Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2016-42

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Maurice Audet writes more about his experiences in China
• Barbara Wear sends the story of a rescue of a foal
• Bruce Galway forwards a letter to Dr. Laura
• Tom Telfer sends information about "the Dutch reach"
• Burke Dykes forwards thoughts about gratitude
• Shirley Conlon shares facts about the human body
• Tom Telfer suggests interesting sites

Maurice Audet writes about another episode in his story for his son:

A BIT OF A PAST LIFE

The University of Kirin (Russian), Kitsurin (Japanese), Dzi Rin (Chinese), wanted a foreigner to teach conversational English. That was my cup of tea: no text books, no essays, no exams, action all the way.

Kirin was a picturesque old Manchu city, along the Soungari, a wide, fast-flowing river, against whose strong current I could not swim. Ferries were large rafts, manned by six men with bamboo poles. In order to reach across, they had to fight upstream, at an angle. When they reached the middle, they took advantage of the current to dock at the proper place. There was no fixed schedule. If passengers arrived as the raft was leaving, they squatted comfortably on the shore, lit a pipe, and engaged in a lively conversation: not politics, but economy, the price of goods, and the best places to buy or sell.

Personally, I would strip and dive in, swimming with the current and walking back to my clothes. Sometimes, I spotted dead animals, and even human corpses, floating by.

University students were not spoiled: spartan accommodations, bare, unheated rooms were standard, in spite of severe, cold winters. Chinese are born actors. Raised in one-room homes, everything they do is a public performance. They enjoyed participating in our daily adventures. It was a continuous comedy. They learned spoken and body English, with unrestrained hilarity.

Chinese are very intelligent. Many foreign publications mention Chinese illiteracy. In my opinion, intelligence is not synonymous with bookish learning. It is an understanding and a flexibility that enables people to adjust to circumstances. Chinese rate highly in that respect. For centuries, they studied plants and adapted them to practical use in medicine. They survived internal wars, despotic rulers, abuse from outside, and exploitation. They even taught the Japanese a lesson in elasticity. After letting the invaders cross their country easily, in 1938, they closed in on them and forced them to retreat.

If you ever go to China, try to bargain with the natives. Our politicians boast of making big deals, while the Chinese rejoice over their own success. Westerners like to close a deal quickly. Chinese patiently wear them out, until they give in to their terms.

But dark clouds were looming. The American consul told me to return to Canada, "It was getting too darn hot." I stayed. How come the Americans were caught by surprise at Pearl Harbour? I suspect dirty politics as a consequence of the perennial struggle between President and Congress. We condemn individuals who kill in a fit of passion, but let leaders cold-bloodedly send thousands of their own citizens to death to satisfy their sadistic thirst for power.

To be continued.

Barbara Wear forwards this touching story:

EVERYBODY NEEDS A TEDDY BEAR

Hours after his birth, "Breeze" was found stumbling around by a farmer. The new-born foal had been abandoned by his mother, so the farmer took him to the Devon-based Mare and Foal Sanctuary, where they cared for him.

What happened next is heart-warming. One of the staff put a four-foot giant teddy bear called Buttons into the stall with Breeze.

The foal was instantly attracted to him. He had found a comforting replacement for his mother. The two are inseparable.

The caregivers expect Breeze to be fine, thanks to the farmer who rescued him and to those who cared enough to take this little cutie in.

Bruce Galway sends the following story:

JEWS AND HOMOSEXUALITY

On her radio show, Dr. Laura said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

The following response is an open letter to Dr. Schlesinger, written by a U.S. man, and posted on the internet. It´s funny, as well as quite informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God´s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can.

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God´s Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can´t I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don´t agree. Can you settle this? Are there "degrees" of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn´t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I´m confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God´s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan,

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education,
University of Virginia

P.S. It would be a damn shame if we couldn´t own a Canadian.

Tom Telfer shares a post that says

THE DUTCH REACH MAY SAVE A LIFE

Every year, cyclists are injured or killed by hitting a car door. The "Dutch Reach" involves your reaching to open your left door (as you sit in the driver´s seat), with your right hand. This forces you to turn left and look over your shoulder, to see if a bicycle rider is approaching.

Safety first!

Burke Dykes forwards these thoughtful quotes:

A THANKSGIVING FEAST

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues. - Cicero

Be thankful for what you have; you´ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don´t have, you will never, ever have enough. - Oprah Winfrey

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. - Brian Tracy

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn´t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little; and if we didn´t learn a little, at least we didn´t get sick; and if we got sick, at least we didn´t die; so let us all be thankful. - Buddha

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. - William Blake

Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. - John Wooden

So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done. - Marian Wright Edelman

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. - Marcel Proust

Shirley Conlon sends this information:

WHAT YOUR BODY DOES IN A DAY

Sometimes you may feel as if your body is beginning to creak and fail you on the outside, but do you ever stop to consider the incredible work that is taking place inside of it? There is so much going on and everything fits together so well that it´s almost impossible to comprehend it. This presentation will remind you that there are miracles going on inside your body every single day.

Your heart pumps approximately 2000 gallons (7571 litres) of blood through its chambers every single day. It beats more than 100,000 times a day to achieve this incredible feat.

