Random Barking: Barrel-Bottom, Masochism Sunday
I'm watching 'Inside Washington' on PBS -- which features Charles Krauthammer (who has the same hair colorist as Ronald Reagan, Mommar Ghaddafi Duck and Silvio! Berlusconi). Everyone, including the host, seem so bored and jaded tossing around what passes for news analysis that anyone (including the host) piping up and asking, "When do I get paid for this?" wouldn't be out of character.
Also featured is The Lovely Nina Totenberg, a pundit / commentator for National Public Radio. Incidentally, her name, auf Deutsch, means, "Mountain Of The Dead".
(Well, as loveable Bender would say: Don't blame me; I didn't name her.)
This is what happens when you've been effectively stuck inside your home for a week, doing little more than producing mucus -- you externalize your experience by watching a television analogy to mucus production.
Ooops; gotta go -- now it's The McLaughlin Group.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Little Michele Bows Out
Crazy Lady Says Buh-Bye
The national press speaks of GrandTurtlebear Bachmann of the Church Of Crazy Lady™ as if they just aren't sure how someone who scored so well in the Ames straw poll in the spring could have ended their presidential aspirations by Augering In at the Iowa Caucus this week.
Pundits scratch their heads, talk about 'missed opportunities' or hint at misjudgements made by her advisers. But that's not the reason she's out.
The pundits are being very, very polite -- or very, very stupid: It's because she's a Loon. She's an obviously crazy person.
That, even now, anyone ever took her seriously as a candidate for the presidential nomination says a great deal about both the Republican party and the state of politics in America. None of it is good.
Auf Nicht Wiedersehen, Michele, you nutter. Over and Out.
The national press speaks of GrandTurtlebear Bachmann of the Church Of Crazy Lady™ as if they just aren't sure how someone who scored so well in the Ames straw poll in the spring could have ended their presidential aspirations by Augering In at the Iowa Caucus this week.
Pundits scratch their heads, talk about 'missed opportunities' or hint at misjudgements made by her advisers. But that's not the reason she's out.
The pundits are being very, very polite -- or very, very stupid: It's because she's a Loon. She's an obviously crazy person.
That, even now, anyone ever took her seriously as a candidate for the presidential nomination says a great deal about both the Republican party and the state of politics in America. None of it is good.
Auf Nicht Wiedersehen, Michele, you nutter. Over and Out.
Not Around
I've been sick as... well, a Dog, for a while, meaning the three people and the superintelligent parakeet who occasionally check out this blog haven't seen anything new.
The punch line? This week was supposed to be vacation time.
It's a new year. Talk amongst yourselves, as The Great Curmudgeon would say.
The punch line? This week was supposed to be vacation time.
It's a new year. Talk amongst yourselves, as The Great Curmudgeon would say.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
New Year; Dunno About Happy
Going Out On A Whimper
It could be fairly said that there's not enough of other things going on with this Dog to make for a cheery and hopeful New Year. Well, that's the breaks, folks.
I wanted to be able to focus on something hopeful for 2012, but like the mythical half-full glass, I can't see it. One principal reason can be summed up in a post at Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality With Both Hands blog, entitled "America's Financial Leviathan".
Traditionally, the idea of a financial sector has been to move money into the hands of business through investment; into the hands of individuals through loans; or to indemnify business and individuals against loss through insurance. However, it's always been The Big Casino: The Game is rigged in favor of the house to bring in a consistent stream of revenue through investment in the markets, interest on loans, or monthly premiums on insurance.
Since the 1980's, 'growth' in the financial sector has been about less about putting money to work and more about finding new ways to increase revenue and thus net profits. Nothing wrong with that, on the face of it -- but for the finance 'industry', the past twenty-five years has been about increasing risk -- and making the hapless client assume that risk.
It gets even better: Now, the entire population of the United States has assumed the risk of it's financial 'sector', as the government paid some $1.2 Trillion in the year between November, 2008 and October, 2009 to keep it afloat. The banks own us, not the other way around.
And it gets even even better: An audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve banking system (one forced by Congress and the results of which had to be obtained last month through an FOIA request by Bloomberg News) that the Fed has made emergency loans and other forms of assistance totaling $29 Trillion Dollars to banks worldwide.
