What Caught My Eye Today
United Kingdom - Perhaps you have heard that the British royals are gearing up to have themselves a royal wedding next year. With that in mind, I present a royal daily double. In a public display of filial duty, (I looked it up; filial means the relation of a child to a parent.) Prince William said he had no desire to take the throne ahead of his father, Prince Charles. Polls show that a majority of Britons would prefer that he succeed Queen Elizabeth as monarch, bypassing his less-respected father. A royal aide was quoted as saying "Wills know his place in the royal family, and he considers himself to be very low down the food chain." Yeah, almost as far down as his younger brother Harry. Seriously, thought, how is William supposed to answer loaded questions like this?
Moving on to the pending nuptials of dear Prince William and the lovely fare maiden, Kate Middleton... Ten days after the engagement was announced, the first book on the couple's romance was published. The book was cranked out by a tabloid royal reporter, who combined older material with 4,000 words he wrote over 48 nonstop hours. That is pretty astounding. I for one am certainly amazed that this parasite actually knows that many words.
Personal Consumption -- The U.S. Department of Labor has calculated that the average American household earns $62,857 before taxes and spends close to 80% of that figure. On what, you may ask? Read on, dear reader, read on. How the money is spent:
- 34.43% on housing
- 15.61% on transportation
- 12.99% on food
- 11.15% on insurance premiums
- 10.45% on miscellaneous expenses
- 6.37% on health care
- 5.49% on entertainment
- 3.52% on apparel and services
Zimbabwe - Under the direction of Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe, the government signs off on weather reports before they are broadcast. I think it goes without saying that there is a rational explanation for doing this. In the wake of Mugabe's disastrous agriculture policies, the government considers weather--especially news of continued drought--a sensitive topic. The state-sponsored newspaper explained that, "the public are not thought to be ready for bad weather." Yup, just as I thought, a perfectly rational explanation. I wonder, though. Is it not within the realm of possibility that the public might make the connection between the lack of rain and the continuation of the drought? I'm just saying.
Kenya - Kenya's Prime Minister announced that any Kenyan found engaging in homosexual acts will be jailed. He said his government would enforce all laws in the new constitution, passed last August, including one that criminalizes "sex against the order of nature." A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the remarks had been taken out of context, and that he was simply trying to reassure conservative villagers that the new constitution did not legalize gay marriage. Clearly not. Last time I checked it was a pain in the neck to find a Justice of the Peace willing to perform a marriage when one or both of the participants was incarcerated. There must be some bigger picture thing that I just don't get about same-sex marriage. I simply don't understand what threat this poses to traditional marriage or the moral outrage this seems to incite. Think about it. Not only do half of all "traditional marriages" end in divorce, but fewer people are even bothering to go through the effort. Why shouldn't homosexuals have the same opportunity to be just as miserable as the opposite sex couples?
The Ashes - My man Rod has informed me that the Second Test in the biennial cricket contest between Australia and English has concluded. Here's the scoreline...see if you can figure out who won.
Australia batting first made their worst start to a Test match in 60 years, when they lost the opening three wickets for two runs. Simon Katich was run out before facing a ball, and captain Ricky Ponting for a first-ball duck. Michael Hussey made 93 before being dismissed by Graeme Swann and Australia were bowled out on day one for 245.
On the second day, England captain Andrew Strauss was dismissed for a single in the first over of the day's play. At the close of day two, Alastair Cook had made 136 not out to break the England record for runs scored and minutes at the crease without being dismissed. This consisted of 371 runs in 1,022 minutes of play.
Early on the third morning, Kevin Pietersen reached his first century since March 2009 before Cook was out for 148. Supported first by Paul Collingwood (42) and then Ian Bell (68 not out), Pietersen reached the second double-century of his career. Pietersen was finally out for a Test-best 227 before England declared on 620-5. This was the first time that the England team had passed the 500 run mark in successive innings in the Ashes and left Australia needing 375 runs to make England bat again.
Australia began batting early on day four and started a fightback before losing the wicket of Michael Clarke (80) off the last ball of the day. Although Hussey completed a half-century.
You got that? Me neither. Apparently, England won. The result was the 100th time England had beaten Australia and gives them a 1-0 advantage over Australia in the best of five series (though, remember the first test ended in a draw). Sadly, we'll have to wait with baited breath until Dec 16 for the Third Test to start.
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