Fish for Friday

Madison Kimrey of Burlington
has attended three
Moral Monday protests

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

Plucky young woman: "McCrory spurns young activist's request."

I was prepared for the Governor to ignore me or say no to a meeting with me. What I was not prepared for was this:

When asked about a 12-year-old protester who wants to meet with him, McCrory laughed and said the notion is “ridiculous."
    “This is all very liberal groups using children as props to push a very far left agenda.” ["–McCrory praises his vetoes and criticizes liberal opposition in radio interview"]

    This response is an insult to me and the young people of North Carolina. This is not leadership.
    I'm asking that you give Governor McCrory a call and tell him our young people in North Carolina deserve better. 1-800-662-7952 (toll free in North Carolina) or 919-814-2050.
    And please click this link when you call so I'll know how many calls the Governor got about this.
    Thank you for continuing to support me. Your support means a lot right now. Because of you all, I'm going to keep moving forward, not one step back.

Update [three hours later]: I've been hearing from people that the Governor's office isn't answering their main phone line. You can call 1-800-662-7952 (toll free in North Carolina) or 919-814-2050, then press 3 to try to reach someone.
    Be sure to leave a message if nobody answers, and record your call here.

Senator Eleanor Kinnaird

Yes, I know that "Ellie Kinnaird resigns from NC Senate" and won't run again [for what would be her tenth term in the North Carolina Senate]. You probably didn't know that her political career began in our living room....
    Back in the 80's, we heard news that someone wanted to develop the land around Chapel Hill's University Lake. It would ruin the lake's watershed, so my wife and some of her friends got together in our living room to discuss what to do.
    The mayor of Carrboro was in favor of the development. Someone in the group said that the only thing to do was for one of them to run for mayor. They all looked around at each other, and finally Ellie said, "Okay, I'll run, but only if I can count on all of you for support."
    Everyone did indeed support her, including me. We put up "Ellie Kinnaird for Mayor" signs all over Carrboro...And she won.
    There was no development at University Lake. The developer granted that you do lose some. But when he did put up a development elsewhere, he called it "Winsome."
    And he recently developed "Winmore."
    Indeed, you lose some and you win some, but only if you keep fighting.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning

"Manning wants to serve time as a woman, get therapy." He says he wants to live like a woman? I think for the next 35 years he will.

Starch to go with Friday's Fish: Fool proof TEST ("Survival of the Firmest: Erectile Dysfunction and Death"} for Heart Disease. Sorry ladies—for men only.

When I travel I often have no internet access because I insist on using a "dumb" phone—no GPS tracking—so I mostly resort to texting for communication. I mean, who actually talks on a phone?
    Yesterday evening I heard a Washington, DC radio report that a production company was considering making a movie about the travails of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Not being where I could fire it off to some blog and make a buck, I did the next best thing—I texted it to a contact who is a retired U.S. Army colonel and defense contractor, and who I knew would be infuriated by the thought. If you aren't going to make money from your time, at least have some fun, right?
    My text: "Did you hear they may make a movie about Snowden?"
    His reply, which was immediate btw: "Spoken is dog shit who hopefully gets AIDS from a Russian hooker"
    His immediate follow-up: "Snoden"
    My reply: "Isn't he sort of a modern day Paul Revere/Thomas Jefferson type? Patriot taking on the man?"
    His reply, again immediate: "Duck him"
    His follow-up: "Ducking phone sensors my ducking messages"
    His next message: "Fucking added to phone dictionary"
    I let it go at that. I was laughing so hard the TSA goons were eyeing me suspiciously.
    Only semi-unrelated: If they make the movie, let's hope Snowden's girlfriend gets to play herself, in all her quirky, barely clothed glory. Apparently her entire wardrobe consists of provocative lingerie, a man's dress shirt, and two cupcakes—even Tom Cruise has starred in movies with less intrigue than that.

My revue of the movie The Butler: Very interesting and a good movie, but not a fun movie! Almost all of it was sad and serious! Glad I saw it but not the kind of movie I would want to see again!

Last night we watched ALL of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (160+ minutes), but it is WAY OVERLONG with excessive battle scenes. We do NOT plan to watch the sequels. But the New Zealand countryside is WONDERFUL.

Limerick of the Week:

Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake,"
and today Art Pope's McCrory does make
    the very same,
    laughably lame,
monarchically maladroit...mistake.

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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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