Archive for February 17, 2012
A “Cloud Tsunami?”
One more thing (I’ve never seen or heard of) before I sign off.
Panama City, Florida, February 10, 2012: A “cloud tsunami:”
Wow. Just wow.
More here.
News Outlets With Agendas
This is crazy.
Check out this headline at the Daily Mail,
over this picture:
Caters News Agency
An otter looks to the heavens and prays for food?
Forget the headline. Read the article:
‘I took the photos at Whipsnade Zoo, which has this island with a purpose built moat for the otters. I had to hide there for a long time to get the shot.
‘The otter was running around cradling a stone under his arm when he was surprised by another otter jumping out of the water which caused him to jump and throw the stone in the air.
‘When he started trying to grab it I took the snap.’
Gee. Imagine what your memory of this would be if all you read was the headline.
Women-Only Panel Testifies Before House Committee on Prostate Gland
Wrapping up the week, I’ve got to say I’m still ticked off about that contraceptive “hearing” Darrell Issa (R-Tool) held yesterday during which men — and only men — were allowed to testify:
I’m imagining what the men of America would think, say and write if a female House Democrat held a “hearing” on the issues men face with their prostate gland in front of a panel that looked like this:
Photo via: AnkaraScene.com
Ooo-yah.
They would be S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G.
The Real Mitt on the Road
I’m loving the dogs against Rmoney (not a typo) campaign:
“News” Can Be Lies
Robert Greenwald over at Brave New Foundation has a new project: exposing the 1%’ers. He has put together five very short videos on “who’s getting rich exploiting the 99% — meet the worst of the 1 percent:” Ron Walton, the Chairman of the Walmart Corporation, Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Pete Peterson, the co-founder of the Blackstone Group, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and my special friend, Rupert Murdoch, the President of News Corp.
Hop on over to WhoAreThe1Percent to see them all but here is my fave, yes, the one about good ol’ Rupert:
Precious Moments at the Food Bank Today
I just got home from my volunteer time at the food bank and I have to tell you all about the sweetest thing that happened there today.
We were fairly busy with approximately seven people making their way through the bank. A “walker” assists each client as they go through with their shopping cart as food is given out based on family size. The walker is there to tell the client how much of each item they can take, and to help bag-as-we go so the clients are ready to leave when they hit the back door (that keeps things moving).
I was standing next to a wooden table containing big plastic bins of tomatoes, peppers, oranges, apples and potatoes and I was refilling the potato bin. Across the table from me were two clients, their carts and their walker-assistants. The person farthest along in the process was a woman of about 65 with shoulder-length, graying blond hair. Behind her, with his cart and his walker-assistant, was a very tall (6′, 6″?) 50-something man with long (mid-back) salt and pepper colored hair, a weathered face, and a filthy brown canvas jacket. He looked like a quintessential homeless person but he couldn’t have been homeless because we don’t serve homeless people. (Homeless people must go to the homeless shelter for help.)
Anyway, the woman saw the apples and asked how many she could have. Unfortunately we didn’t have more than 40 so we were only giving out one per family. She selected one, caressed it, moaned and said something like, “Oh, those look so good. I wish I could have more.” Then she moved on toward the potatoes.
Meanwhile, the man behind her moved his cart up to the apple bin and, having overheard what the woman said, he picked up an apple and tapped her on the shoulder: “Here, you can have my apple.” The lady initially turned him down but he insisted and she eventually took it, saying “What a gentleman!”
I almost burst into tears. Here was a person who had to have next to noting or else he wouldn’t qualify for our services, and he wasn’t taking everything he could (a picture the Republicans like to paint). That man sweetly thought of the lady in front of him and gave her his share of the apples.
Just because people are poor and they get their food from a food bank, they don’t necessarily lose their soul or their humanity or their generosity.
It was such a touching thing to see.
I’ll never forget those 90 seconds.
