Sunday Evening Junk...some silly, some serious...

Hey y'all!  Hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...

I bet y'all have been wondering where Andy is.  Well, I'm right here!  Andy's Ox was in the ditch, so he had to take care of some badly neglected junk.  Truthfully, I'm not even finished yet, but I needed to take a break and check in with y'all.

So, "How is Andy feeling today?"  I'm glad you asked.  I feel like crap!!!  I have been pondering just "why."  Well, it may have something to do with the fact that when I went outside this morning, my black Mercury Sable had miraculously turned to a greenish/yellow color (and I keep it in a garage).  If you live in the Southeast US, you will understand what I'm sayin'.  However, I am not one that is normally plagued by Springtime allergies.  That could have something to do with the fact that when I was a little kid, Momma dragged me to Dr. Donald Mack's office for about 7 years, and paid for "allergy shots."

Can you believe that?  Momma & Daddy "paid" for medical care for their children with a check, and not an insurance card!  That was before the days of "health insurance," and Doctors were A LOT cheaper.  Just sayin'...

Nope!  I think my current state of crappiness has more to do with the fact that I spent a few hours yesterday in a "squatting" position.  I had told y'all about swinging a chain saw for The Mrs. In-Law at her place yesterday.  What I did not tell y'all is that most of those three hours was spent in a squatting position.  Well...I'm old...and obviously out of shape...and old.

Those of you that know me personally may appreciate this.  One of The Mrs.' favorite things to say to me is, "Andy, you don't even HAVE a butt!"  Now, at first glance you might agree.  There is no doubt that if you saw me from the rear, or even in profile, you'd probably describe me as a "flat-ass."  You would certainly never mistake me for a negro, or a gal.  But, let me tell you...I do have one!  I know, because I am painfully reminded of it today.  My glutei maximi are screaming bloody murder..."Andy, you retard!  What were you thinking????" 

Well, I wasn't thinking...it was just something that had to be did.  I'm pretty sure the chain saw massacre is the source of my punkiness.  I could be wrong, butt I think I'm right.

Now, on to the "silly" junk.  I awoke today to discover that The Earth Hour had accomplished the mission.

 The Earth is still here!  And, it was even colder this morning than last night.  Thanks, Al!  I want to thank the many hundreds of  7 visitors that have sent in their photos of how they celebrated The Earth Hour last night.  It means more than you can know.  I shall compile them into a monster post that will reinvent the worldwide computer.  For years.

Seriously, thanks!


While we are talking about "silly junk," and The Earth Hour, you will just not believe this.  (Oh yeah, you WILL, because I'm gonna show you PROOF!)  Last night while I was "live blogging" The Earth Hour, some joker from Kansas City, Kansas visited Andy's Place, under the spell of The Gooble.  He/she/whatever was trying to get some good information about The Earth Hour.

I am once again humbled by the fact that Andy's Place continues to rank incredibly high on The Gooble Search© results.

As you click on the screenshot below, you will note that Andy's Place only showed up at #2 on this  The Gooble Search© result. We were aced out by The WickedPedia in the #1 slot. Butt, Andy's Place shows up as the first "relevant site" to the actual search.  The WickedPedia article had zero to do with the search.  Nyuk!!!  I own the Gooble!

You will also note that Andy's Place beat out "www.panda.org."  If you are not familiar with "panda.org," it is an arm of the Worldwide Wuss Federation.  That is the crowd that came up with the idear of The Earth Hour to start out with.  Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk!  Andy's Place tops 'em on The Gooble...Nyuk!

Just a reminder...I OWN THE GOOBLE!

Heh! In the comments from my "live blogging" of The Earth Hour, Nancy, our dear friend, and all too infrequent Commenter (who you DO NOT want to get into a cussin' match with...trust me) dropped a link to this photo of The Earth Hour.  Well, it wasn't REALLY shot during The Earth Hour...but it is quite telling.

This is a satellite shot of North, and South Ko-Ree-Ur taken from space  (can you guess which is which?).  The shot came off of this site.  If you go to that site, don't really believe them that you've won something...it's all a computer trick to make you click on something.  Just don't click on nothin', okay!

Nancy made very well the point that the Norks should win the prize EVERY night!  Nyuk!  I'll bet that the Worldwide Wuss Folks just love North Korea!  I mean, look at it...no light pollution...no muckin' up the planet with cars and appliances and junk...nothin'!  I don't know if North Ko-Ree-Ur has Pandas or not, but they might.  I know the Chinks do, and they're up there on the Chink peninsula, so maybe...but I don't know.  Maybe we all ought to strive to be more like them Norks if we want to wake up to The Earth tomorrow.  Just a thought...

Okay, one more silly deal before we get to the serious junk.  Y'all have probably ALL seen this today, but just in case you didn't...  Real Men of Genius (The Joe Biden edition).  You're gonna have to click on links if you want to hear it. Go here, and click on the "Real Men of Genius" link.

