USA - It's Not Nice

I dedicate this to the people of Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and Bahrain and all the others who have decided that the time to say "Enough!" is now.  

Over a month and. although there has been a lot of news, nothing has come across my desk that fits my definition of weird.  Not wanting to bore my readers (both of you) , I did come across this song by Malvina Reynolds, one of my favourites.  She was a unusual enough to qualify as weird, I think.  She looked like the dried-up sour self-righteous, conservative Church Lady biddy, but was in fact a fiery, outspoken,  socially progressive singer/songwriter/poet whose songs are still widely sung.  Her most well-known are God Bless The Grass and Little Boxes. 

Today I share with you a little gem called It Isn't Nice.  It's a weird sort of song.  Catchy tune, too!

It Isn't Nice 
words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1964 Schroder Music Company, renewed 1993. This original version of the song was banned from the radio in Japan--in Japanese, but not in English!


It isn't nice to block the doorway,
It isn't nice to go to jail,
There are nicer ways to do it,
But the nice ways always fail.
It isn't nice, it isn't nice,
You told us once, you told us twice,
But if that is Freedom's price,
We don't mind.
 
It isn't nice to carry banners
Or to sit in on the floor,
Or to shout our cry of Freedom
At the hotel and the store.
It isn't nice, it isn't nice,
You told us once, you told us twice,
But if that is Freedom's price,
We don't mind.
 
We have tried negotiations
And the three-man picket line,¹
Mr. Charlie² didn't see us
And he might as well be blind.
Now our new ways aren't nice
When we deal with men of ice,
But if that is Freedom's price,
 We don't mind.
 
How about those years of lynchings
And the shot in Evers' back?
Did you say it wasn't proper,
Did you stand upon the track?
You were quiet just like mice,
Now you say we aren't nice,
And if that is Freedom's price,
We don't mind.
 
It isn't nice to block the doorway,
It isn't nice to go to jail,
There are nicer ways to do it
But the nice ways always fail.
It isn't nice, it isn't nice,
But thanks for your advice,
Cause if that is Freedom's price,
We don't mind.

Additional notes
1. This refers to an injunction limiting pickets to three. Nancy says she now sings "token picket line," as being less obscure and more gender-inclusive.
2. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang defines "Charlie" as "white men regarded as oppressors of blacks.--used contemptuously. Also Mr. Charlie, Boss Charlie."

USA - Do-It-Yourself Gastric Bypass Surgery

Are you seriously overweight and want a Gastric bypass operation?  Your insurance doesn't cover it or you have no insurance?  Try this at Amazon.com  (NOTE:  Anesthetic not included):

Stranger Than Fiction: Do-It-Yourself Gastric Bypass Kit Invades Amazon.com

Saturday, January 15, 2011 - by Michael Santo

Obesity is a problem in the United States, and it's not a secret. Gastric bypass surgery is a radical, often last-ditch effort to "cure" the problem, and apparently some have decided that it's not something that requires a doctor: there appears to be a DIY kit available on Amazon.com.

Just to be clear, there are two sellers available, but the kit isn't sold by Amazon.com (or fulfilled, either), so Amazon Prime is not an option. Including shipping, the kit will run you about $280, but the item really includes 3 kits, in case you get it wrong the first time. There is no anesthesia included, so you'll have to get that somewhere else.


It has a buyer rating of 4.5 out of 5.  However, some have reported the instructions are not very clear.  The fact that they insert 3 kits in the one item may be seen as a comfort, as you will have multiple tries.  It is similar to the case with screen protectors, we assume, where it is almost a requirement that more than one attempt be made.

In reality, a look at the reviews show that all are tongue-in-cheek. That said, because of that we have no idea how the kit is really rated. Just remember, since it's not sold by Amazon Prime, you have to rely on Amazon's Marketplace policy for returns, which is not as liberal as its own.  If you have an experience with the kit, please leave a review at Amazon.com, or in our own comments, below.

 

To see the comments, click on the article title.

BTW, this item is no longer available.  Sorry, fatty!

USA - (I think) - TEXTS GONE WRONG!

n

By popular demand, here are some very strange autocorrects.

So sit back and enjoy...

USA - We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. 

Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner.

"Thom and Sally" 

see Sally Heming and Thomas Jefferson

A bit of Americana for your purusal.

USA - Pea In Lung

Two posts in one day.  These things usually come in threes.  We'll see.

I heard on the news about this dude who had a pea growing in his lung.  That was too good to ignore so I goggled on "pea plant in lung."  Yups, here's gramps and gramma,  too, discussing this weirdness. Honest, I couldn't make this up. How could he aspirate something as big as a pea?  From NBC New Health Check



Since a stroke a while back, I have some trouble aspirating food. I guess I'll be very careful to cough it all up, especially when eating raw seed things. And I might stop eating radish seeds entirely.