Much of this money has been to prop up financial 'houses' still filled with toxic debt and derivatives, and which is only being shuffled around. Who, ultimately, will be made to assume all that debt, that risk? Why, you. The banks certainly won't be left holding the bag; no, sir. Not our fault; not our problem -- it's the governments' problem... because We're Too Big To Be Allowed To Fail.
The individuals pushing money around these days add no value; they simply charge the economy in general for handling money and moving it around. If it was otherwise, there would be an obvious benefit to that kind of activity -- as in other sectors of the economy, like Silicon Valley, say: Where chips are produced, technology is invented and refined. The benefits there, while debatable in some sense, are still obvious.
Not so in "Finance". It seems to exist, not to perform a necessary function in the economy -- but to separate as many Marks from their money as possible, we the fools. As practiced today, it's a Thieves' College, a School For Scandal, and not something a human being with morals or ethics should involve themselves in.
Bernie Madoff is seen as a negative role model in 'Finance'... because he got caught. The lesson of Little Bernie isn't 'Don't behave like Madoff' or, 'Don't steal' -- it's Don't Get Caught.
And yes, Virginia; we are the 99%. Happy New Year.
It could be fairly said that there's not enough of other things going on with this Dog to make for a cheery and hopeful New Year. Well, that's the breaks, folks.
I wanted to be able to focus on something hopeful for 2012, but like the mythical half-full glass, I can't see it. One principal reason can be summed up in a post at Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality With Both Hands blog, entitled "America's Financial Leviathan".
In 1950, finance and insurance in the United States accounted for 2.8% of GDP, according to US Department of Commerce estimates. By 1960, that share had grown to 3.8% of GDP, and reached 6% of GDP in 1990. Today, it is 8.4% of GDP, and it is not shrinking. The Wall Street Journal’s Justin Lahart reports that the 2010 share was higher than the previous peak share in 2006.This is "rentier" capitalism, where a small number of people (relative to the overall population) are paid obscene amounts of money, every year, to move other money from one financial category to another: Cash to equities and commodities; cash to insurance against risk; equities to cash, and so forth.
Traditionally, the idea of a financial sector has been to move money into the hands of business through investment; into the hands of individuals through loans; or to indemnify business and individuals against loss through insurance. However, it's always been The Big Casino: The Game is rigged in favor of the house to bring in a consistent stream of revenue through investment in the markets, interest on loans, or monthly premiums on insurance.
Since the 1980's, 'growth' in the financial sector has been about less about putting money to work and more about finding new ways to increase revenue and thus net profits. Nothing wrong with that, on the face of it -- but for the finance 'industry', the past twenty-five years has been about increasing risk -- and making the hapless client assume that risk.
It gets even better: Now, the entire population of the United States has assumed the risk of it's financial 'sector', as the government paid some $1.2 Trillion in the year between November, 2008 and October, 2009 to keep it afloat. The banks own us, not the other way around.
And it gets even even better: An audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve banking system (one forced by Congress and the results of which had to be obtained last month through an FOIA request by Bloomberg News) that the Fed has made emergency loans and other forms of assistance totaling $29 Trillion Dollars to banks worldwide.
Much of this money has been to prop up financial 'houses' still filled with toxic debt and derivatives, and which is only being shuffled around. Who, ultimately, will be made to assume all that debt, that risk? Why, you. The banks certainly won't be left holding the bag; no, sir. Not our fault; not our problem -- it's the governments' problem... because We're Too Big To Be Allowed To Fail.
The individuals pushing money around these days add no value; they simply charge the economy in general for handling money and moving it around. If it was otherwise, there would be an obvious benefit to that kind of activity -- as in other sectors of the economy, like Silicon Valley, say: Where chips are produced, technology is invented and refined. The benefits there, while debatable in some sense, are still obvious.
Not so in "Finance". It seems to exist, not to perform a necessary function in the economy -- but to separate as many Marks from their money as possible, we the fools. As practiced today, it's a Thieves' College, a School For Scandal, and not something a human being with morals or ethics should involve themselves in.
Bernie Madoff is seen as a negative role model in 'Finance'... because he got caught. The lesson of Little Bernie isn't 'Don't behave like Madoff' or, 'Don't steal' -- it's Don't Get Caught.
