Friday's Odds and Ends

Since I resigned as Managing Editor for WinnsboroToday.com, I am not as connected to the news as I used to be. Part of my daily updates at the online magazine included the latest news blurbs from several sources. Now I don't check those sources daily, and I don't watch very much broadcast news, either. In some ways it's nice to be disconnected, but that also means I am not finding those absurd news bits I like to comment on every Friday.

I did hear that the Federal Government is on the verge of shutting down because the elephants and the donkeys can't agree on a budget. Apparently on the pachyderm side it is the newly elected representatives that won with Tea Party support. And here I thought they had promised to put partisan politics aside if they got into office.

I guess you can't trust an elephant.

Doing a quick Internet search for bizarre news, I came across this from  Bizarre News.org . A 13-year-old Norwegian boy avoided being attacked by wolves by playing a heavy metal song on his mobile phone. I knew there had to be one good use for heavy metal music.

I also found this on NewsBizarre.com  The new official worlds tallest man is Sultan Kosen of Turkey. Standing at a giant 8ft 1 or 2.5 meters, Sultan Kosen is the newly crowned Guinness World Records worlds tallest man. With money he can make with special appearances, he hopes to be able to buy a car. “The first thing I want is a car I can fit into,” Sultan Kosen said. “More than that, I want to get married. It’s really difficult to find a girlfriend. They are usually scared of me.”

I'm reading The General and Monaville Texas by Joe G. Bax. So far, it is a good read and last night this line had me cracking up: "It was so quiet you could hear a mouse piss on a cotton ball."

Too bad my husband was already asleep when I started laughing.

That's it for me today. Did you run across any absurd or funny news stories this week?

Our Right to Protest

The furor over the Tea Parties held across the country to protest health care reform and other issues of significant importance has died down just a bit recently, but there are still commentators who question whether the parties do any good.

Colleen McCain Nelson who is on the editorial board at The Dallas Morning News had this to say:

"I can't argue that free speech is bad for America -- even when I disagree with what folks are saying. But I'm not certain what the tea parties are accomplishing - beyond assembling an angry mob."

Another pundit wondered if the movement is helpful or harmful.

Personally, I like the idea of the tea parties. In fact, I was suggesting we do something like the Boston Tea Party long before the current craze, but instead of dumping tea in the Boston Harbor, I suggested dumping all the politicians into the water and getting new ones.

But I digress.

I think the current move to take more control over government is a good one, and we have to keep in mind that people are sometimes going to be emotional and strident about issues that touch them personally.

What about the mob that threw the tea in Boston Harbor in 1773? Do you think they were polite and orderly? There had to be a lot of shouting and name-calling going on there.

Yes, it would be nice if people could always behave civilly in these Tea Parties. Civility is something we are sorely lacking in public today, but we have to keep in mind that emotions often override reason, and people react before they have had a chance to stop and think.

I don't know if the Tea Parties have influenced any decisions coming out of Washington, but one good thing is that people are stepping forward and doing more than complaining about what is going on with government. Also, I think the movement has increased voter participation and that is a good thing.

What do you think? Are the meetings creating more harm than good?