Friday, May 30, 2014

Bicycles; Curfew; Malpractice; Spelling Bee; Elk; Snowden; Texas politics; Westboro Baptist; Evil; Zeno; Absurdity

I'm excited like a little kid with all that I can put into today's blog entry.  Isn't the world amazing!


Baltimore News:


Bicycles:


The Ride Around the Reservoir program has been suspended after 40 of the available bicycles disappeared from Druid Hill Park.   This reminds me of something Emo Philips once said:


"When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.  Then I realized that the Lord, in his wisdom, didn't work that way.  So, I stole one, and asked him to forgive me."


Curfew?


To curb this kind of illegal activity, the Baltimore City Counsel is about to pass a youth curfew bill.  This will require youths, under 14, to be off the streets by 9 PM.  Parents will be responsible for fines given out for violations.  Groups like the ACLU are not happy with this bill, and they have other ideas that they want to have considered.


Malpractice?:


A  "practicing" Baltimore area medical doctor has been charged by a 41 year old patient of rape.  Apparently, the doctor must feel that the medical degree he obtained in Costa Rica, gives him a license to  assault and rape women, sometimes at the point of a gun.  I think the Board of Physicians dropped the ball when they gave this guy approval for practicing in this area, because his record supposedly showed that he had problems before and was even in jail for a while for assaulting women.


National News:


Spelling Bee:


Two young men have tied for victory in the National Spelling Bee, held in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Here are some more of the fantastic words that these guys and the other contestants had to spell:


duello = Rules to follow when fighting a duel with your neighbor.
parseval = a non-rigid airship.  (huh?)
cachinnate = laugh loudly
epixylous = growing on wood like a fungus
commorients = people dying together at the same time
laulau = wrapped food
exsiccosis = form of dehydration


My spell checker doesn't recognize 5 of these words, but I am not going to look them up any further.. the definitions that I show are from my Android device.  If I try my Oxford dictionary, I will be hooked on that book for the rest of the day.


The Elks?


Policeman Sam Carter shot and killed a friendly elk that had been roaming and sleeping in a Boulder Colorado sub-division.  Residents loved the elk because it was so friendly; Sam loved it because its head would look great on his trophy wall. Sam says he shot it to protect the residents.  A jury will decide if what Sam says is true.  Meanwhile, residents are building a memorial to the friendly creature.


Spy?


Mr. Snowden had a TV interview last night that I missed.  I'm told that he said that he was hired as a spy and is a patriot who is disillusioned with Russia and would like to come "home."


Texas Politics:


Some Tea Party candidates won in the Texas Primary. 


Jim Hightower reports that Governor Rick Perry is going all over the U.S. giving speeches,  saying that he is not running for President.  Meanwhile at home, Rick is paying $450 an hour for a lawyer to squash a possible indictment for corruption based on financial investigations.


To stop the investigations by the Ethics Office, the Governor vetoed the entire funding of that office.  However, that ploy didn't work when other money was made available.  Now the investigation has expanded to cover the veto activity.


Heaven Bound?


Westboro Baptist Church bigot, Fred Phelps died recently, and herein I quote part of Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr's eulogistic comments:


"Phelps was given the gift, the incandescent miracle of being alive in this world for over 80 years.. and he wasted it utterly."


AMEN.


World News:


More Civilization?


India:


Two sisters in Lucknow were raped and then hung.  Two police officers have been arrested.


Pakistan:


The husband of the woman who was stoned to death by her family revealed that he had killed his first wife.  Also, I have now heard that the real reason for the stoning was that the husband did not pay them enough dowery. Money! Money!


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Some brain wanderings for the end of this blog entry:


Alexandra Schwartz opens a column in the Nation Magazine by reminding us of Zeno's paradox about the millet.  Drop a single grain of millet and it won't make a noise, but put a thousand of them in a bag and you'll hear them when the bag hits the ground.  Something to think about.


Absurdity


William James


"First a new theory is attacked as absurd; then it is admitted to be true, but obvious and insignificant; finally, it is seen to be so important that its adversaries claim that they themselves discovered it."


Oscar Wilde:


"People who count their chickens before they are hatched act very wisely because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately."


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