So Far Away ~ by Carole King

 

So Far Away ~ by Carole King 

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Hanasaka Jiisan - - - - a Japanese folk tale

 

 Hanasaka Jiisan - - - - a Japanese folk tale 

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                  [The story of the old man that made the flowers bloom.]

     An old childless couple loved their dog. One day, it dug in the garden, and they found a box of gold pieces there. A neighbor thought the dog must be able to find treasure, and arranged to borrow the dog. When it dug in his garden, the dog uncovered only bones, and so he killed it. He told the couple that the dog had just dropped dead. 

     They grieved and buried it under the fig tree where they had found the treasure. One night, the dog's master dreamed that the dog told him to chop down their tree and make a mortar from it and pound rice in the mortar. He told his wife, who said they must do as the dog asked. When they did, the rice put into the mortar turned into gold. The neighbor borrowed the mortar, but his rice turned to foul-smelling berries, and he and his wife smashed and burned the mortar.

     That night, in a dream, the dog told his master to take the ashes and sprinkle them on certain cherry trees. When he did, the cherry trees came into bloom, and the Daimyo (feudal lord), who was passing by, marveled at this and gave him many gifts.

     The neighbor tried to do the same, but his ashes blew into the Daimyo's eyes, so he threw him into prison; when he was released, his village would not let him live there anymore, and he could not, with his wicked ways, find a new home. 

 

MinneaPolice Union ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

MinneaPolice Union 

~ by Hénock Gugsa ~

 

Indisputable ~ by Joe Becigneul

 

Indisputable 

~ by Joe Becigneul * ~

The bicycle is the slow death of the planet.
General Director of Euro Exim Bank Ltd. got economists thinking when he said:
"A cyclist is a disaster for the country's economy: he does not buy cars and does not borrow money to buy. He does not pay for insurance policies. He does not buy fuel, does not pay for the necessary maintenance and repairs. He does not use paid parking. He does not cause serious accidents. He does not require multi-lane highways. He does not get fat.
Healthy people are neither needed nor useful for the economy. They don't buy medicine. They do not go to hospitals or doctors. Nothing is added to the country's GDP (gross domestic product).
On the contrary, every new McDonald's restaurant creates at least 30 jobs: 10 cardiologists, 10 dentists, 10 dietary experts and nutritionists, and obviously, people who work at the restaurant itself."
Choose carefully: cyclist or McDonald's? It is worth considering.
P.S. Walking is even worse. Pedestrians don't even buy bicycles.
___________________________________________________
* Joe Becigneul, St Albert, Alberta - June 15, 2021 

 

Can't Take My Eyes Off You ~ by Daniel Boaventura

 

 Can't Take My Eyes Off You 

~ by Daniel Boaventura ~

 

 

Excerpted from "The Life Before Us" by Romain Gary

 

Excerpted from "The Life Before Us" by Romain Gary 

(pp. 155-156, and p. 162) 

<><><><><><><> 

  ....
     In the morning Dr.Katz came up to give Madame Rosa a check-up.  And as soon as it was over we went out on the landing and I knew that calamity was creeping up to our door.
     "She'll have to go to the hospital.  She can't stay here.  I'm going to call an ambulance."
     "What will they do to her at the hospital?"
     "They'll give her the proper care.  She may go on living for quite some time if not longer.  I've seen persons in her condition prolonged for years."
     Hell and damnation, I thought, but I didn't say anything in front of the doctor.  I hesitated a moment.  Then I asked:
     "Look, Doctor, just between Jews, couldn't you abortion her?"
     He seemed sincerely flabbergasted.
     "What?  Abortion her?  What are you talking about?"
     "That's right.  Abortion her.  To stop her suffering."
     Dr. Katz was so overcome he had to sit down.  He held his head in his hands and sighed several times in succession, raising his eyes to heaven as customary.
     "No, my little Momo.  We can't do that.  Euthanasia is absolutely forbidden by law.  We're living in a civilized country.  You don't know what you're talking about."
     "Oh yes, I do.  I'm an Algerian.  I know perfectly well what I'm talking about.  In Algeria they've got the sacred right of people to self-determination."
     Dr. Katz looked at me as if I'd scared him.  His mouth was wide open and he didn't say a word.  Sometimes I get good and sick of the way people refuse to understand.
     "Do you believe in the sacred right of peoples, or don't you?"
     "Of-course I believe in it," Said Dr. Katz.  He even got up from the step he was sitting on to show his respect.
     "Of-course I believe in it, it's a good and fine thing.  But I don't see the connection."
     "The connection is that if you believe in it you'll have to admit that Madame Rosa has the sacred right of peoples to self-determine herself just like everybody else.  If she wants to be abortioned, she has a perfect right.  And you should do it for her because it's got to be a Jewish doctor to steer clear of antisemitism.  Jews have no business making each other suffer.  It's disgusting."