Overall, however, it remains disturbing that we do not see the obvious large benefits, at either the micro or macro level, in the US economy’s efficiency that would justify spending an extra 5.6% of GDP every year on finance and insurance.[Note: Bulletpointing added] ...And that sums up America for the past decade, and in 2011. It's why people -- and not enough of us -- are in the streets. And more of it to come in 2012.
Lahart cites the conclusion of New York University’s Thomas Philippon that today’s US financial sector is outsized by two percentage points of GDP. And it is very possible that Philippon’s estimate of the size of the US financial sector’s hypertrophy is too small.
Why has the devotion of a great deal of skill and enterprise to finance and insurance sector not paid obvious economic dividends? There are two sustainable ways to make money in finance:Are we sure that most of the growth in finance stems from a rising share of financial professionals who undertake the former rather than the latter?
- Find people with risks that need to be carried and match them with people with unused risk-bearing capacity, or
- Find people with such risks and match them with people who are clueless but who have money.
And yes, Virginia; we are the 99%. Happy New Year.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Mongo Thinks About Chuck Again
For The New Year
(Courtesy MobiusKlein)
Chaplin: Final Speech From The Great Dictator (1940)
Have a safe, warm and excellent New Year -- and try to Pay It Forward in 2012.
(Courtesy MobiusKlein)
Chaplin: Final Speech From The Great Dictator (1940)
I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an Emperor. That's not my business.Even Dogs dream, man.
I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible -- Jew, gentile; black man, white. We all want to help one another; human beings are like that.
We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.
We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in -- machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little; More than machinery we need humanity; more than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost...
You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure!
Then, in the name of democracy, let's use that power; let us all unite! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie!
They do not fulfil their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness...
Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting, the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality.
The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow, into the light of hope, into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up.
Have a safe, warm and excellent New Year -- and try to Pay It Forward in 2012.
Day In The Life
A Bit Late, This: But Still Missed.
Look at me
what am I supposed to be?
what am I supposed to be?
Look at me
what am I supposed to be?
what am I supposed to be?
Look at me
Oh My Love Oh My Love
Here I am
what am I supposed to do?
what am I supposed to do?
Here I am
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
Here I am
Oh My Love Oh My Love
Look at me,Oh Please Look at me, My Love
here I am - Oh My Love
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Ask About The Free Eggs
Ridley Scott Completes Long-Planned Alien Prequel
Ridley Scott has been responsible for creating some of the most haunting and near-archetypal images in modern motion pictures -- and it's two films in particular that we recognize: Most definitely Blade Runner (1982), but also Alien (1979) -- not to mention Thelma and Louise, 'The Duellists', and later Gladiator.
Alien began a three-sequel spinoff, starring Sigourney Weaver -- James Cameron's Aliens; the relentlessly depressing Alien 3; and the Do Not See! Alien Resurrection. And, there have been the Predator-versus-Alien spinoffs as other producers attempted to assert the primacy of their Brand to be considered the ultimate Badass Movie Creature of the universe. My money, aber natürlich, is on the Alien.
How Many Ellen Ripleys Can You Find? It's Easy And Fun!
The concept was developed by aseriously disturbed Swiss artist, H.R. Geiger, and brought to life in Scott's initial film: Awakened from suspended animation-sleep by their onboard AI (nicknamed 'Mother'), the crew of the raw-ore-carrying spaceship, the Nostromo, are dispatched to identify the source of a repeating signal beacon -- apparently, in the far-future of Ridley's film, humans still haven't had First Contact with an intelligent alien species.
The beacon takes them to planet LV-426, where three crewmembers -- the Captain, Dallas (Tom Skerrit), the XO, Kane (John Hurt), and Warrant Officer Ripley (Weaver) -- land to find a crashed alien ship that looks like an unfinished Cyclotron. The ship is amazingly old, and filled with bays of large, leathery black eggs. Inside each one is...
Sold At Auction, 2007, For $126,500 US
Well, if you don't know this story, go find it on Netflicks. Alien is a classic piece of filmaking, in addition to being one of the top 10 science-fiction classics of all time.
Eddie Powell (1929-2000); One Of The Original Creatures,
Relaxing Between Takes In James Cameron's 1987 Aliens
This morning I stumbled across the news that Scott has just completed a new film, Prometheus, which stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, and gives every appearance of being a prequel to the 1979 Alien.
