Oddities

Well, finally, peace has descended on the Manor. All progeny and guests have departed, save for daughter Victoria, who is involved in a movie and, even as I write this, is happily being stuffed into a culvert somewhere around Stoney Creek. I do wish she would drop this proclivity and stick with her historical writing and research, but she loves doing these cinematic stunts. Makes a good buck, too, but this is all too reminiscent of the fate of Conrad, Lord Black of Crossharbour, who would have been much better off writing history rather than raiding worker's pension funds and various other nefarious fiscal activities. But enough -- unwise career choices is a topic for another day.

The quiet and calm gave me an opportunity to catch up on what has been going on in the world. As I perused some sources, print and non-print, I was struck by the prominence of the weird and unusual.

First, their appears to be some force disturbing the hell out of the earth's fauna. Thousands of birds crash to the ground on Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and, for some odd reason, Sweden. Forty thousand crabs wash up on the Thanet shoreline in the U.K., while one hundred thousand drum fish surface lifeless in the Arkansas river. My scientific friends assure me that these things happen from time to time, but still....And it is somewhat of a pity that such a suicidal affliction couldn't be visited upon the slew of religious zealots presently causing mayhem. The world would instantly become a kinder, gentler, and, most of all, saner place.

Then I read of the case of the Florida professor who was turfed from a U.S. Air flight after fellow passengers were worried about a suspicious package he had put in the overhead bin. Suspicious indeed -- the package contained a bagel with cream cheese. In America today, I guess you can't be careful enough.

Next came the revelation that Canada's junior hockey team was deficient in mathematics, a deficiency that cost them the gold medal at the recent competition. Didn't anyone teach these young lads that there are three periods in a hockey game, not two? Really and truly....

Finally, I note that Chinese firms have been drawn to Saudi Arabia, and have been investing in Saudi infrastructure and industry, including a large aluminium smelter in the southern province of Jizan and a railway construction project in Mecca. This involves hundreds of Chinese workers. This last project was of interest, for the Saudis insist that all non-Muslims are prohibited from even being in Mecca, let alone working there. China, however, has long experience in handling such issues, citing Confucious: "When on the horns of a dilemma, the wise man throws sand in the bull's face." Thus China simply converted all the workers to Islam.

If I had been able, I would have cornered the circumcision market. Been on the cutting edge.

So to speak.