Another one re: the aftermath of the German election season: the Green Party will henceforth have to do without its long-standing and ever-popular leader (from rebel streetfighter to rotund statesman), Joschka Fischer.
msolga, this isn't a cartoon, just a tribute. Know who they are, Aussie
Letty wrote:
msolga, this isn't a cartoon, just a tribute. Know who they are, Aussie
Um, scientists? Finally acknowledged?
msolga, the forum is a wee bit contentious, but here is the I.D.
Those handsome men are the Warren boys who won a Nobel price for medicine. (They are, of course, Australian.)
They discovered that peptic ulcers are cause by bacteria, as opposed to the generally held misconception of stress and acid in the human body.
Ah, I thought that's who they were, Letty. (But didn't want to say in case I was wrong! :wink: )
and all because of Western tourism, msolga.
Letty wrote:and all because of Western tourism, msolga.
Not sure what you mean there, Letty? The bombings?
msolga, I don't have a political cartoon to offer this morning, but I will toss out a joke....
Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily Iraq briefing.
He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."
"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"
His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.
Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"
Yes, Aussie. I read somewhere that the bombers were retaliating as a gruesome protest against tourism from the West. I can't verify that for the moment, however.
That is one of the things they (apparently) object to, Letty. Western decadence in a place that "should", as part of Indonesia, be more pure & fundamentalist Islamic. It's complex. Most Islamic Indonesians aren't fundamentalist & the Balinese are Hindu. So, what's to be achieved by blowing up "westerners" in night spots? Mind you, some parts of Bali have been made (in my opinion) quite unappealing by yobbo westerners, (I never go to these places myself when travelling in Bali/Java) but hey, that's hardly justification for blowing innocent people up! I feel extremely sympathetic toward the ordinary Balinese who live off tourism. Not much else there, these days, to make a living from. This is going to make life extremely tough for many of them.
msolga, there are several places that I shop that are run by East Indians. I always try and engage them in conversation about current affairs. Yesterday was one of those days, but the man seemed to know as little as I do about Indonesia. <smile>Either that, or we have a difficult time understanding each other.
It's the attempt to communicate that matters, Letty. Lots of us who speak the same language can't understand each other, either!
For some reason, msolga, I'm having some problems. I'll try the witch doctor cartoon later.
Lighthearted view of road construction.
Time for a New Year's joke...
"Meyer, a lonely widower, was walking home along
Delancy Street one day wishing something wonderful would happen in
His life, when he passed a pet store and heard a squawking voice shouting
out in Yiddish, "Quawwwwk...vus machts du?" (How're ya doin')
"Yeah, du." (Yeah, you.)
Meyer rubbed his eyes and ears. Couldn't believe it.
Perfect Yiddish.
The proprietor urged him, "Come in here, fella, and
check out this parrot..."
Meyer did. The African Grey parrot cocked his little head
and said: "Vus? Kenst sprechen Yiddish?" (What? Can you speak Yiddish?)
In a matter of moments, Meyer had placed five hundred dollars on the
Counter and carried the parrot in his cage away with him.
All night he talked with the parrot. In Yiddish. He told the parrot
about his father's adventures coming to America. About how beautiful his late
wife, Sarah, was when she was a young bride. About his family. About
his years of working in the garment district. About Florida.
The parrot listened and commented.
They shared some walnuts.
The parrot told him of living in the pet store, how lonely he would get
on the weekends. They both went to sleep.
Next morning, Meyer began to put on his Tfillin, all the while saying
His prayers. The parrot demanded to know what he was doing and when Meyer
explained, the parrot wanted to do the same. Meyer went out and had a
miniature set of tfillin hand made for the parrot.
The parrot wanted to learn to daven, and learned every prayer. He even
wanted to learn to read Hebrew.
So Meyer spent weeks and months, sitting and teaching the parrot,
Teaching him Torah. In time, Meyer came to love and count on the parrot as a
Friend and fellow Jew.
One morning, on Rosh Hashanah, Meyer rose and got dressed and was about
To leave when the parrot demanded to go with him. Meyer explained that
Shul was not a place for a bird, but the parrot made a terrific argument, so
Meyer relented and carried the bird to Shul on his shoulder.
Needless to say, they made quite a spectacle, and Meyer was questioned
by everyone, including the Rabbi and the Cantor. They refused to allow a
bird into the building on the High Holy Days, but Meyer persuaded them to
let him in this one time, swearing that parrot could daven.
Wagers were made with Meyer.
Thousands of dollars were bet that the parrot could NOT daven, could
not speak Yiddish or Hebrew, etc.
All eyes were on the African Grey during services.
The parrot perched on Meyer's shoulder as one prayer and song passed -
Meyer heard not a peep from the bird. He began to become annoyed,
slapping at his shoulder and mumbling under his breath, "Daven!"
Nothing.
"Daven...parrot, you can daven, so daven...come on,
everyone is looking at you!"
Nothing.
After Rosh Hashanah services were concluded, Meyer
found that he owed his Shul buddies and the Rabbi over four thousand
dollars.
He marched home, so upset he said nothing to the parrot.
Finally several blocks from the Temple the Parrot began to sing an old
Yiddish song, as happy as a lark.
Meyer stopped and looked at him.
"Why? After I had tfillin made for you and taught you the morning
prayers, and taught you to read Hebrew and the Torah. And after you
begged me to bring you to Shul on Rosh Hashana, why? WHY?!?
Why did you do this to me?"
"Meyer, don't be a schmuck," the parrot replied.
"Think of the odds we'll get on Yom Kippur!"
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