[The following Bar Chat contains lots of violence. Parental
Guidance is suggested. It”s “Sweeps Week.”]
NBA Quiz: Name the five players who averaged 27 or better for
their careers (minimum – 10,000 points). Answer below.
Witchcraft…Indonesia-style
Oh those daffy Indonesians. Some 100 have been killed over the
past year, folks who have been accused of being witches.
Indonesia is a highly superstitious nation and so people are often
accused of being sorcerers. Last September, in West Java, not
far from the “modern” capital of Jakarta, an angry mob
decapitated a 70-year-old woman who was accused of being a
witch. And before the crowd lopped her head off, they gouged
the woman”s eyes out and severed some of her limbs.
The locals seem indifferent to the killings. For example, in one
District, just 60 miles from Jakarta, police have identified 21
who were recently beheaded or chopped to death. Well, 28 have
been arrested for falsely accusing the victims of practicing
witchcraft.
As the New York Times” Calvin Sims described in a recent
article, police now realize that there are more motives at
work than first met the eye; such as revenge, rivalry and
extortion.
The victims range from farmers, to schoolteachers, to political
opponents. Now in case you were wondering, witchcraft is not
illegal in Indonesia, but what is really going on in some of these
cases is that there are organized syndicates in various parts of the
country (similar to the equity syndicates that sold shoddy IPOs
last year on Wall Street).
For $100 the syndicates would persuade someone in a village to
accuse the targeted person of being a witch. The village would
then get all riled up and the syndicate would go to work.
Many of the victims were candidates running for various offices.
I imagine the dialogue went something like this.
“I don”t like your policy on healthcare reform. You”re a witch!
Kill her!” It”s just that simple.
But police have discovered that a crucial role was played in this
one district, Cianjur, by a local farmer and part-time healer, Apih
Barma. For a whopping 50 cents, Barma would judge whether a
person was a witch or not, applying a “medical” test to determine
if black magic was involved. Police have charged him with
practicing medicine without a license.
Barma has admitted that his test involved reading scriptures from
the Koran and observing how the accused reacted to the
passages. Oh brother. Barma, though, denies he was involved in
any killings.
Notes reporter Sims, “Cianjur residents recount, with evident
belief, stories of people vomiting nails, snakes and paper clips
(Ed. You can never find a paper clip when you need one), and of
bloated stomachs the size of giant balloons that cause people to
float around a room.” [Look for this at next year”s Macy”s
Thanksgiving Day Parade!]
And why behead all of these people? Well, if you don”t chop off
the head, the witch can come back to life; kind of like those trick
birthday candles that won”t blow out.
So now you know one reason why Indonesia”s economy has
been struggling of late. Somehow, if I were an American
corporate executive, I think I”d avoid the place. Actually, I
better be careful what I write. I”m going to be near here next
spring!
Volcanoes! Head for the Hills!
Did you know that volcanoes around the world erupt 10-12 times
a year? [That is, volcanoes that are capable of killing people.]
And 2 or 3 a decade threaten mass death and destruction. But
75% of the biggest eruptions in the past 200 years have come
from volcanoes never known to have erupted before.
Since 1980, volcanoes have killed 30,000 folks (and countless
cattle); 25,000 of whom lost their lives in the eruption of Nevado
del Ruiz in Colombia back in 1985.
Well, after del Ruiz, the U.S. established a Volcano Disaster
Assistance Program (DAP), sort of a ready response team which
travels to countries that may need professional help in trying to
guess when a volcano will blow. [The DAP needs to be invited
first, of course.]
In 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines reawakened after
lying dormant for more than 500 years. The Philippine
government called the DAP and they were able to give clear
warning of the catastrophic explosion that hit two months after
they were called. Tens of thousands of lives were saved,
including American servicemen and women stationed nearby.
So I bring this up because in a recent “Week in Review” I briefly
mentioned that we all should take note of Mount Popocatepetl
near Mexico City. Mount Popo had a decent sized eruption on
December 18 and could be poised for a far bigger one. If it
really blows, it will have an impact on our weather.
