespeare, discovered in someone's 1602 journal:

Upon a time when [Richard] Burbage [1567–1619] played Richard III, there was a citizen grown so far in liking with him, that before she went from the play she appointed with him to come that night unto her by the name of Richard III. Shakespeare, overhearing their conclusion, went before, was entertained, and at his game ere Burbage came. Then message being brought that Richard III was at the door, Shakespeare caused return to be made that William the Conqueror was before Richard III.

To clear space and raise funds, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts recently put 22,000 vintage vinyl records on the market: "NY library selling 22,000 vinyl LPs for $1 each." Even boxed sets were offered for $1 each. While insiders and cheapskate aficionados were swooping in to scoop up as many bargains as they could, the outside perspective is the place must be woefully mismanaged is resort to such a poorly planned giveaway—no wonder they need money. Yes, in theory, they may raise $22,000, if all records sell. However, if they had priced them anywhere near fair market value, they would have easily raised $100,000 or perhaps much more—and they wouldn't have destroyed the market for retro-music dealers who aren't tax or association subsidized and actually have to make a profit on what they sell.
    This is like the idiot American churchgoers boxing up loads of old t-shirts and pants and shipping them to Africa, where overnight the free clothes put out of business established local clothiers who have spent decades building their businesses.
    And don't get me started on Goodwill and all the other "non-profits" who also well their records for $1 each. We in the reselling business have no chance against taxpayer subsidized competition. How is it possible that Goodwill can give someone a receipt to count $2 per record as a tax-deductible donation, when Goodwill is only going to sell the record for $1? Ditto for clothes, housewares, etc. The local Goodwill allows people to state whatever value they wish, and gives them a receipt, no questions asked.
    In theory such deductions are limited by law. But when a charity will write a receipt for just about any amount, without asking questions, and it would only be caught if someone was audited, it is a toothless law. It is great that charities are there to help the less fortunate, but not if they make everyone in business less fortunate because they are there.

Quintero

With "allies" like the new government of Mexico, the U.S. surely doesn't need to be creating more enemies around the world. And maybe a rock-solid barricade along the southern border of the U.S. isn't the "bad idea" and "unnecessary" structure so many of us thought it was when Felipe Calderon was the president of Mexico. The latest case in point is the early release of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero: "US angry over release of Mexican drug lord." Quintero was convicted of ordering the abduction and death by torture of U.S. DEA agent Enrique Camarena. For a shockingly accurate and detailed account of what went on with the Camarena abduction and murder, click here. Fair warning: There may be more details about the murder and torture, and endemic corruption in Mexican law enforcement, than you care to know.
    If you haven't had enough, here is another tidbit about how the "legal system" works. Humberto Álvarez Machaín, a Mexican physician confirmed in many accounts as the doctor in charge of keeping Camarena alive so he could be questioned and tortured more, was later abducted from Mexico and tried in the U.S., where he was not only acquitted of charges but was able to file a civil suit against those who were allegedly involved in bringing him to the states.
    The Wikipedia entry even lists the name of the guy the DEA allegedly hired to abduct the good doctor, and where he lived, at that time anyway. A fake ID would not have been a bad idea, especially if he still lives there. Or lives anywhere, I guess. People doing behind the scenes work that deals with bureaucrats and law enforcement types, who are generally lazy and/or corrupt and like to get drunk and run their mouths at parties and embassy events, should NEVER use their real names and ALWAYS try to use fake IDs from other countries. That way no one knows who they really are so they can't come back and hunt them down years later.

In the Raleigh, North Carolina Craigslist, under the "Barter" section, we came across an ad to barter clean gutters for a "full-service massage." (Sorry, but the ad, originally at http://raleigh.craigslist.org/bar/3991164843.html, "has been deleted by its author.")
    Don't know about you, but I don't even want to know what might be considered a "full-service" massage by someone willing to clean gutters to receive one.

State Superintendent June Atkinson looking stressed out

All I know is that, in North Carolina, many teachers will soon be leaving the profession. We barely make enough as it is, and most teachers have not moved up the pay scale in 7 to 10 years. There were only three ways to get a raise: work more years, get a master’s degree, or get Nationally Board Certified. Well, I have friends who have worked for 15 years in North Carolina, and have not moved a pay rung in about ten of those years. National Board Certification was once funded by the schools, and it is no longer so. Lastly, no one I know will pursue a master’s degree without any economical retribution. North Carolina treats their educators poorly. Many people have very good hearts to stay in the profession. I just wish many of them were eventually compensated for their altruism.

We told you about disastrous voter suppression laws in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Yesterday North Carolina’s Gov. Pat McCrory signed a voter suppression law that puts the others to shame.
    The North Carolina bill not only requires strict government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot—it also cuts the number of early voting days by a week, eliminates same-day voter registration during the early voting period, makes it easier for vigilante poll watchers to challenge the validity of eligible voters, and ends pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, among other terrible provisions.
    Hillary Clinton said the North Carolina bill “reads like the greatest hits of voter suppression.” It’s as if Governor McCrory took all the worst ideas from the other Republican governors and rolled them up into one terrible mega-bill.

Migrants cross a southern border
on way to U.S.

The last section of the story "Sen. Rubio, ‘You Know Nothing About Our Border’: Arizona Sheriff Hammers Immigration Bill Supporters and Offers Revealing Picture of the Border" is particularly interesting. All the money spent on Homeland Security, and all the rights snatched away from Americans, and smugglers are illegally driving trailer trucks in from Mexico, across private property, and on to who knows where.
    Good reporting but nothing new. There is one bill that Congress could pass that would put the cartels out of business: legalize pot, that simple. The cartel gets 60% of its income from pot, not cocaine. There is no business anywhere that can stand a 60% lost and survive. Also, those guns they have come from the States, as does their money. Money and guns are the food that keeps them alive, but without the money there are no guns and their power drops. I'd let them bring as much dope as they could get across the border. Then I'd spend my resources on stopping the money from getting back to them. Maybe in a year, if that long, the well would dry up. And with the money we take from these assholes we could dig our country out of the hole we're in.
    Like a cancer, there's too much money being made trying to stop the problem to have it just go away. It's an absurd game designed to keep overpaying a bunch of law-enforcement types for accomplishing nothing. More than 6,000 people are being killed each year in Mexico over this stupidity, and countless more in the U.S., all for nothing.
    There are so many agencies and so many managers and employees making so much money by not even addressing the drug problem, I can't imagine what it would take to resolve it.
    This past week I heard a program about the number of states (including Kentucky of all places) that were rolling back mandatory sentencing for minor infractions, so maybe there is hope. The stats and quote went something like "the U.S. population has increased by 30% and the prison population has increased by 800%, so something we are doing isn't working."

One of your recent posts referenced being charged by a lion. It is difficult to imagine the speed with which something like that happens, but to give your readers an idea of how it would feel, here is a video of a grizzly charging the camera. Even though the bear takes a somewhat circuitous route, the charge still happens quickly:

Confirming what many of us have long suspected, a decades-long review of many scientific studies clearly show that religious people are less intelligent than atheists. Excerpt: "Intelligent people may simply be able to provide themselves with the psychological benefits offered by religion—such as 'self-regulation and self-enhancement,' because they are more likely to be successful, and have stable lives."

First time this has happened. My coffee got cold while I read Chuck Smythe's really good "Thor's Day" piece. So much information, yet at the end I'm still at the point I started; I don't know either.

Limerick of the Week:

We pick items for fish we hope will hold
your attention—items odd, brash, or bold;
    do please be attracted—
    but not so distracted
you forget and let your coffee get cold.

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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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