I don’t know who took the picture, but my friend Stan Ferrin sent me a copy.
Didn’t mean to shatter your expectations, but …
… is this the return to a “gold standard†we hear so much about?
Category Archives: Freedom Humor
Sequim, Washington: To Swim or to Shoot?
According to a recent post in the International Business Edge, the small town of Sequim, WA, has an Identity Crisis … big time:
“The U.S. town of Sequim, Washington has long claimed that ‘in the native language of the S’Klallam tribe, ‘S’Kwim’ means quiet waters,’ as indicated on the town website. However, a linguist recently revealed that a correct translation would actually be ‘a place for going to shoot.’â€
“Quiet Waters†or “A place for going to shoot.†Quite a contrast, don’t you think?
For more insight, you can Listen to the story on NPR.org or read the article by the Associated Press.
With shooting potentially involved, I wonder why NRA.org hasn’t picked up the story!
Flying the Friendly Skies of Uzbekistan Airways
Have you ever visited Uzbekistan? Me neither.
I may never go if I need to rely on the Uzbeki (is that a word?) national airline, whose billboard ad wishes us “Good Luck†as an airliner disappears into a dense cloud with apparent snowy weather ahead.
Thanks to The International Business Edge for pointing out this fun example of a somewhat misguided effort at language translation.
By coincidence, I stumbled today across a second encouraging article about this fine country. The Kansas City FBI office reported today that “an Uzbekistan national pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a criminal enterprise involving illegal aliens working in 14 states, including employees at hotels in the Kansas City, Missouri area and in Branson, Missouri.â€
Maybe this fellow and his cohorts were so scared by the prospect of the flying Uzbekistan Airlines that they came to the United States and took up smuggling illegal aliens instead.
Better Keep In Touch!
I’m not sure how much this cowboy poem has to do with Freedom, but I got a kick out of it when my good friend John Olsen sent it my way. I don’t know who wrote poem, or how old it really is. But it doesn’t take much of a stretch to imagine some old codger spinning this yarn as if it were 110% real.
Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.
As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen, wind and snow began to blow.
When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn’t start.
So Jake did what most of us would do if we had just been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer
As he turned the key just one last time, he softly cursed his luck.
They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.
Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked– — it looked just like Wyoming!
Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.
(Now, this line ain’t needed but it helps with rhyme and meter)
So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keepin’ score — — in Heaven time is free.
"I’ve always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will answer prayer,
But one time I asked for help, well, he just plain wasn’t there."
Why does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?
That don’t seem exactly square — — I know all men are brothers."
"Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it’s the time of day, the weather or the season."
"Now I ain’t trying to act smart, it’s just the way I feel.
And I was wondering’, could you tell me — — what the heck’s the deal?!"
Peter listened very patiently and when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition, and he said, "So, you’re the one!!"
"That day your truck, it wouldn’t start, and you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us trying"
"A thousand angels rushed, to check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake, we hadn’t heard from you in quite a long while."
"And though all prayers are answered and God ain’t got no quota,
He didn’t recognize your voice, and started a truck in North Dakota."
BETTER KEEP IN TOUCH!
Remembering Bill Cosby as Noah
Way back in my teenage years, my Mother taught LDS early morning seminary class in Richfield, Idaho, for four years, which coincidentally were the same four years I attended. I don’t remember many of the specific lessons, but I do remember the time she introduced the story of Noah and the Ark by playing Bill Cosby’s famous “Noah†routine on a 33 1/3 LP record player.
Tonight, I watched a great give and take between Bill Cosby and George Lopez on the Lopez Tonight show. It reminded me of the classic Noah routine, which, due to the magic of YouTube, I share with you tonight.
Right!
Free Souls!
Taking ideas out of context often gets us in trouble. Take the following snippet for example:
With this limited information, we might think we can get a free Soul car from Kia. That would be pretty cool!
However … there’s a catch. The upper phrase is a sponsored link on the Bing search page. It certainly talks about the Kia Soul car. But the bottom line is a link to the song I blogged about yesterday, which has absolutely nothing to do with cars or Kia!