USA TOTALLY AMAZING CHALK DRAWINGS

This time, no beheadings or floggings or bulging tatoos.  Today, I have something nice-weird. Enjoy!

A smile is a curve that can set a lot of things straight.

THE COLORED-CHALK MAN IS BACK This guy continues to amaze people with his sidewalk 3D chalk drawings.

ALL THESE PICTURES ARE FLAT, DRAWN ON THE SIDEWALKS!

(I have a bunch more of these, if anyone is interested.

 

USA - MONEY TALKS...

I'm not sure if this qualifies as weird. 

My husband asked me to create for him a graphic of Money talks, male bovine defecation walks for his blog.  I came up with this: 

GULF OF MEXICO (AND SPREADING): Not With A Bang...

The weirdest post of all.

This is a post I hoped I would never write.  As you, my readers, know, I practice the virtue of chardi kala, translated in many different ways, but all having the meaning of eternal optimism and never giving up.  I am still practicing, but it is hard.

No doubt by now you have heard about the massive oil spill by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico in the Caribbean Sea, truly a paradise on earth.  Or at least it was until 20 April 2010.  On that day the Deepwater Horizon oil rig - owned and run by British Petroleum - exploded, caught fire and began gushing massive amounts of crude oil into the pristine waters around it.  Eleven were killed and 17 injured.  That was tragic, but it is just the beginning.

The amount of oil gushing into the Gulf is estimated at somewhere between 1,475,000 and 4,200,000 gallons per day ( 5,583,432 and 15,828,729 liters/day).  No one knows how much oil is in this well, how long it can keep gushing.  Years or decades, if it is not somehow stopped.  So far nothing has worked.  In fact, efforts have actually made it worse. 

Here's a nice little widget to help you calculate.

Those are pretty dry figures for most people, so here's a more graphic look.  This is what the spill looks like right now (30 June 2010): 

I realise that most of my readers really can't relate to southern Louisiana, so here is the spill in other locations where I have readers:

If I happened to miss your locale, go to Ifitwasmyhome to move the spill to wherever you live.

Perhaps you'd like to see it as it happens.

If that's not enough to bring it home to you, here are a few oil-soaked pelicans.  I find this horribly painful to look at.

In addition, massive amounts of methane gas has been released into the water.  This may well turn out to be even more dangerous than the oil.  The methane depletes the water of oxygen, leaving all the sea life devoid of the element that is necessary to all life on earth. It is feared that the methane will cause a dead zone where nothing can live, possibly for decades.  Also, scientists believe that a huge methane bubble is forming under the water.  When it bursts, it could release a tsunami of 20-60 ft (6.1-18.3 m), certainly enough to engulf most of the Caribbean islands.  For more information on the gas leak, go here: 
Gas Leak 3000 Times Worse Than Oil. 

And, by the way, with our current technology we have no way to cap or contain the methane.  

I guess that's not enough bad news.  It is now hurricane season.  (For those of you in Asia, those are typhoons.) There will be hurricanes. In fact, the first one is blowing right now.  Hurricane Alex did not move close to the spill, but there will be another hurricane and another and another.

The next thing to consider is the ocean currents.  The Gulf Stream is an ocean river that runs from the Caribbean to Europe.

Eventually this oil and methane and all their problems will reach Europe.  They will also travel up the Atlantic coast of North America all the way to Canada and all points north. No one knows how much of the ocean will die.  Certainly a large part of the Caribbean Sea will and it will take decades to recover.  In the meantime the many people who make their livings along the Gulf, either fishing or in the tourist trade, have lost their means of livelihood.  It is even possible that the land they live on will become uninhabitable.  Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana has been alerted that a mass evacuation may become necessary, if a hurricane again hits the state.  It is likely that once gone, the people will not be allowed to return due to the toxic oil and gas along the coast.

The earth is one big ecosystem, based primarily on our oceans.  If a large part of one ocean dies, that will have a cascade effect on the rest of the planet.  How far could this go? Worst case scenario:  Bye-bye.  "Not with a bang, but a whimper."  If you don't recognise those lines, they are the conclusion of T. S Eliot's poem, The Hollow Men. To hear the whimper go to Power Without Petroleum and listen hard at 0:25. 

Best case scenario:  the southern coast of the United States becomes uninhabitable for a period of time and much of the sea life in the Gulf of Mexico dies, with devastating consequences to the people who now live there.  As it is impossible that there be no hurricanes in the season, we can be sure that the winds will carry the oil throughout the region,  damaging all it touches.  That damage cannot be estimated at this time, except to say it will be extensive.

