Before I discuss the fountain of fibs in the news lately, I'd be remiss not to share a photo of my friend and not-constant companion (he belongs to friends, but loves me, anyway). His antics have slowed my blog musings -- what? You thought I wrote these passages without wearing sunglasses? He ate mine, just a day after being diagnosed with pancreatitis. He'll be okay, the vet says. The sunglasses, however, are ... well, somewhere in his digestive system.
Without further ado, my pal Rome.
More on the Susan G. Komen Foundation at a later date. Irony of ironies, my dad is scheduled for a mammogram tomorrow. My mom has no idea how this is accomplished, and my sister and I are clueless as well.
But onto the tall tales of the past week...
Bad sports:: The Chinese. C'mon. Pavarotti had to lip-sync while singing at the 2006 Winter Game because of the bitter cold. He was an opera star. But the Chinese substituted a different girl to fake her way through "Ode To The Motherland" during the Olympics' Opening Ceremony because she was "cuter" than the 7-year-old who really belted it out? Talk about giving the real singer a complex. I think both girls are cute. Check it out here.
Then we find out the awe-inspiring fireworks display was also "tweaked?" What? Chinese? Firecrackers? Faked? This incident reminds me of the fear of computers that scifi writers threw at us years ago. First, you mess around a tiny bit with The Olympics, then you fake The President's press briefings because he got shot by The Vice President. Or something like that.
When it's okay to lie:: In the past week or so, 125,000 gorillas -- classified as "critically endangered" -- were spotted in the Congo. Dang it. Did we really have to know this until some wildlife folks got a handle on this, to keep the poachers away?
Then someone started yapping about an "undiscovered" waterfall in the Amazon region. Oh, some locals knew about it, but now that the word is out, expeditions are on their way to see and document this treasure.
Not a lie, exactly:: Also in the undiscovered news category was the announcement was the report detailing the findings of Roman ruins in the ancient Jewish capital of Galilee in Israel. Apparently, the city of Zippori housed a significant pagan population, who with Jewish and Christian neighbors, developed a hometown with various kinds of buildings. Neat archaeological info. But the article in LiveScience, describe a temple depicting the Roman gods Zeus and Tyche.
Now, as a dedicated Xena: Warrior Princess fan, I know that these two gods were Greek. I tried to find an explanation of why the Roman gods weren't named Jupiter and Fortuna on this temple, but alas, I gave up. Poor scholar that I am, perhaps someone can set me straight here.
Who should know when not to lie:: John Edwards. You were running for President, sir, and when the you-admitted-it affair occurred, your wife was battling cancer. Did he actually think this information would remain buried? This is mind-numbing. Enough said.
And yes, telemarketers lie, but:: I don't have any aversion to junk mail. Frankly, I miss finding anything in my mailbox. (Like even a "what are ya up to card" from friends -- hint, hint.) Sure, from an ecological viewpoint, saving all that paper is great. (I wonder, though, scientific genius that I am, if all the computers buzzing out spam and e-mails are all that much better.)
But there are folks who just don't want anything in their mailboxes they didn't ask for. They're adamant about not receiving junk. They're ticked. Fightin' mad. So I shouldn't have been startled to see what creative people do with junk mail. Quite fascinating, and in the case of #7, well, it seems a bit extreme to me, but read what some people do with bricks.
That's it. I think I need to ponder animals, like my friend Rome. Studies (you know, three-out-of-four-internal physicians-report kind-of studies) say that human blood pressure lowers while petting an animal, as does the pet. So, here's a fitting thought.
Quote O' The Day:: "It's funny how dogs and cats know the insides of other folks better than other folks do, isn't it?" ~Eleanor H. Porter, in "Pollyanna"
And that's all she wrote. Today. Until later...
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