Just the idea of aquatic animals leaping out of their element disturbs my harmony. If jumping sharks weren't enough to keep me out of the water (which they are), airborne stingrays just sealed the deal.
Experts keep saying it = stingrays don't attack people. Cornered or stepped on, they'll defend themselves in the water. They'll jump to escape predators, give birth or remove parasites. Really? Hmmmm.
Maybe it would be more accurate to say = rays didn't used to attack people.
While recent ray aggression isn't natural terrorism, I do have to wonder what it's about. The odds of one randomly flying out of the water and striking a person has to be tiny … the chance of it happening twice, super-microscopic. Even on a high traffic boating day, we're not talking shoulder to shoulder population density here.
What if ray assaults are gravitations? Is it possible for rays to respond to some signal or force we don't know about? Could they be honing in on people in some strange manner akin to a laser guided missile? Yeah, yeah … I know how airy fairy that sounds, but …
Is it feasible stingrays are fleeing a waterborne vibration or tone? Are there reports of lots of rays jumping? If a lot of them are taking wing, the chance of someone being in the flight path goes up a bit. If there aren't many leaping, it seems remote they'd land on anything. Maybe humans are emitting a homing signal?
Alas, I only wonder … I certainly don't know. However … the 'wrong place at the wrong time' explanation is a bit much to swallow. Even if there's a newfangled boat or motor noise setting stingrays off, a person simply doesn't make much of a target at sea. It's high strangeness.
Recent stingray assaults:
March 19 2008 … Florida Keys
… stingray lept out of water killing Judy Kay Zagorski as she was sunbathing on a boat
… expert synopsis = rays don't attack, they only jump to escape a predator, give birth and shake off parasites
Oct 18 2006 … Ft Lauderdale area, Florida coast
… stingray jumps into a boat and stings James Bertakis in the heart; he lived
… experts crawled out of the woodwork to say = freakish accident, rays don't jump, the man must have caught it and lugged it onboard; it was irritated and fought back
Sept 4, 2006 … Great Barrier Reef ...
… stingray kills Steve Irwin, wildlife advocate and television personality, by stabbing him in heart
… reports = freakish accident, he swan too close, threatened the ray, boxed it in; the ray defended itself
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Heather Mills ... Brat on a Mission
The thing about Heather Mills is: … she makes sympathy way too difficult.
On the whole, I'm dispassionately sorry for any starry eyed spouse scorned by a grieving lover. I've seen it happen with young and old alike … it's a pitiful circumstance of failed expectation. Like a broken record that just keeps on playing, the sad scenario repeats … most times, it doesn't make headlines.
There's a tone of desperation that underlies the combination of marriage and unresolved grief. While it's never mine to judge, I can't help but look with squinty eyes on unions consummated in the wake of death … a wake that, in my experience, lingers for at least a decade.
Heather may have been naïve, unaware of what she was getting into on deeper emotional levels. Maturity may have found her crying in waters over her head. She may have been overly confident in the healing power of her feminine wiles. That's about all the slack available to cut if you're inclined to give her the benefit of doubt.
It looks to me like she didn't care. She had other fish to fry: … her fame, her fortune, her glory, her her her. Despite occasional obligatory peeps about protecting their child's future, what I see in Heather's eyes, facial expressions and body language are the defiant machinations of a brat.
She comes across as an unskilled eight year old who's misinterpreting her loud, boisterous, obnoxious, smug and contrived outbursts as successful maneuvers for dominance … when, in reality, people are turning their backs and rolling their eyes because they can't abide the ridiculous.
Heather had an opportunity … she was ideally positioned to be a positive role model. Maybe better PR could still help. Maybe she'd benefit from one of those spiritual advisors politicians keep in the wings.
Alas, grace and wisdom don't seem her forte … she'll probably just rant on in hope garnering undue attention when and where she can.
On the whole, I'm dispassionately sorry for any starry eyed spouse scorned by a grieving lover. I've seen it happen with young and old alike … it's a pitiful circumstance of failed expectation. Like a broken record that just keeps on playing, the sad scenario repeats … most times, it doesn't make headlines.
There's a tone of desperation that underlies the combination of marriage and unresolved grief. While it's never mine to judge, I can't help but look with squinty eyes on unions consummated in the wake of death … a wake that, in my experience, lingers for at least a decade.
Heather may have been naïve, unaware of what she was getting into on deeper emotional levels. Maturity may have found her crying in waters over her head. She may have been overly confident in the healing power of her feminine wiles. That's about all the slack available to cut if you're inclined to give her the benefit of doubt.
It looks to me like she didn't care. She had other fish to fry: … her fame, her fortune, her glory, her her her. Despite occasional obligatory peeps about protecting their child's future, what I see in Heather's eyes, facial expressions and body language are the defiant machinations of a brat.
She comes across as an unskilled eight year old who's misinterpreting her loud, boisterous, obnoxious, smug and contrived outbursts as successful maneuvers for dominance … when, in reality, people are turning their backs and rolling their eyes because they can't abide the ridiculous.
Heather had an opportunity … she was ideally positioned to be a positive role model. Maybe better PR could still help. Maybe she'd benefit from one of those spiritual advisors politicians keep in the wings.
Alas, grace and wisdom don't seem her forte … she'll probably just rant on in hope garnering undue attention when and where she can.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Pride Accelerateth a Fall?
Let's see, in addition to 'uncaring, reckless and ill-informed,' there's arrogant, stupid, prideful, egotistical, flippant, pretentious, negligent, delusional, blind, insensitive, narcissistic, biased, manipulative … well, you get the idea.
"Forty-six influential members of the Southern Baptist Convention, including three of its past four presidents, criticized their denomination in a statement Monday for being 'too timid' in confronting global warming.
Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed," the statement says. 'We can do better.'" … March 10, 2008 CNN
It's heartening to entertain thoughts of a shift in holy hide-bound consciousness, even one instituted for the sake of appearances.
I'll be looking to see what becomes of this 'my-bad' posturing because "… MAY BE SEEN …" certainly sounds like a platform for future manipulation and an onslaught of related propaganda.
My deepest hope is that hubris hasn't done us in already.
"Forty-six influential members of the Southern Baptist Convention, including three of its past four presidents, criticized their denomination in a statement Monday for being 'too timid' in confronting global warming.
Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed," the statement says. 'We can do better.'" … March 10, 2008 CNN
It's heartening to entertain thoughts of a shift in holy hide-bound consciousness, even one instituted for the sake of appearances.
I'll be looking to see what becomes of this 'my-bad' posturing because "… MAY BE SEEN …" certainly sounds like a platform for future manipulation and an onslaught of related propaganda.
My deepest hope is that hubris hasn't done us in already.
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