One meme in the world of film criticism these days is that it's all about sequels -- that most of the films, in a time when it's hard to get people to spend money for a trip to the Monstroplex, that are successful have been based on prior releases.
Prometheus could be another one of these, but I don't think so. Scott has done his share of films with a Doggy odor (White Squall, and "G.I. Jane", just to name two; and yes, I understand the irony of using that phrase), but Alien is one of his signature films and it's hard to imagine any artist willing to risk placing a Dud on the shelf beside it.
Prometheus is scheduled to be released here in the U.S. in June, 2012. And, barring a new war in the Middle East or an unanticipated release of the re-engineered-to-be-massively-fatal H5N1 Birdflu virus, I guess we'll see.
Ridley Scott has been responsible for creating some of the most haunting and near-archetypal images in modern motion pictures -- and it's two films in particular that we recognize: Most definitely Blade Runner (1982), but also Alien (1979) -- not to mention Thelma and Louise, 'The Duellists', and later Gladiator.
Alien began a three-sequel spinoff, starring Sigourney Weaver -- James Cameron's Aliens; the relentlessly depressing Alien 3; and the Do Not See! Alien Resurrection. And, there have been the Predator-versus-Alien spinoffs as other producers attempted to assert the primacy of their Brand to be considered the ultimate Badass Movie Creature of the universe. My money, aber natürlich, is on the Alien.
How Many Ellen Ripleys Can You Find? It's Easy And Fun!
The concept was developed by a
The beacon takes them to planet LV-426, where three crewmembers -- the Captain, Dallas (Tom Skerrit), the XO, Kane (John Hurt), and Warrant Officer Ripley (Weaver) -- land to find a crashed alien ship that looks like an unfinished Cyclotron. The ship is amazingly old, and filled with bays of large, leathery black eggs. Inside each one is...
Sold At Auction, 2007, For $126,500 US
Well, if you don't know this story, go find it on Netflicks. Alien is a classic piece of filmaking, in addition to being one of the top 10 science-fiction classics of all time.
Eddie Powell (1929-2000); One Of The Original Creatures,
Relaxing Between Takes In James Cameron's 1987 Aliens
This morning I stumbled across the news that Scott has just completed a new film, Prometheus, which stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, and gives every appearance of being a prequel to the 1979 Alien.
One meme in the world of film criticism these days is that it's all about sequels -- that most of the films, in a time when it's hard to get people to spend money for a trip to the Monstroplex, that are successful have been based on prior releases.
Prometheus could be another one of these, but I don't think so. Scott has done his share of films with a Doggy odor (White Squall, and "G.I. Jane", just to name two; and yes, I understand the irony of using that phrase), but Alien is one of his signature films and it's hard to imagine any artist willing to risk placing a Dud on the shelf beside it.
Prometheus is scheduled to be released here in the U.S. in June, 2012. And, barring a new war in the Middle East or an unanticipated release of the re-engineered-to-be-massively-fatal H5N1 Birdflu virus, I guess we'll see.
The Collect Call Of Chtulu
Lil' Michele Continues Channeling Chtulu: Ia! Ia Ftagn Iowa !!!!
(Is It Just Me, Or Does She Look Like Cameron Diaz?)
As Evan McMorris-Santoro noted in TPM this morning, the collapse of the Crazy Lady Pain Train For Aremica Campaign beneath the weight of its own irrelevance is nearly complete.
On Wednesday, Bachmann took time off the campaign trail to accuse Ron Paul of bribing her Iowa chair into switching teams. State Sen. Kent Sorenson (R) publicly flipped to the Ron Paul campaign in a surprise announcement at a Paul event Wednesday night...It would be truly amazing, watching the Rethug party eat itself, if the collateral damage to the rest of us wasn't potentially so severe. Their front-runner at the moment is a dwarfish paranoid; then Mitzy; and then that morally-compromised, overly-intellectual Guy. Then Le Gouvernour Placard Perry, who will say anything to be elected; and finally, Grand TurtleBear Michele Bachmann of the Church of Crazy Lady™.
