Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

Another creator doing something special: "You've Never Seen Native America Like This." Excerpt:

[Photographer Matika Wilbur] is en route to the Southwest–stopping in Arizona and New Mexico–as part of a three-year project to photograph indigenous peoples from every federally recognized tribe in the United States."

You can write all you want but there is a war on Christmas!!!

You're not the only one who wrote about "Jon Stewart's 'War on Christmas' Panic Takedown Begins with Palin, O'Reilly."

Forget Fox's "War on Xmas"; now they hope to win a "War on US": "The Christian right wants civilization to collapse: The reason they're so obsessed with apocalypse? If they can't have the country, they don't want anyone else to." Excerpt:

Over and over again, right-wingers warn that all the things they hate, from pro-gay Broadway shows to immigration to multiculturalism, are not just signs of an evolving American society, but portend the actual end of it. The Roman Empire is often darkly alluded to, and you get the impression many on the right think Rome burned up and descended into anarchy and darkness. (Not quite.) But really, what all these fantasies of cities burning down and impending war and destruction are expressing is a belief that the culture of white conservative Christians is the culture of America. So it follows that if they aren’t the dominant class in the United States, then America isn’t, in their opinion, really America anymore.

They may have discredited Fox News in somebody's eyes, but not for its diehards: "Media Matters Declares Victory: 'The War On Fox Is Over'." Excerpt:

"We've always said, 'Media Matters watches Fox, so you don't have to,'" said Bradley Beychok, the group's president. "That remains true. Fox News isn't going to stop lying, so we'll stay on that beat. But, our success regarding Fox News means that our talented team will carry out our mission in different ways consistent with a new strategic vision responsive to the transforming media environment."

Some people still believe in Santa Claus.

I feel sorry for Pope Francis, having to lower himself to engage Rush Limbaugh: "Pope Responds to Limbaugh, Conservatives: 'Marxism is Wrong'."

What do the rest of us get for Christmas from the GOP, lumps of coal?: "House Republicans' 12 Days of Congress" [short version]:

[extended version]:


Words fail me: "Michigan Republicans Pass Law Forcing Women to Buy ‘Rape Insurance’." Excerpt:

A mere 4% of Michigan voters, with the cooperation of the legislature, just forced a measure onto the state’s women that requires them to get a separate rider on their health insurance if they want abortion coverage. Even if a woman is impregnated through rape or incest, her insurance won’t pay for an abortion unless she already has a rider in place.
    Even Governor Snyder thinks the law is too extreme.

This can't get enough publicity: "How Ted Koppel and ABC TV Tried to Steal my Life Work." Excerpt:

Every freelance journalist alive has suffered under the corporate jackboot of the ABC’s of the media world, their work stolen and never compensated. Usually it is not possible to pay for a legal team to fight them to get remunerated for one’s work.

More dehumanization. I'm so glad to be out of this rat race: "Your boss wants to be Nate Silver: Employers are developing powerful new statistical tools to judge the value of workers. Here's why you should worry." Excerpt:

“People analytics”—the assessment of whether particular workers are suitable for particular kinds of employment or performing well at their jobs—is booming like never before. Everything that can be measured about us, whether via personality tests, biometrics or the big-data trails we leave in the cloud as we go about our work, is being captured and analyzed.

So far, “assisted living” is not what the staff will do to help me and others, but what the staff require that we who pay them must do to stay here. Had I known, I would have made a very different choice. Other inmates do not seem to mind as much as I do, but I enjoy being able to talk to others, even those who the staff say are not to be talked to. When these inmates are allowed to explore, they sometimes do what I cannot do—talk to me.

Dan Hillier piece as a 3D print:

Pretend role models

Christmas cheer

Not macho!?

Why cats are smarter: "Cat fossils found in China reveal early days of feline domestication."

What are cats to do at this time of year?

Lap Cat

Bottle Kitten

Max Cat

Limerick of the Week:

I don't mind cats, have nothing against 'em,
but dogs, I feel more connected with 'em;
    Wally & Siegfried, so glad to see me,
    but Oscar, our touchy cat, he could be,
like, well, he's thinking, humans, who needs 'em?

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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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