This morning (1 July 2010), going through my inbox, I found this article in the daily UN bulletin:  

Biologists find 'dead zones' around BP oil spill in Gulf

Methane at 100,000 times normal levels have been creating oxygen-depleted areas devoid of life near BP's Deepwater Horizon spill, according to two independent scientists

As long as I can remember, the scientists have been screaming "Wolf!" alerting us to this or that which they claim is going to wipe us out.  As I child I grew up with "nuclear annihilation."  That was the biggie.  There have been others:  the hole in the ozone layer, swine flu (twice), bird flu, global climate change and I'm sure others that I have forgotten. And it seems, life causes cancer.  There is truth in all  these scientific assertions, but there was also something we could do to stop or at least alleviate the disaster. As I see it, this is different because we are helpless to do anything except pray.  Of course, I am not a scientist, and the only way I see out of this is divine intervention.  Even if the spill can somehow be stopped, we can do nothing about the methane.  This is the time more than ever before that we need to dig deep within ourselves and find the high spirits, the chardi kala, that is a part of us.   It takes courage to look tragedy in the face and carry on without panic or depression.  

And what caused all this?  Of course it was British Petroleum cutting corners on safety to save money and increase profit.  It was Pres. Clinton who authorised the deep sea drilling.  It was Pres. George W. Bush who so favoured the oil interests and permitted a lack of oversight to allow BP not to follow the safety measures.  It was Pres. Obama who did not immediately step in to correct this corruption from the previous administration.  But it was also all of us who are dependent on petroleum, who refuse to cut back on our usage, we who demand more and more.  In the end, if we had not demanded this oil, if we had lost our lust  it, BP wouldn't have been able to make the profit that drove them to build this rickety structure upon the rickety structure of our economy.  So what now?  We have learned why greed is such an evil thing.  Whither our good, green beautiful earth?

I keep thinking about the ending of Dr. Strangelove.  (A great movie.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you see it while you still can.)

Remain in chardi kala, my dear brothers and sisters! 

pictures: 

the fire - United States Coast Guard (via Wikipedia)
dead fish - Sean Gardner (Reuters)
the pelicans - Charlie Riedel (AP)
the earth - courtesy of NASA

USA/PAKISTAN - The Queen of Hearts Screams

The Loving Husband and His Wife

Muslim TV Channel's Pakistani Owner Held as Wife Beheaded

New York
A Pakistani American, who started a Muslim TV channel in the US to counter negative portrayal of Islam after the 9/11 terror attacks, has been arrested after his estranged wife was found beheaded.

Forty-four-year-old Muzzammil Hassan, who set up Bridges TV in Buffalo city in New York state, was charged at the weekend with the murder of his 37-year-old wife Aasiya Hassan.

The estranged wife, who had recently filed for divorce, was found beheaded at the offices of the television channel, reports quoted police as saying.

Just a week ago, she had obtained an order of protection, which barred her husband from their home in Orchard Park in Buffalo 's suburb.

Hassan was charged with second-degree murder at the Orchard Park police station. Police said they found no weapon at the scene.

The Pakistani American had told the media at the launch of his Muslim TV channel in 2004 that he was inspired to launch it after his wife's anguish over the post-9/11 portrayal of Muslims.

He said she was seven-month pregnant at the time of terror attacks and didn't want her children to grow in anti-Muslim atmosphere in the US .

The aim of Bridges TV, he said, was counter negative portrayal of Muslims and Islam after 9/11.

Hassan, who came to the US from Pakistan in 1979, was a successful banker before he and his wife launched the television channel.

IANS February 16, 2009

I have, more than once, been accused of being antiIsrael and thus proIslam. Untrue in both counts! I am anti-inhumane actions and anti-misogeny, if I must be classified as anti-Anything. I much prefer to be classified - if such classification is necessary - as pro-Humanitarianism and pro-Treating-Each-Other-With-Respect-And-Common-Decency. I am also proTrashing-Of-Obvious-Evil.

To show myself to be an equal opportunity trasher-of-evil, I give you this bit of bashing about the death of this woman:
From IHRO (no URL available):

Let's see. We have a Muslim couple founding and operating a Muslim TV
network out of New York with the ostensible purpose of promoting
understanding between Muslim and Western cultures.

The two were originally from Pakistan. The husband, in this country for 30
years, had a successful business career before beginning the TV venture. The
couple met on the Internet, was married 8 years and had two children, 4 and
6. It was his third marriage.

On Feb. 12, Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan, 44, walked into the police station in
Orchard Park, N.Y., and told officials his wife, 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan,
was dead.