Lost in the back and forth is the news, of course, that Bachmann lost her Iowa campaign chair just days before the caucuses. And that follows news that a pro-Bachmann Super PAC switched allegiances to Mitt Romney the other day.
And that comes after the story of a leader of the base Bachmann has courted so closely — the Iowa evangelical vote — asking her to step aside. And that’s just Iowa.
Obligatory Cute Small Animal Photo In Middle Of Blog Rant
I will be the first to say that Michele is hot. Hot, hot, hot. I'd do a weekend with her in an apartment above a video store in downtown Bangkok in a heartbeat -- plenty of up-close, uh, 'quality time', and I'd be cooking on a hibachi on the balcony.
But, aber natürlich, this assumes that her head would have to be in an exceptionally different place than it is today. It's just as true that Michele is deranged, possibly Botoxed to the gills; almost certifiably crazy -- but, Hot. So, I'm holding off on buying that pair of tickets on Air Thailand.
And, if you're a candidate for the Rethug nomination as presidential candidate, and the polls have you at the bottom of a pack of fools like Paul, Perry, Mitzy and The Newt and Little Ricky... that's really saying something, isn't it?
In South Carolina, Bachmann’s campaign recently asked for and then touted the endorsement of a progressive Democratic leader who only wants Bachmann to be the nominee because it would guarantee a second term for President Obama.Well, The End is coming soon. I hear the sound, far-off, like the wet slapping of tentacles against rocks by the sea -- and it sounds like the Call Of Chtulu. In fact, it sounds remarkably like the voice of Ron Paul.
Meanwhile: Auf nicht wiedersehen, Michele, you nutter.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Cheetah (1929-2011)
World Mourns Loss Of 'Gentle Spirit'
Cheetah On His 77th Birthday In Retirement, With Photo
Of Weissmuller, Who Never Visited Him
The New York Times reports that Cheetah the Chimpanzee -- who, next to Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, 'Alf', and Puffy The Dog from There's Something About Mary, was one of Hollywood's most famous animal stars -- has died. He was at least 80 years old; twice the normal life span of normal Chimpanzees.
Cheetah played the comedy relief opposite Johnny Weissmuller in the "Tarzan" films (he did not, as some have reported, play the role of 'Bonzo' in the defining moment of Ronald Reagan's film career, "Bedtime For Bonzo"). Weissmuller, born in Austria-Hungary, emigrated to the U.S. to become the Mark Spitz of the 1920's, winning five Olympic gold medals in swimming and setting dozens of records before appearing in twelve Tarzan movies. Weissmuller died in 1984.
"Debbie Cobb, the outreach director at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Fla., where Cheetah lived," reported the Paper Of Record, "told The [Tampa, Fla.] Tribune that Cheetah was about 80 years old and died of kidney failure on Saturday."
Cheetah had, in fact, been living with Weissmuller until 1960, when he was transferred to the Primate Sanctuary. Of some 15 chimpanzees kept at the sanctuary, Cheetah, Cobb reported, was "the most famous and an outgoing ape with a gentle personality, who had long outlived the 35 to 45 years that chimpanzees typically survive in captivity."
Cheetah's real name is unknown. He leaves behind him no children, but a number of finger paintings, and a rich treasury of film memories.
Meanwhile, in other news: The head of Iran's navy announced during ten days of Iranian war games in the Persian Gulf that it would be "Like drinking a glass of water" to close the Straits of Hormuz to oil traffic. Today the commander of the United States' Fifth Fleet in the same region announced that the world "would not tolerate" a closure of the Gulf to shipping.
Noch Einmal Mit Mehr: Apparently, questions have been raised as to whether the claims of the Florida primate sanctuary -- that the Chimp which died Saturday was in fact the Cheetah -- are true.
Meanwhile, Grieving Crowds In Asia Continue Mourning
Publicly For The Great Chimp. More Or Less.
Cheetah On His 77th Birthday In Retirement, With Photo
Of Weissmuller, Who Never Visited Him
The New York Times reports that Cheetah the Chimpanzee -- who, next to Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, 'Alf', and Puffy The Dog from There's Something About Mary, was one of Hollywood's most famous animal stars -- has died. He was at least 80 years old; twice the normal life span of normal Chimpanzees.
