The Idler, Thursday, August 15, 2019

Isipingo,

the only place

to be

 

A SPIRIT of disaffection seems to be abroad, a discontent with things as they are.

In London there's a temporary respite from the pro and anti demos outside parliament until the MPs return from their summer recess, but expect it to be stepped up as the Brexit question continues to drive a wedge through society that ignores party political demarcations.

And in America the convention of closing ranks after a presidential election and supporting the office has altogether disappeared

Anger and hyperbole are the order of the day, whether emanating from the White House itself by Twitter or from a spread of opposing quarters.

Nutcase massacres with lethal automatic weapons could well be a further tragic symptom of a divide that begins to look like the Grand Canyon.

Now the New Yorker reports that a government-subsidised housing structure has fallen into a dangerous state "and has become thoroughly infested with criminals and rats".

"The building has become 'the territory of vicious gangsters who roam freely and consider themselves above the law,'" a congressman is quoted saying.

"The congressman added that notorious gang members took over the housing facility in early 2017 and have 'spread terror and despair' there ever since. 'People are scared to be there,' he said. 'Hundreds have fled.'"

The piece is illustrated with a picture of the White House.

Look, this is pungent satire by Andy Borowitz. It uses the images Donald Trump himself tweeted to to describe the part of Baltimore represented by Democrat Congressman Elijah Cummings. It's funny if you're not a supporter of Trump.

But "criminals", "rats" and "vicious gangsters"? What does it not say about the polarisation of America?

Peaceful Isipingo looks increasingly the only place to be.

 

 

A nipple a day

AMERICAN comedian Whitney Cummings put on Instagram a selfie of her eating a lychee in the bath. She noticed afterwards that a nipple was showing so she deleted the shot, according to the BBC.

But somebody had taken a screenshot before she deleted. Next she got a message asking how much she would pay for it not to be shared.

At which Whitney reposted the shot of her nipple and replied: "If anyone is gonna make money or likes off my nipple, it's gonna be me. So here it all is, you foolish dorks."

Attagirl!

I'm not sure if she's related to the Congressman Cummings mentioned above.

 

Lingering kiss

YOU don't kiss an octopus. A woman in Washington state, in the US, was in a salmon fishing derby in Tacoma Narrows when one of her friends caught a small octopus.

Here was her chance to at least win the photo section of the contest, Jamie Bisceglia thought. She grabbed the octopus off her friend's hook, put it against her face and called for a photograph, according to Huffington Post.

The tentacles covered her ears and nose. It made a hilarious shot.

But then Jamie battled to get the octopus off her face. An octopus doesn't take kindly to being made a figure of fun in a photo contest. It had bitten Jamie's chin and wouldn't let go.

Eventually she managed to pull it free but was bleeding profusely. A fun photo became not such fun.

It's all happening in the Tacoma Narrows.

 

 

Tailpiece

 

WHAT has eight guns and terrorises the ocean? Billy the Squid.

 

Last word

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. - Thomas Szasz