Brazil May Have Elected An Illiterate Clown To Congress, November 18th

Brazil May Have Elected An Illiterate Clown To Congress

Everyone should be encouraged to run for political office no matter what their background or occupation. So, I say good to Brazil for letting a clown run for Congress (and, no I’m not making some kind of political statement). We’re talking an honest to goodness clown named Grumpy. Then, when I see that Grumpy received more votes than any other candidate, I say good for him. Of course, Brazil does have their limits and they found one reason not to allow Grumpy the Clown to help run their country: the guy may be illiterate.

From the Miami Herald:

“The Sao Paulo Electoral Court held a closed-door exam for the clown turned congressman-elect on Thursday to determine if he meets a constitutional mandate that federal lawmakers be literate.

Francisco Silva became famous as Tiririca – ‘Grumpy’ in Portuguese – and received about 1.3 million votes, nearly twice as many as the next-highest vote-getter in last month’s congressional elections.

His campaign videos drew millions of viewers on the Internet, with slogans such as ‘It can’t get any worse’ and ‘What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don’t know. But vote for me and you’ll find out.’”

Yes, it’s just like the character of Krusty the Clown, who battled the stings of illiteracy in the early days of The Simpsons. Of course, there are some key differences. Krusty just wanted to be a children’s entertainer and not help run a country and that was a cartoon -- not something happening in the real world.

But how did Brazil’s policy-makers realize Grumpy might not be able to read? I mean, it’s not like people in Congress actually read the laws their signing. Did he accidentally fill his flower spray with vodka instead of water because he couldn’t read the label or something?

Well. it seems that the controversy started when people noticed discrepancies in Grumpy’s handwriting. Brazil, which is 10% illiterate, has a rule that elected officials need to be able to read so they forced Grumpy to take a reading test. The final ruling is expected shortly. Until then, Brazil and perhaps even the world, will wait with bated breath. We will wait to see if this shining example of democracy will be allowed, as the people decreed, to help his country move forward and…blah blah blah. I was going to write something inspirational here but, frankly, what’s the point? I mean, it’s not like Grumpy’s gonna read it…

I guess the people this story that will have a field day are the nation’s political satirists and cartoonists. I’ll bet John Stewart would have a lot of fun with this. 

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Several British newspapers have run a photo of a tiger shark with a camera in its mouth.

The photo was taken during a diving trip off the Bahamas.

A group of photographers was taking pictures of the sharks back in March when suddenly, one of them appeared to get angry when one photographer got too close, according to Dutch shutterbug Karin Brussaard, who managed to get shots of the encounter on her camera. The shark took the camera right out of the other photographer's hands, Brussaard told the British newspaper The Sun.

"There were about six or seven tiger sharks down there and we couldn't believe our luck," she said. "We were having a great time photographing them all until one diver swam toward one of them trying to get a better shot.

"The shark suddenly seemed to get angry and snatched the camera right out of his hands.

"I couldn't believe it. It swam away with it and we all just looked on in amazement.

"Luckily it did drop it eventually and remarkably, the camera only seemed to have a couple of scratches on it." 

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On this day in history in 1307 William Tell shoots apple off his son's head and in 1928 Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse debuts in NY in "Steamboat Willie"

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Confessions

The priest was waiting on Saturday afternoon for his usual parade of people coming to confession. In comes a man so drunk, he is stumbling down the aisle, bouncing from pew to pew. Finally he finds the confessional, goes in, and shuts the door.

The priest goes in his side and waits. Nothing happens. He clears his throat so the fellow might know he is there and ready. No reaction. Finally, he starts losing his patience and bangs sharply on the wall three times.

The drunk fellow in the confessional says, "It's no use knockin'...There's no paper in here either!" 

Live Long and Prosper...