Saturday, February 21, 2004

RHINO'S WEEKEND BLOG - Feb. 21st & 22nd QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND "God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you can help me, I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." - - dubya shrub (to the Palestinian Prime Minister) THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY Feb 21, 1828 -- Premier issue of the "Cherokee Phoenix" published. First U.S. newspaper in a native language, it uses the Cherokee syllabary, developed by Sequoyah, who assigned symbols to 86 Cherokee syllables. Using his new alphabet, Sequoyah taught his daughter to read in less than a week and a group of skeptical tribal chiefs in 7 days. The Phoenix was published weekly until May 1834. Feb 21, 1962 -- J. Edgar Hoover wins a George Washington Award from the Freedom Foundation for "the most outstanding individual contribution to American freedom during 1961."  Unsure which dress he wore. Feb 22, 1630 -- American Indians introduce white settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to popcorn. Get that saucepan out! Inspires Micro Wave Ovens. Feb 22, 1732 -- George Washington born at Bridges Creek, VA. The last US President who could not tell a lie. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: Wall Street Jerk-off Guest Editorial Karl Rove: The Case for Cronyism http://www.internetweekly.org/cartoons_2004/cartoon_rove_cronyism.html RHINO HERE: For the weekend lighter side, I offer a spattering of weird science & an interview with an author who's compiled, "Take Them At Their Words: Shocking, Amusing and Baffling Quotations from the G.O.P. and Their Friends, 1994-2004" Today's Quote of the Weekend was taken from this book.  Rhino sez, "Have a giggle & enjoy your weekend." Decomposing Whale Explodes on Street Reuters,  Jan 29,2004 TAIPEI - The decomposing remains of a 60-tonsperm whale exploded on a busy Taiwan street, showering nearby cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours, local newspapers said.  The 56-foot dead whale had been on a truck headed for an autopsy at a university earlier this week, when gases from internal decay caused its entrails to explode in the southern city of Tainan. The whale had died after it was beached on the southwestern coast of the island. Whale Explodes 'Telepathic' parrot sparks rethink Ananova, 1/26/04 A parrot with a 950-word vocabulary, a sense of humor and alleged telepathic powers is forcing a rethink of the scope for animals and humans to communicate. The six-year-old captive-bred African grey called N'kisi is one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world. The bird uses words in context, with past, present and future verb tenses. And, like small children, it resorts to creativity to describe new ideas - for instance saying "flied" for flew and inventing the phrase "pretty smell medicine" to indicate the aromatherapy oils used by his owner, a New York-based artist. He can also associate photographs with the real person or object - when he first met primatologist Dr Jane Goodall, after seeing her in a picture with apes, his greeting was: "Got a chimp?" He also displays dry humor. When another parrot hung upside down from its perch, he commented: "You got to put this bird on the camera."... http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_859584.html?menu=news.latestheadlines Gadget Jacket Charged by the Sun By Kari L. Dean, Wired,  Jan. 13, 2004 The fashion spotlight, or rather sunlight, shone on a new solar-powered jacket introduced last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Seemingly aimed at the technophile environmentalist on the go, the jacket has integrated solar panels that charge cell phones, PDAs, Game Boys, MP3 players and most any other mobile device its wearer slides into its multitude of interior pockets. And despite its gadget-oriented accommodations, the jacket's style resembles those worn at the slopes or on the hiking trails. Fashionista outdoorsy types are assured of cloaking their geek status as they lug Palms, iPods and cell phones into the wilderness without losing power. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,61855,00.html More info at:  http://www.scottevest.com/ "Unlucky" souvenirs returned to Uluru By Michelle Nichols, yahoo news, Thu Feb 19 ALICE SPRINGS, Australia (Reuters) -  To the unwary Englishman it was just a harmless little red pebble, picked up as a souvenir at the base of Uluru, the immense monolith in the central Australian desert once known as Ayers Rock.  "But since then, my wife has had a stroke and things have worked out terribly for my children -- we have had nothing but bad luck," he wrote when he sent the pebble back halfway around the world to its rightful home. This was just one of hundreds of rocks returned to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park during the past decade, many with similar tales of woe linked by tourists to their decision to take home a souvenir from the sacred Aboriginal site. Unlucky Souvenirs 9:06:15 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Shocking, Amusing and Baffling Quotations from the G.O.P. RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE Bruce Miller, Editor of "Take Them At Their Words: Shocking, Amusing and Baffling Quotations from the G.O.P. and Their Friends, 1994-2004" "Did a Deranged Republican REALLY Say Something That Despicable?" Yes, They Probably Did. A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW, buzzflash.com, 2/20/04 Here is what you've been waiting for. A compendium of hundreds of right wing GOP quotations that you are always writing to BuzzFlash to ask, "Did THEY really say that?"  Yes, THEY did!   Over more than 350 pages, Bruce Miller, brother of Mark Crispin Miller, has assembled the bitter, spiteful and downright bizarre ranting and ravings of the people who now rule America, along with their supporters. Who could forget Barbara Bush on "Good Morning America"? "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many...It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" Babs declared in all seriousness. Or Ann Coulter, opining: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building." Or George W. Bush to the Palestinian Prime Minister: "God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you can help me, I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." READ THE INTERVIEW AT: http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/02/int04011.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:22:08 AM    comment

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