You take around 17,000 breaths a day on average, and don´t have to think about a single one of them. Yet if you want to stop breathing temporarily, you can voluntarily hold your breath. A typical pair of adult lungs can hold a huge six litres of air.

Every day your body ensures you don´t contract cancer thousands of times over. Cancer is formed when cells are altered in a way which reprograms their DNA, and it´s estimated that tens of thousands of cells suffer cancer-causing lesions every day. But the body sends special enzymes scuttling around to inspect DNA strands for faults and fix tem before they turn into tumors.

Your brain doesn´t stop working. It´s estimated that about 50,000 thougths pass through it each day on average, although some scientists put the figure closer to 60,000. That is a whopping 35-48 thoughts every minute.

The cells in your stomach lining produce an alkaline substance every few milliseconds to neutralize stomach acid. If they didn´t do this, your stomach would digest itself because some of the acids are strong enough to dissolve metals.

You blink about 28,800 times every day, with each one lasting just a tenth of a second. This is a voluntary reflex the body uses to keep the eyes clean and moist, which is pretty crucial, given that 90% of the information you process is visual, and you can weigh up any visual scene in just 0.01 seconds. Consider how many people and objects you look at every day - it´s remarkable!

Most of the body´s energy is expelled via heat. Your body produces the same heat as 25 light bulbs over the course of a single day.

Red blood cells literally shoot around the body, taking less than 60 seconds to complete a full circuit. This means that each of yours makes 1440 trips around your body every day, delivering oxygen and keeping your body energized. Each cell lives for about 40 days, before being replaced by a younger model. It´s no surprise their life span is short, having made 60,000 trips around the body. They must be exhausted!

You shed more than 1 million skin cells every day, but they are constantly replenished automatically, to save you from turning transparent and becoming rather exposed. Your skin is actually an organ. In fact, it´s the largest organ you have, with a surface area of 18 square feet (2 square metres.)

Your hair (if you still have any) grows about half a millimeter per day, and the average adult with a full scalp has around 100,000 hairs on their head. So that´s a combined 50 meters of hair growth every single day.

The brain and mouth work together to allow us to speak an average of around 5000 words a day. Well, that´s if you´re a woman, because studies suggest that men only speak 2000 words, yet both sexes utter 500-700 words of real value - i.e. that gets a job done, or provides useful information. Will the women out there have something to say about this suggestion?

Your liver is so busy over the course of a day that it is almost impossible to summarize its activities. It manufactures cholesterol, vitamin D and blood plasma; it identifies the nutrients your body needs, and stores some away for future use; it filters 1.53 quarts (1.43 litres) of blood every minute and produces a quart (0.94 litres) of bile every day to help you break down your food. Basically, you have a factory plant running inside you every day, which is pretty amazing.

The glands in your mouth produce an incredible 1.5 litres of saliva every day. That´s a lot of dribble! If that didn´t happen, your mouth would dry up and become overrun with bacteria, and you wouldn´t be able to digest your food.

The average male´s testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells every day. Those that aren´t used age, and eventually are broken down inside the body, with any useful nutrients being absorbed and put to use.

Each of your kidneys contains one million tiny filters that work together to filter an average of 2.2 pints (1.3 litres) of blood every minute - that´s 3168 pints (1872 litres) every single day, despite each kidney being only the size of a fist. If that wasn´t enough, they also expel an average of 2.5 pints (1.4 litres) of urine from your body every day.

You grow 8 mm every night while sleeping, before shrinking back down again the next day. This saves you from some pretty hefty clothing bills and ensures you don´t have to raise the door frames every year or so.

Your body works overtime to digest your food and process starts before it even hits the mouth. When you smell food, your mouth automatically produces more saliva to prepare the digestive system for work. It takes about 6-8 hours for food to pass through the stomach and two days to complete the digestion process. The average person will eat over 50 tonnes of food in his or her lifetime, which seems ridiculous!

And most amazing of all, your body cells are regenerating themselves every single day without any prompting. This means you have an entirely new set of taste buds every ten days, new nails every 6-10 months, new bones every 10 years, and even a new heart every 20 years.

So next time you think that your body is starting to creak, just think about all the incredible things that are happening inside it every day, because each of us really is a miracle!

SUGGESTED SITES

Tom Telfer sends the URL for a video of Danny MacAskill´s Wee Day Out in Scotland:

Tom also sends this link to a video of the Forte Tenors, three men who met online and competed in the America´s Got Talent semi-finals:

This National Geograpic series takes a look at animals making seemingly bizarre friends:

CPAC, the Canadian Parliamentary Affairs Channel, has just launched a weekday, seven-minute podcast called "CPAC Today in Politics." To check out this service, click on

We waste HALF of the food produced in Europe and America. For the full visual effect of seeing all this amazing food waste, click on

In this TED talk, Monica Araya outlines a bold vision for a world committed to clean energy in all sectors, using her native Costa Rica as an example of positive action on environmental protection and renewables:

Can you remember what these old and confusing words mean? Test yourself here:

To check out the features of the "freedictionary," which changes daily, go to