When Krakatoa exploded on August 27, 1883 (“Krakatoa – East
of Java”), it was heard some 2,200 miles away, five cubic miles
of ash was hurled 50 (yes, 50) miles high, pressure waves were
recorded around the globe, 120-ft. tidal waves reached Hawaii,
killing 36,000, and the region near the volcano was plunged into
total darkness for almost 3 days. [Regarding the tidal waves,
kind of puts the global warming predictions in perspective.
some say the earth”s sea level could rise 3 feet over the next 50-
100 years.]
And one last item on Mount Popo. As you know, volcanoes
have mystical qualities (which is why Indonesians are so
superstitious, for instance). [I just made this last line up. But it
makes sense, right?] Mount Popo allegedly erupted back in 1519
at the very moment that Cortes, the dirtball Conquistador, was
passing through the area in pursuit of the Aztecs.
Finally, before you go to sleep each night, remember that there
are 600 active or “menacingly silent” volcanoes in the world
right now. You may want to go to your local city hall and start
poring through the land surveys. [Sources: Tim Weiner / New
York Times; Michael Binyon / London Times.]
Marty Glickman
Glickman, well known to New York sports fans, passed away on
Tuesday at the age of 83. He is a broadcasting legend, having
tutored the great Marv Albert, among many.
But while Glickman will always be best known for his
revolutionary calls of football and basketball games (he was the
first to figure out how to describe a basketball game”s action on
the radio, for example), he also deserves recognition for his role
in the 1936 Hitler Olympics in Berlin.
Glickman was a great track star at Syracuse and had qualified for
the 400-meter relay team. But the day before the event, assistant
U.S. coach Dean Cromwell dropped Glickman and Sam Stoller
from the team. They were the only two Jewish athletes on the
U.S. squad. Glickman and Stoller were then replaced by Ralph
Metcalfe and Jesse Owens for that event. [Owens deserves credit
for protesting the American team”s move. And he did go on to
win his 4th gold of the Games.]
While team officials denied that anti-Semitism (and fear of
Hitler) was at play, Glickman was convinced that Avery
Brundage, one of the Dirtballs of the Century and head of the
United States Olympic Committee, was “sympathetic to the
Nazis.”
William Wallace of the New York Times notes that while
“written proof” wasn”t found, in 1998, the U.S.O.C. presented
Glickman with a plaque in lieu of the gold medal he most likely
would have won had he been allowed to race.
In 1986, Marty Glickman returned to Berlin as part of a
celebration of Owens”s achievements. He later recounted how
he felt as he stood in the Olympic Stadium.
“Suddenly a wave of rage overwhelmed me. I thought I was
going to pass out. I began to scream every dirty curse word,
every obscenity I knew.being there, visualizing and reliving
those moments, caused the eruption which had been gnawing at
me for so long and which I thought I had expunged years ago.”
[Source: Wallace]
As for Marv Albert, he got his start when in 1964, Glickman was
snowed out of a Knicks broadcast in Boston. He tabbed Marv to
fill in and the rest is history.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/6/62: #1 “The Lion Sleeps
Tonight” (The Tokens…Aagh! I hate this song) #2 “The Twist”
(Chubby Checker…this one too) #3 “Run To Him” (Bobby
Vee…now you”re talkin!)
Snowfall in Central Park, NY
1995-96…75 inches
1996-97…10 inches
1997-98…6 inches
1998-99…13 inches
1999-00…16 inches
2000-01…13 inches (so far).
NBA Quiz Answer: The five who averaged 27 or better for their
career – Michael Jordan (31.5), Wilt Chamberlain (30.1),
Shaquille O”Neal (27.5), Elgin Baylor (27.4), Jerry West (27.0).
*Johnny Mac alerted me to the fact of Phoenix”s Tony Delk and
his 53-point outburst the other night. Delk”s previous best was
26. With a career average of 8.0, he has the lowest average of
any player ever to score 50.
Next Bar Chat, Monday…talkin” baseball.
