Not Joking: Polish Man Visiting Brothel Discovers Wife Works There

I’m dating myself here, but it used to be that Polish jokes were like the dumb blonde jokes of today. You know, like “how many Polacks does it take to screw in a light bulb” type jokes. Then, in probably one of the first milestones in the political correctness era, Polish jokes went sour, partly because they truly were offensive to many Polish people.

Then, after years of not hearing any Polish jokes, I read this true life story…and was reminded of a time of racial stereotyping that was logged in the back recesses of my brain. BTW, there’s no real punchline…

This from Reuters:

WARSAW – A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment’s employees. Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town.

“I was dumfounded. I thought I was dreaming,” the husband told the newspaper Wednesday.

The couple, married for 14 years, are now divorcing, the newspaper reported.

Pizza Chain Chaplain

FEEL GOOD

This from the NY Times:

Staff Chaplain Sets a Restaurant Chain Apart
By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Midway through the dinner rush at the Loop Pizza Grill on a November night, the Rev. Becci Curtis, graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., pulled a disposable glove onto her right hand and plunged it into a container of shredded romaine. Her mission, at the moment, was to assemble a Gorgonzola salad.

As she worked, adding the croutons and cheese, Ms. Curtis chatted with the waitress beside her, April Mechler. They talked about the Thanksgiving just past, about how Ms. Mechler’s homemade mac-and-cheese had turned out. Then they talked about Ms. Mechler’s dream of becoming a journalist and her application for a summer internship at The Florida Times-Union, the daily paper in nearby Jacksonville.

Ms. Mechler stepped away from the salad station to deliver an order, and Ms. Curtis walked through the swinging door into the kitchen, spotting Richard Calalang amid the grills and deep fryers. She knew his dream, too: to move to California and work for a catering company that serviced film studios and even the Playboy Mansion. She also knew his private worry about fitting in on the West Coast: He did not know how to surf.

It was all part of Ms. Curtis’s job, the conversing and the confiding and the salad-making, too. A lifetime as an observant Christian and a top-rank education in divinity had led her, improbably or providentially or both, to being the spiritual leader of a pizza joint. She worked four hours a week for $10 an hour, plus the occasional tip, and on her flowered blouse she wore a name tag that identified her official position: chaplain.

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Anxious Over Glowing Cats, Unafraid Mice

Odd New World

Call me a nervous Nellie, but two stories I read today gave me a bit of the heebie-jeebies.

First, the story about cats that glow in the dark.

This from USAToday:

Scientists in South Korea say they cloned Turkish Angora cats, shown in this government photo (above), with a special gene that makes them glow under ultraviolet light.

Kong Il-Keun of Gyeongsang National University explains why he wanted to make glow-in-the-dark kitties during an interview with Chosun Ilbo: Since cats suffer some 250 genetic diseases that are similar to human diseases, the genetically-modified cats can be used to treat human genetic diseases. Due to the color of the red fluorescent protein itself, the gene manipulation will also be useful to identify the functions of genes at each stage of the differentiation of embryonic or adult stem cells.

Secondly, the story about mice that aren’t afraid of cats.

This from AP:

TOKYO — Cat and mouse may never be the same.

Japanese scientists say they’ve used genetic engineering to create mice that show no fear of felines, a development that may shed new light on mammal behavior and the nature of fear itself.

Scientists at Tokyo University say they were able to successfully switch off a mouse’s instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats — showing that fear is genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed.

“Mice are naturally terrified of cats, and usually panic or flee at the smell of one. But mice with certain nasal cells removed through genetic engineering didn’t display any fear,” said research team leader Ko Kobayakawa.

In his experiment, the genetically altered mice approached cats, even snuggled up to them and played with them. Kobayakawa said he chose domesticated cats that were docile and thus less likely to pounce.

Kobayakawa said his findings, published in the science magazine Nature last month, should help researchers shed further light on how the brain processes information about the outside world.

Kim Dae-soo, a neural genetics professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, who was not involved in the research, said Kobayakawa’s research could explain further what fear is, and how to control it.

“People have thought mice are fearful of cats because cats prey on them, but that’s not the case,” Kim said.

“If we follow the pathway of related signals in the brain, I think we could discover what kind of networks in the brain are important for controlling fear.”

Too much genetic manipulation and cloning can not be that good. Reports of the horror stories that have already happened only trickle in…and I’m sure more will eventually come. But, when does playing the Creator turn into playing the Destroyer?

Maybe I am overreacting and these manipulations are just great. Maybe I am just a sky-is-falling kinda guy.

I just hope they soon discover how to get rid of my fear of glowing cats, real mighty mice…and scientists out of control!

– Alexander

Hinn, Dollar, White Among 6 Televangelists Under Senate Scrutiny for Alleged Donation Abuse

Senate Finance Committee to investigate alleged misuse of tax-exempt status to support extravagant lifestyles

From Christian News Headlines:

Breaking News: Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has launched an investigation into six televangelists for allegations of abusing their tax-exempt status. Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer and Paula White are required to submit financial records to the Senate Finance Committee by December 6th.

Congress has the authority to subpoena these televangelists. Some televangelists might be required to testify before Congress concerning their alleged use of tax-exempt donations to support extravagant lifestyles.

In 2005 the Trinity Foundation learned of Grassley’s work investigating financial abuses of nonprofits and contacted the senator about investigating various televangelists. After working together for two years, this investigation is becoming public and could lead to criminal charges, the tax-exempt status of various televangelists being revoked, and new legislation to reform religious broadcasting.

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Related: Senator’s Letter Includes Questions About White’s Use of Church Money for Homes, Cosmetic Surgery

I Left My Syringe in a San Francisco Safe-Injection Room?

There is only one solution…secede, San Francisco, SECEDE!

This from the Associated Press:

San Francisco Considers Injection Site

By LISA LEFF

SAN FRANCISCO – City health officials took steps Thursday toward opening the nation’s first legal safe-injection room, where addicts could shoot up heroin, cocaine and other drugs under the supervision of nurses.

Hoping to reduce San Francisco’s high rate of fatal drug overdoses, the public health department co-sponsored a symposium on the only such facility in North America, a 4-year-old Vancouver site where an estimated 700 users a day self-administer narcotics under the supervision of nurses.

“Having the conversation today will help us figure out whether this is a way to reduce the harms and improve the health of our community,” said Grant Colfax, director of HIV prevention for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

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