Now that we are officially in spring, a good portion of the US is cold, it is still snowing, and feeling a lot like winter. But, Punxsutawney Phil suggested that spring will be here early. I say, shoot the messenger! From AL.com in Atlanta comes the recap:
"The weather too cold for you? Blame Punxsutawney Phil. Everyone else is.It's so bad that Butler County, Ohio, prosecutor Mike Gmoser "light-heartedly filed" a criminal indictment against Phil for fraudulently predicting an early spring."Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design cause the people to believe that spring would come early," Gmoser's indictment said. The penalty? Death, Gmoser said, tongue firmly in cheek, according to The Associated Press". But the real guy to blame, apparently, is Bill Deeley, president of the Groundhog Club and Phil's handler. He admits it isn't an exact science. "A year ago I predicted six more weeks of winter," . "Last year at this time, we were cutting our grass, starting to plant, playing golf"!
And, despite the fact that Groundhog day has been celebrated since 1841, it has always been sort of a tongue in cheek event. Records show that the little fur ball has at best a 37% accuracy.
Unfortunately, the joke is lost on many people and they have a tendency to believe that this critter really reflects the fact that he can be a good source of information. The trend? Phil and his offspring will continue to be an interesting urban myth even when he fails to tell the truth. I have a bias regarding the value of groundhogs as can be seen in a post from this past summer here. So, while killing the messenger may be wrong, there has to be a consequence for misleading us! But, I did like the movie...
"The weather too cold for you? Blame Punxsutawney Phil. Everyone else is.It's so bad that Butler County, Ohio, prosecutor Mike Gmoser "light-heartedly filed" a criminal indictment against Phil for fraudulently predicting an early spring."Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design cause the people to believe that spring would come early," Gmoser's indictment said. The penalty? Death, Gmoser said, tongue firmly in cheek, according to The Associated Press". But the real guy to blame, apparently, is Bill Deeley, president of the Groundhog Club and Phil's handler. He admits it isn't an exact science. "A year ago I predicted six more weeks of winter," . "Last year at this time, we were cutting our grass, starting to plant, playing golf"!
And, despite the fact that Groundhog day has been celebrated since 1841, it has always been sort of a tongue in cheek event. Records show that the little fur ball has at best a 37% accuracy.
Unfortunately, the joke is lost on many people and they have a tendency to believe that this critter really reflects the fact that he can be a good source of information. The trend? Phil and his offspring will continue to be an interesting urban myth even when he fails to tell the truth. I have a bias regarding the value of groundhogs as can be seen in a post from this past summer here. So, while killing the messenger may be wrong, there has to be a consequence for misleading us! But, I did like the movie...
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