Bet Ya Didn't Know Dept.
Catherine II, aka Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia in the18th century, was not Russian! She was born in 1729 in the tiny German principality of Anhalt-Zerbst [commonly known as "A-Z". Ed.], Her father was Prince Christian of A-Z, and she was baptized Sophia Augusta Frederica. Her parents and friends called her "Fiekchen", a diminutive of "Sophia". I guess you have to speak German to understand that.
When she was taken to Russia as the wife of the future Tsar Peter III, she converted from heretical Lutheranism and was admitted to the Orthodox Church, and took the name Catherine Alexeievna. How about that.
Pandemic Madness Dept.
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports that at this very moment 6,035,208 of the world's people have died of the Wuhan flu. That's slightly more than 6 million of a world population of roughly 7.9 billion. Thus the mortality rate from the New Black Death is... let's see... carry the 1... something like 0.0756%.
In other words [figures, shurely. Ed.] <1/10th of 1%. The mortality rate from the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 is estimated to have been 2%. Do you still think we're wrong to call the current "crisis" a "Dempanic"?
By the way, did you get all three (and counting) of your shots? Are you still wearing your mask, or "chin diaper" as our friend Michael Matt calls them? How has all that worked out for you? Did you get sick anyway? Just askin'
TV Wokeness Dept.
Has anyone else noticed that Family Guy has become really lame, to the point of wokeness, lately? The main plot line this past Sunday was about Peter Griffin losing his friends to a lawyer who moved in next door. Peter felt abandoned and sad, until the lawyer made him see that Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe were still his friends, and they all lived happily ever after. The lawyer, by the way, was black. ("Helloo dere. I'se yo new neighbuh!")
There's been a lot of that -- black lawyers, doctors, financial advisors and other well-spoken professional people -- on TV lately. Not to mention happy, upwardly mobile mixed-race couples. They appear prominently in dramas, comedies, and even TV commercials for woke corporate America. I don't see any of them in my neighbourhood though. How about you?
Wally Awards Dept.
Speaking of TV commercials, here's one for an expensive car that is not being driven by a BIPOC. And it's not a BMW either. This one gets the coveted Wally for excellence in creative advertising.
Any parent who's ever had to sit through a high school orchestra concert can appreciate that one!
Whatever Happened To? Dept.
Oh. Yes. Catherine the Great. She was the wife of Tsar Peter III, right? How did she get to be Empress of All the Russias? Well sir... Catherine not only changed her name but learned the language and went out of her royal way to become more Russian than the Russians. She was much loved by the people, unlike her husband, who was loated almost as much as Just In Trudeau is by the people of Canuckistan.
Catherine formed a party devoted to her interests and the overthrow of the Tsar. When Peter foolishly retired to his country estate in June of 1762, two young army officers took Catherine to St Petersburg, where the troops proclaimed her empress and swore their allegiance to her.
When advised of the coup d'état, Peter didn't know whether to shit or wind his wristwatch (as the crude saying of those times had it). He finally abidcated without condition. He was then arrested on Catherine's order, and sent to the estate of the two officers (who happened to be btothers). There Peter died, four days later, in mysterious circumstances.
Upon receiving news of her husband's death, Catherine dined in public with her customary tranquil air. Not until the next day did she announce the Tsar's demise, in these words: "We have received the information to our great sorrow and affliction that it was God's will to end the life of the former Tsar Peter III by a sever attach of haemorrhoidal colic."
End of story. Source: Ergang, Robert: Europe from the Renaissance to Waterloo, D.C. Heath & Co., 1954.
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