[basil ransome-davies]

There has to be room for at least one winning entry that doesn't name-check Fred 'Soup-Strainer' Nietzsche, so I think I might go for that.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Of course, one could ask who's writing all these obits . . .

[Gail White]

Originally Posted by R. S. Gwynn

Of course, one could ask who's writing all these obits . . .

It doesn't pay to get too rational.

Homo Sapiens, age uncertain, sex dubious (possibly hermaphrodite) expired last Thursday following a series of explosions in its Middle East. Death was ruled a probable suicide, as the patient had also been suffering from depression and a self-induced high temperature in recent decades. A possible terrorist attack by an outraged Deity has not been ruled out.
Homo S. is survived by some closely related mammals, as well as a majority of birds, fish, and insects, who are bearing the loss with philosophy. “He was more trouble than he was worth”, said a gorilla who wished to remain anonymous.
Burial will take place by earthquake, with arrangements in the hands of Mother Nature.

[FOsen]

As always, I'm running one Speccie behind -- all of these are so good!

Maybe not entering this one will be my meta-comment on the topic - think Lucy will go for that?

Frank

[George Simmers]

When future generations remember God , it will be for the astonishing inventiveness of his early work, which still continues to delight. During a short but intensely creative period at the start of his career, he showed a generosity of spirit that largely disappeared in later years, when he became increasingly reclusive and irascible. God did not suffer fools gladly, and his outbursts of wrath became legendary. Commentators disagree about whether he eventually relapsed into total silence, or was indeed responsible for the later works presented in his name by supposed intermediaries; according to these he had moved on from those early astounding three-dimensional creations to the production of text-based pieces, typically dogmatic, self-contradictory and disturbingly misogynistic. Yet we should not allow distaste for these (possibly spurious) later productions to prevent us from admiring God’s varied and enchanting early works, which include the Crab Nebula, the anemone and the mongoose.

[Roger Slater]

The Intergalactic Council of Species announced yesterday that Homo Sapiens, a carbon-based lifeform native to Earth, are now extinct. Homo Sapiens, often called "Humans," were at the center of a divisive political debate a generation ago in which the Environmental Coalition sought to have them placed on the endangered species list. Opponents successfully argued that the economic impact of doing so could not be justified to protect these homely little creatures that almost no one had even heard of before the controversy arose.

While conceding that the loss was small, environmentalists nonetheless mourned the passing of Humans. A spokesman for the Environmental Coalition, speaking to reporters outside his office, said, "Admittedly, Humans had no telepathic abilities, were unable to levitate or teletransport, and knew less about quantum mechanics than a typical houseplant. But as one of their own Human writers once remarked, if you prick them, do they not bleed?"
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