And so she was.

Police found her body lying in a hallway of the TV station. She was
stone-cold dead. But it wasn't your usual dead body - not beaten to death,
knifed, hung, shot or even poisoned.

No, the woman had been decapitated. Murdered. It was no accident. Heads
don't just fall off.

News reports meticulously ignored details of the murder scene. All we've
been told is that the murder weapon hadn't yet been found or identified and
that her head was found near her body.

But, was there evidence of a struggle? Was the body dragged? Was there much
blood? Indications are that the husband wasn't distraught when he reported
the death, but was he bloody? Injured? Had he changed clothes?

Only "Mo" and the police know, and they're not talking. All officials say is
that it was "domestic violence."

Sure it was. Just a plain, ordinary, Western civilization domestic violence
case, like all the others that cross police blotters.

But finding bodies with separated heads is not a common event for Orchard
Park police. Indeed, it's not common for American police in any jurisdiction
- not so much because cutting someone's head off isn't a known way of
killing, but because that method of killing is not part of Western culture.

Even the French stopped using the guillotine for executions. It's so
primitive and messy.

Primitive? Where did that come from? Well, decapitation is a part of Islamic
culture going back centuries, and it exists today, ranging from a prescribed
method of execution for civil law violations to violations of precepts of
the Quran.

It's clearly part of what are called "honor killings" - the intentional
murder of a person of any age for any act deemed to bring shame to the
family. The victim most often is a woman or girl, and her transgression
usually involves some form of disobedience to parents or spouse. It can
range from clothing choice, to becoming "Westernized, " to refusing an
arranged marriage or wanting a divorce.

Unfortunately, Aasiya Hassan did want a divorce and filed papers just days
before her death. She also obtained a restraining order against her husband.
He clearly didn't want her to divorce and apparently did what, in his
culture and religion, is traditionally appropriate and accepted.

And now, she's dead.

The big problem is this isn't the Middle East. This isn't an Islamic nation,
and we do not practice Shariah law. But despite that, multicultural
political correctness has entered the picture. News media avoid calling it
an "honor killing." It's just "domestic violence."

Mentions of their Islamic faith and culture are virtually nil. This whole
situation is treated with kid gloves, with officials and media bending over
backward to avoid mentioning the obvious.

Adding insult to injury, "Mo" Hassan has only been charged with
second-degree murder.

Just what is first degree murder in New York?

"Mo" has an on-the-ball lawyer in his corner. Attorney James Harrington
quickly went on the defense over any suggestions of an honor killing, saying
flatly: "Culture, religion doesn't play a role. . It's not an issue in this
case."

What rots the brains of criminal defense lawyers so they have no compunction
about raising defense claims that boggle the mind of any reasoned person?
Truth and justice are flexible; common sense is not a consideration.

It's unavoidable that Islamic culture and religion is part of who Hassan is
as a man and businessman. He had a good reputation among Muslim activists
and was given an award by CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The focus of his television venture was to stress positive aspects of
Islamic culture and religion. Employees report that he wasn't overtly
religious but did favor Islamic tradition in terms of women's dress and
insisted his wife be present if a woman was in his office.

Until recently, the only way Americans knew about decapitation was from
movies or reading history.

But militant Islam and terrorism changed that with a vengeance by taking
Western prisoners and decapitating them on camera. Their "20th and 21st
century" war against the West involves 7th century tactics.

Recording decapitations on video is a cruel touch they relish. Remember
Daniel Pearl and Nicholas Berg and Jack Hensley and Paul Johnson and Eugene
Armstrong? They were all decapitated by terrorists. Just two weeks ago,
Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak was beheaded, and American U.N. worker John
Solecki faces the threat now. See them on tape.

But honor killings are the other side of the decapitation coin, and we tend
to ignore it because it's not acceptable to say or think anything untoward
of Muslims or Islam. We've been intimidated.

The result will be a gradual acceptance of such practices in this country
under the guise of religious freedom. It will become virtually untouchable
under our law because it's OK with Islam.

The gruesome death of Mrs. Hassan isn't the first honor killing in this
country, and it won't be the last. But media coverage is always low key and
virtually non-existent.

Octuplets and a rampaging chimpanzee get headlines; a beheading gets a media
pass.

Poor Aasiya.

"Anyone who clings to the historically untrue -- and -- thoroughly immoral
doctrine that violence never solves anything I would advise to conjure up
the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington and let them
debate it. The ghost of Hitler would referee. Violence, naked force, has
settled more issues in history than has any other factor; and the contrary
opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic
truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms."
--Robert A. Heinlein