Now, on to the serious junk.  This story has been out there for a few days, but I've been holding my powder as I pondered it.  This story has truly caused me to do some soul-searching...but probably not for reasons one would suspect.  Y'all have probably all seen this by now.  But it not...

It seems that  French Television has aired a "controversial" game show in which contestants are required to "flip the switch" of high voltage electricity upon someone that answers a question incorrectly.  The whole thing is an "experiment," and the guy getting shocked with 440 volts is just an actor.

But, the other participants in the show do not know that.  They are instructed by the host to "flip 'dat switch," and egged on by the studio audience to punish the dude for being ignorant.

Although unaware that the contestants were actors and there was no electrical current, 82% of participants in the Game of Death agreed to pull the lever.

FOXNews did a little piece about it.



It is truly disturbing that 82% of the contestants complied with this very brutal, inhumane requirement. 
But what is more troubling is this line from the article:

Christophe Nick, the maker of the documentary, said they were "amazed" that so many participants obeyed the sadistic orders of the game show presenter.

"They are not equipped to disobey," he told AFP.

"They don't want to do it, they try to convince the authority figure that they should stop, but they don't manage to."

This is troubling. When I first read this several days ago, I tried to brush it off as "well, this is the French we're talkin' about here...I mean, they're such wusses that OBVIOUSLY they 'are not equipped to disobey.' " Butt, I've been turning this over in my head, and I wonder if it's just the Western European mindset of "taking orders and doing what you don't really want to," or if this might not be common in the human condition.

I mean...I know for sure that if I was on some game show, and the host told me to juice an opponent with voltage, I'd walk off the stage, and might even spit on the host on the way out. And, I figure that most Americans would...at least I hope they would.  So, maybe it is just the generational wussification by socialists in French society that has engendered this weak-kneed conformity. 

But, it got me to thinking back in my past.  I was raised in a very good, Christian home.  My Momma & Daddy were Southern Baptists, and are both very devout in their faith.  I remember as a little kid my Momma talking to us kids about how we must always be true to Christ, no matter the consequence.  I remember one Sunday Night at the old Waller Baptist Church (I was probably about 7 or 8 years old), a man who had been doing mission work undercover behind the Iron Curtain came to speak.  He told about Christians behind the Iron Curtain who were discovered in meetings by the police in Romania.

In one case, about 12 of the men were lined up, and told that if they would renounce Christ they would live.  None of them would.  So, the demon in charge of the police detail took his gun, and shot the first man in the kneecap.  He then shot two more in the kneecaps.  Then he asked again if anyone was ready yet to renounce Christ.  None did.  Then, the police lined up the wives and children of the men.  With guns trained on the helpless spouses and kids, he asked again if any one was ready to renounce Christ.

My memory is fuzzy (as it was over 40 years ago), but I'm pretty sure they all finally got killed.  As I matured, and learned much more about Romania, I came to understand that this sort of thing was common under Ceausescu,  (May he roast in the hottest spot in hell!), even though he may not have been in power at the time this happened.

I do not know exactly why this story from France connected the synapses in my brain with that story of Christian persecution.  But, it did.  My thought processes evolved/devolved into a "real life" scenario.  What if I was involved in such a "game," but in real life?  What if I was in a situation where a man had a gun to my head, and ordered me to "flip dat switch" on someone that had never done me any wrong?  What would I do?

Now, knowing that there is a whole line of others behind me that will be set in my place if I do not, and I get my brains splattered all over the wall by a bullet from the "host," would I just go ahead on and comply?  I might just save my own life for a while, and spare the poor rascal in the chair any further terror, as he awaits his fate. 

Butt, if I do flip dat switch, maybe I'll get the bullet anyway.

So, taking it to an even more evil level...What if the "host" of this show is holding a gun to the head of my wife, or one of my children....or my Momma, or Daddy, and tells me that I must renounce Christ, or THEY WILL DIE.  Now, I've never thought for once that I'd renounce Christ Jesus if it meant that I would die.  Heck, we're all gonna die sooner...

Butt, the thought that my adherence to my faith might snuff out the earthly life of someone I love...well...

So, How 'Bout Them Yankees!!!

Okay, I know y'all's eyes are glazing over, and you're all truly concerned about Andy by this point.  But trust me, I'm okay.  It's just that this story about 82% of Frenchies being willing to electrocute some guy they didn't know just really got under my skin.  There is a whole lot more spinning in my gourd about this that I'm really not able to put down on the computer.  I'm sorry I bothered y'all with it.

Not really.

So, that's all I've got for tonight!  I must get on back to work...got many miles to go before I sleep. 

Y'all have a good night.

I love every one of you.  I mean it!