Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #53

Posted on February 14, 2007 in Roundup

It’s getting deep and the press is, as usual, dropping the ball. Now, about those weapons of limited destruction…. David Lindorf asks: If reporters could all stop the heavy breathing for a moment, they might ask the folks at the White House and in [[the Pentagon]] to explain why those bombs that they displayed as “evidence” of Iranian perfidy had English words and numbers on them, instead of Persian. What else can one expect from the obsequeous American media? Too bad we can’t have binding referendums on these things like they do in some countries. We elect and then things we vote against happen anyways because our representatives cower before the concrete walls of the Pentagon.

Clearly, something as important a war should not be left to the politicians or the top brass.

• Legacy of War: the man who went bezerk in Salt Lake’s Trolley Square was the son of Bosnian refugees. Maybe he felt Americans weren’t getting that war happens in people’s neighborhoods? There is an inkling here of what the war in Iraq is yet to produce.
• Wi-Fi for the masses: Los Angeles may become the largest wireless internet network in the world, covering 498 square miles of territory.
• Ugly Queen of Da Nile: If a Roman coin is trustworthy evidence, Cleopatra was homely. Far from possessing the classical looks of [[Elizabeth Taylor]], or the many other goddesses who have played her on stage and screen, the Egyptian queen is shown with a shrewish profile while Antony suffers from bulging eyes, a crooked nose and a bull neck. Could this be a case of Roman propaganda?
• Call Sam Spade: Someone stole the Maltese Falcon. Don’t they know that the bird is made of lead?
• Wasted Money: If you had a winning lottery ticket, you’d go right down to the state board and claim it, right? Well, not everyone does: The could-have-been club boasts a surprisingly large roster, with dozens of hefty jackpots left unclaimed around the country in recent years. There was $14 million in Illinois in 2005. In 2002, $4.6 million went wanting in Massachusetts. That same year, nobody stepped up to take $51.7 million in Indiana — apparently the largest forgone prize on record.
• For Sharp Eyes Only: Where’s Beagle 2?
• Jews in Disguise: A memo sent to the Texas Legislature claims that evolution is an attempt to teach a particular variety of the Jewish religion: “Indisputable evidence – long hidden but now available to everyone – demonstrates conclusively that so-called ‘secular evolution science’ is the [[Big Bang]], 15-billion-year, alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the [[Pharisee]] Religion,” writes Mr. Bridges, a Republican from Cleveland, Ga. He has argued against teaching of evolution in Georgia schools for several years. He then refers to a Web site, www.fixedearth.com, that contains a model bill for state Legislatures to pass to attack instruction on evolution as an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Let it be noted that this is not the product of a bipolar or a schizophrenic mind: this is just pure stubbornness, an as yet undefined personality disorder.
• Flashers of the Deep: Japanese scientists discovered that giant squids use bright light to stun their prey. A video tape shows them not to be sluggish sausages with tentacles but aggressive predators who could almost take on the Nautilus.

If you find any articles worthy of mention in these roundups, send the URL to gazissax at best dot com. And feel free to comment!