----------------------------------------------------------

     "Momo, tell me the whole truth."
     "Madame Rosa, I don't know the whole truth.  I don't even know who knows it."
     "What did Dr. Katz tell you?"
     "He said we'd have to put you in the hospital and they'll take care of you and prevent you from dying.  You can live a long time yet."
     It made my heart ache to talk like that.  I even tried to smile as if it was good news I was telling her.
     "What do they call this sickness I have?"
     I swallowed my saliva.
     "It's not cancer.  Madame Rosa, I swear it isn't."
     "But what is it, Momo?  What do the doctors call it?"
     "You can live like that for years."
     "Like what?"
     I didn't answer.
     "Momo, don't lie to me.  I am an old Jewish woman.  Whatever can be done to a man has been done to me."
     She said mensch.  In Yiddish a man and a woman are the same.
     "I want to know.  Some things they have no right to do to a mensch."
     "It's nothing, Madame Rosa.  A person can perfectly well live like that."
     "Like what, Momo?"
     That was as much as I could stand.  The tears were choking me inside.  I ran over to her, she took me in her arms, and I shouted:
     "Like a vegetable, Madame Rosa, like a vegetable!  They want to make you live like a vegetable!"
     She didn't say anything.  She only perspired a little.
     "When are they coming to get me?"
     "I don't know.  In a day or two.  Dr. Katz is very fond of you, Madame Rosa.  He says he won't separate us unless he has to."
     "I won't go," said Madame Rosa.
     "I don't know what to do, Madame Rosa.  They're all such bastards.  They refuse to abortion you."
     She seemed very calm.  She only wanted to wash herself, because she'd pissed in her pants.
     She was beautiful, now that I think of it.  It depends on the way you think of a person.
     "It's the Gestapo," she said.
     She didn't say anything after that.
     I was cold during the night.  I got up and put another blanket over her.
....

 

The Cutting Humor of Jackie Mason

 

The Cutting Humor of Jackie Mason 

 

 

Hugh Grant adores cats ! ~ The Graham Norton Show

 

Hugh Grant adores cats ! 

~ The Graham Norton Show ~

 

Brian and Frosty ! ~ by Hénock Gugsa (ሄኖክ ጉግሣ )

 

Brian and Frosty !
~ by Hénock Gugsa  (ሄኖክ  ጉግሣ ) ~

     It didn't happen to me, but it did, many years ago, to a wacky co-worker of mine named Brian.  He was a rather slender fellow with a voracious appetite.  You never saw him without some piece of food in his mouth.  He was always noshing on something, and he was always bragging about his bacchanal attachment to food.
     Brian would tell of his nightly raids on his well-stocked refrigerator at home.  So, one night, he had awoken from a deep slumber and was heading barefoot to the kitchen as usual.  But this time, he hadn't even bothered to turn the light on and was blindly feeling his way to his destination.  Suddenly, he stopped!  He had stepped on something wet and gelatinous under his errant foot.  He described this experience glowingly and almost with some kind of worshipful ecstasy.
     He said he was envisioning melted chocolate on his foot and his mouth was salivating as he spoke.  He said that his foot began to quash the sticky stuff as his toes wriggled in harmony with his every movement.  At last he couldn't stand it any longer.  He had
to see what a delightful vision awaited him on his foot.
     He reached to the nearest wall that had a light switch and turned it on.  He looked down at his foot ... and what he saw did not shock him at all.  Instead, he was delirious with the insane hilarity of the situation ... he had stepped on his cat's poop!  Frosty had had an accident early on that evening and left a generous deposit on the kitchen floor!
     Brian wished his wife and children were up to see the masterpiece mousse he had created that wondrous night!  But no matter! ...  at least Frosty was there looking up quizzically at him !!! 🤔 👍