Police had the Fourth Street Underpass in Beaumont blocked off earlier this afternoon when I was returning home from Mercado de Familia. Being the curious (nosy) person that I am, I parked and walked just uphill from the underpass where paramedics were working. A TV camera guy told me the accident was supposedly an 18-wheeler vs. a bicycle. I really couldn’t see the bicycle but did see two 18-wheelers parked in the street. I was not close enough to tell anything about the victim. You have to think that either a bicyclist or pedestrian vs. 18-wheeler is not a good situation — like any accident is — but both pedestrian or person on a bicycle do not have great odds against an 18-wheeler. Hopefully the victim isn’t hurt badly. Still, it’s hard to be optimistic about something like that.
With apologies to Lynyrd Skynrd
¿Que es esto?
It was my dad who told me that lyrics in the Mexican folk song, “La cucaracha,” contained references to smoking marijuana. A few years later a friend and I were driving back from the Texas Pelican Club, across the Sabine River in Vinton, La., and were giving three sailors from the Mexican Navy a ride to the old Navy base in Orange, Texas. The sailors were quite full of spirits and were singing “La Cucaracha.” Since they only spoke Spanish I couldn’t quiz them on the meanings of the lyrics. Plus these sailors were s**tfaced,
For whatever reason some 30 years later I never really thought about the words to the song, at least so much as to look up what the words mean, until now. Thank God and Al Gore for the Internet.
As folk songs are traditionally passed from one folker to another folker, you might not be surprised to know that the words are not always uniform from one song to the next. Es verdad with “La Cucaracha.”
But both on Wikipedia and The Straight Dope I found similar verses:
“La cucaracha, la cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marihuana que fumar.”
The above verse comes from the Wikipedia entry. The only difference being The Straight Dope lyrics spells the drug “marijuana.” The police also seem to favor it spelled with an “h,” while the monks who write the AP Stylebook say with much authority that marijuana it is spelled with a “j.” You say potato, I say tomato.
Lyrics in translation from these sources say:
“The cockroach, the cockroach
Now he can’t go traveling
Because he doesn’t have, because he lacks
Marijuana to smoke.”
That translation comes from The Straight Dope while Wikipedia says “lacking” rather than “lacks.” Again seis de uno, media docena del otro. I always thought the verse said: “Marijuana por favor.” I guess they were misheard lyrics such as “Scuse me while I kiss this guy” which wasn’t what Jimi Hendrix was singing in “Purple Haze.”
Both Wikipedia and Straight Dope articles offer interesting theories as to what the song is about, that is, other than a grounded cockroach who is like the heads use to say: “dry.” Some stories point to the song being directed to Mexican president Victoriano Huerta, who held office from 1913-1914, and reportedly liked that “wacky tobacky.”
I think Cecil Adams makes a good and funny point about the song being a nightmare for those promoting tourism of Mexico. After all, it is a well-known song even if gringos don’t know the words or what they mean. But then I imagine tourism can be a hard sale in Mexico these days what with the immigration hysteria and the narcoterrorism taking place in border cities such as Nuevo Laredo and Juarez.
Whatever. I just wonder how one might tell if a cockroach is stoned?
Old soldiers never die, they're just identity theft victims
You have to wonder whether some people are as inept as they seem. It’s as if a big cosmic side-view mirror has been held up to the world that says: “Warning: Incompetent people are closer than they appear.”
I realize that what may look like incompetence may just be stupidity that is not masked very well. And sometimes people are just assholes.
Be that as it may, I am sure a little of all those above characteristics may fit those responsible for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee taking his computer home and having it stolen along with data for more than 26 million veterans including yours truly. At first the VA said only names, birthdays and Social Security Numbers were all the data contained in the files. Now it turns out to be a little more than that, according to the VA:
“This data contained identifying information including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings.”
But you can be sure your Bush administration is on the case — led by VA Secretary and former Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson. How do I know they are on the case? Why they said so:
“The VA is working with members of Congress, the news media, veterans service organizations, and other government agencies to help ensure that those veterans and their families are aware of the situation and of the steps they may take to protect themselves from misuse of their personal information.”
They just didn’t say WHEN they would be working with all those entities. The VA made no pronouncements on the theft of the data until three weeks after it happened. Of course, given how long it takes to be seen by a doctor in some of the VA facilities, I guess it makes sense.
Sometimes you just wonder how society has come as far as it has.