Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #55

Posted on February 16, 2007 in Roundup

It was good to hear that the House — including 17 brave Republicans — voted to tell the Commander the Creep that [[escalation]] in Iraq is not acceptable. Whether these will join the Democratic leadership in opposing the surely to be illegal bombing of Iran remains a vague plot on the pronosticators’ charts. We need to do more than hope: We must call.

• No Free Speech: The title was worth stealing from The Smoking Gun. Rudy Giuliani has found a way to let others fund his presidential campaign by arranging campaign visits through his speech booking agency. If elected, will he continue to expect a royalty for public addresses?
• Tax Cheats: A cabal of property owners in Troon, Arizona created a school district without school, administrative staff, or teachers so that they could avoid paying taxes and still send their children to school in adjacent districts. Just the sort of thing you’d expect in the Affluent [[Redneck]] Belt.
• Dowsing: Scientists continue to look for signs of water on Mars. Satellite photos appear to reveal crevices where water flowed up from underground sources. “It lends support to the idea that a substantial body of groundwater existed on Mars in the past and may still persist to the present day,” said Professor Stephen Clifford of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. “The fact that there is such persuasive evidence of joints and fractures in the crust also suggests that this groundwater had the ability to flow enormous distances.” I wonder, however, if we aren’t looking at erosion caused by another liquid. Meanwhile, Terran scientists have mapped a network of undertheice rivers and lakes in Antarctica.
• Suicide Pact: Twice this month carmakers have been pressured to drop a commercial in which suicide figured as a selling tool. In a Volkswagen ad, a despondent man gets a new lease of life when a stranger drives past and informs him that three Volkswagen models – including the latest version of the Beetle – are available for less than $17,000.
• The New Dinosaurs: Scientists are scrambling to save 2000 species of amphibian from a deadly fungus that invades the surface pores of frogs and makes it difficult for them to regulate their water intake. The option is to build a series of amphibian arks that will protect the [[gene pool|gene pools]]. “Bringing [frogs] into an amphibian ark is really the last option,” said Kevin Buley, director of herpetology at Chester Zoo in England, and chair of the European Assn. of Zoos and Aquaria’s amphibian ark. “Everyone is aware of endangered pandas and tigers, but no one is making noise about these tiny creatures that have lived for 200 million years.” If the thought of [[Kermit the Frog]] failed to inspire humans to take action, Buley argued there was a more pressing incentive. “Think of them as the canaries in the coal mine,” he said.
• Youth in Asia?: The more a doctor fears death, the more likely he is to hasten the death of infants with untreatable mental or physical defects according to a survey of 78 neonatologists.
• Incest Ain’t Best: How do we know not to have sex with our siblings?
• Why Some Can’t Just Say No: Drug addicts underestimate the power of their cravings which may explain why people keep trying addictive drugs even though there is ample evidence of the harm.
• Beats Beanie Babies: Have you ever thought of collecting Dunnys?
• South Seas Revivalism: The world’s largest and one of the last cargo cults marked its official 50th anniversary. Devotees say that an apparition of John Frum first appeared before tribal elders in the 1930s. He urged them to rebel against the aggressive teachings of Christian missionaries and instead said they should put their faith in their own customs. Oddly there is a materialist angle to the worship which calls on followers to wait for the arrival of food, medicine, and other supplies from unspecified locations.

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!