Cheetah played the comedy relief opposite Johnny Weissmuller in the "Tarzan" films (he did not, as some have reported, play the role of 'Bonzo' in the defining moment of Ronald Reagan's film career, "Bedtime For Bonzo"). Weissmuller, born in Austria-Hungary, emigrated to the U.S. to become the Mark Spitz of the 1920's, winning five Olympic gold medals in swimming and setting dozens of records before appearing in twelve Tarzan movies. Weissmuller died in 1984.
"Debbie Cobb, the outreach director at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Fla., where Cheetah lived," reported the Paper Of Record, "told The [Tampa, Fla.] Tribune that Cheetah was about 80 years old and died of kidney failure on Saturday."
In the Tarzan film series, whose golden age spanned 1932 to 1948, Cheetah was said to have appeared in the films made between 1932 and 1934, as a comic and sympathetic animal sidekick whose intelligence sometimes seemed to rival that of his human co-stars [former swimming star] Johnny Weissmuller (who played the titular jungle lord) and Maureen O’Sullivan (who portrayed his civilized love interest, Jane).
Cheetah had, in fact, been living with Weissmuller until 1960, when he was transferred to the Primate Sanctuary. Of some 15 chimpanzees kept at the sanctuary, Cheetah, Cobb reported, was "the most famous and an outgoing ape with a gentle personality, who had long outlived the 35 to 45 years that chimpanzees typically survive in captivity."
“He was very compassionate,” Ms. Cobb said. “He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day. He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings.”The Times also reported that actress Mia Farrow, the daughter of Maureen O’Sullivan (they performed opposite each other as a mother and daughter in Woody Allen's 'Hannah And Her Sisters'), has gotten more or less the last word on the Great Ape, posting a comment on her Twitter page: “Cheetah the chimp in Tarzan movies died this week at 80. My mom, who played Jane, invariably referred to Cheetah as ‘that bastard.’ ”
Word Of Cheetah's Passing Was Met With Spontaneous Public
Demonstrations Of Grief In Asia, Where 'Tarzan' Films Are
Still Cherished (Photo: NHKNot)
She said Cheetah was soothed by Christian music and also enjoyed fingerpainting and football, though she was unsure if the chimpanzee had any favorite teams.
Cheetah's real name is unknown. He leaves behind him no children, but a number of finger paintings, and a rich treasury of film memories.
Meanwhile, in other news: The head of Iran's navy announced during ten days of Iranian war games in the Persian Gulf that it would be "Like drinking a glass of water" to close the Straits of Hormuz to oil traffic. Today the commander of the United States' Fifth Fleet in the same region announced that the world "would not tolerate" a closure of the Gulf to shipping.
Noch Einmal Mit Mehr: Apparently, questions have been raised as to whether the claims of the Florida primate sanctuary -- that the Chimp which died Saturday was in fact the Cheetah -- are true.
The sanctuary set off a stampede of news media coverage when it announced the death of a chimpanzee there over the weekend named Cheetah, who, the sanctuary said, appeared with Johnny Weissmuller in films like “Tarzan the Ape Man” (released in 1932) and “Tarzan and His Mate” (from 1934).
Ms. [Debbie] Cobb, 51 [outreach director of the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary], said that she had known Cheetah all her life and that he was born in 1929 or 1930. She said he had been brought to the sanctuary by her grandparents, who received him in the 1960s when Weissmuller’s estate “was being dispersed.” [Note: Johnny Weissmuller died in 1984]
“My grandparents picked these animals up,” Ms. Cobb said. “It wasn’t like you called a hauling company to go pick up a full-grown male chimp.”
Though the nearby Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, Fla., is home to a female chimpanzee named Little Mama who is in her 70s, some zoologists believe such animals are not representative of typical lifespans in captivity.
Ms. Cobb said that her sanctuary planned to post brochures from the 1950s and ’60s on its Web site that would show that its Cheetah had appeared in the Tarzan movies, and that the announcement of his death was not a “marketing ploy.”
“We have nothing to prove,” [Cobb] said. “It cracks me up how ignorant some people are, but I think that causes controversy, and isn’t that what it’s all about? I mean, really. I think people like controversy. These are real living beings to us here. These are relationships. We don’t care if it’s in the media or not.”
Meanwhile, Grieving Crowds In Asia Continue Mourning
Publicly For The Great Chimp. More Or Less.
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