Hong Kong Ghosts Inhabiting Their Homes
Q: I read that for bargain hunters in Hong Kong’s turbocharged property market, apartments that belonged to the recently deceased are proving irresistible — and the more gruesome the occupant’s demise, the better. Popular belief in a city awash with superstition runs that the ghost of a person who dies in unnatural circumstances — a suicide, murder or bad accident — inhabits their home, passing misfortune onto the new occupants. Anything like that happening in the states?
A: We don’t need suicides, murders or ghosts to reduce the value of homes in America. We have an unregulated banking system.
Q: Someone told me of a recent post of a giant rat discovered in a Foot Locker store in New York City. According to my source, the rat was the size of a small dog–that’s huge! I have heard of an African Giant Pouched Rat. But, have there been other reports of giant rats in New York or elsewhere?
A: Well, obviously in Africa. As far as the New York rat, my guess is the oversized rodent hung out at the lockers at sports arena and stole steroids. They should check the size of the rat’s neck.
Q: According to an article I read, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, The Abominable Snowman–whatever you want to call such a giant, mythical ape—is not real. At least, not anymore. But more than a million years ago, an ape as big as a polar bear lived in South Asia until going extinct 300,000 years ago. Could this be true? What of all the sightings and the fuzzy pictures?
A: Maybe it’s true and maybe it’s not. Maybe these Gigantopithecus types learned to hide out from human predators. One source says they died out due to bad personal hygiene habits and diabetes. Even in those fuzzy pictures, they appear to be overweight.
Q: I heard a story a year or so ago about an octopus that picked winning sports teams, now there’s one about psychic spider monkey at the Staten Island Zoo picking former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich as the top banana for the Republican party, even though he’s languishing in the polls. Has any primate, other than man, correctly projected the winner of a political contest so early into the race? Everything I read and hear has Mitt Romney picked as the favorite to win and then lose to President Obama.
A: I’m not sure that humans have the upper hand in picking politicians. If the monkeys were better financed, they might control the outcome.
