1. More freedom for ladies?
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has announced that Saudi women will be allowed to vote in the 2015 elections (not the 2011 elections). Can this be a "foot in the door" for the ladies? Will more freedoms be allowed in the future? Will they be allowed to drive someday? Will they always have to be subservient to male guardians? Time will tell.
Hasn't Aristophanes' play Lysistrata ever been viewed by Saudi women?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lysistrata
2. That's a lot of ...
The last bull has supposedly been slaughtered by a bull-fighter in the region of Catalonia, Spain. A cheering crowd in Barcelona happily watched recently as an unfortunate bull had his innards pierced. A regional anti-bullfighting law was passed in 2010. It is not scheduled to take effect until the beginning of 2012, but the last of these "spectacles" took place last week, a little ahead of schedule.
Will these "fights" go underground, like "pitbull fights" in the U.S.? Probably. Bullfighting is too much a part of the Spanish culture to disappear completely, in my humble opinion.
http://www.Spain-info.com/Culture/bullfighting.htm
3. Left, Right or Left?
In the see-saw that is French politics, the Left recently took over their Senate from the Right. This is reported to be a "smack in the face" to that fellow short guy named Nicolas Sarkozy, and perhaps a foretaste of left-tending voting that may take place in the U.S. next year, because of the obstructionist activity of one of our political parties, in my humble opinion.
4. Taking gas...
I have been making an effort to do all my shopping at the local Giant super market, in order to get points towards lower gasoline prices at Shell gas stations. I got a "fill-up" last week and "saved" 40 cents off each gallon, based on Giant purchases. Now I have heard on NPR that if I had waited until today, I would have gotten the 40 cents off anyway, because the price of gas fell that much or more over the weekend.
I remember when gasoline cost 18 cents a gallon.. of course, at that time, I only earned $1.00 an hour (a pretty good wage rate for 1950!) It's all relative, my friend.
5. Food for Thought?
I enjoy reading what Rob Spring, a Conservative-leaning columnist for the Carroll County Times (Maryland), has to say every other Monday in that newspaper, even though I seldom agree with it.
In August, he said that he would stop eating at McDonald's because he did not like them "dictating" apples over French Fries in their Happy Meals.
Was Rob "pulling our legs?" Happy Meals are for kids.. and senior citizens like me, who look for bargains to supplement our meager pensions.. I know, I know.. he was probably just talking about the food that children eat.. and, yes, I get the point, he doesn't want Government dictating what our kids eat. But, should we have Governments that do not care about us? And since when has McDonald's allowed anybody to influence what they serve?
Anyway, I really like the final paragraph in Rob's column for today:
"People should open their minds and think for themselves. Don't trust me and don't place all your trust in media outlets that agree with you. Research outside of the media you regularly frequent, but always find the source story, not an interpretation of it."
I hope that Rob's TV viewing habits include programs in addition to Fox News.
6. That's puzzling..
I want to put in another plug for The Week magazine. One of their features is "The Puzzle Page". There, you will find a crossword puzzle replete with topical clues, a Sudoku puzzle (if you are so inclined), and "The Week Contest", where you are asked to come up with a clever title or phrase related to a specific topic.
In the May 13, 2011 issue, readers were asked to name the top tune that whales (the Sinatras of the Ocean) were crooning. Elaine had, what I thought was a winner:
"I am so blue, without you."
In the September 2, 2011 issue, readers were asked to name the smaller of the two original moons orbiting the Earth.. you know, the one that crashed into the bigger one and is now part of it. My picks were:
"Blew Moon"
"Boo Moon" (Actually, the moon we see at Halloween,)
I know... not too good.. sorry about that.
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My hour is up. See ya!
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