11.14.2015

A political debate…

…Saturday night on a football weekend. Sounds pretty rigged to me, especially since a lot of Bernie's support comes from college-age kids. People. Whatever.

Tonight's debate will certainly be at least in part about foreign policy, however, Iowa or not. Which may be enough to stay awake for. We'll see.

Yeah, well, there's that

Obama Before Paris Attacks: ISIS Is Not Gaining Strength - Fox Nation

 

11.13.2015

Jeep

Visual History of the Jeep 75th Anniversary - The Atlantic

 

This'll hit the fan (and should)

George W. Bush's White House ignored these extremely dramatic pre-9/11 warnings, George Tenet and Cofer Black reveal.

“…former chief of the CIA’s counterterrorism center Cofer Black and former CIA director George Tenet described how they spent the months leading up to 9/11 trying to warn the White House that a spectacular attack was imminent and that the country needed to take urgent action, but to no avail."

11.12.2015

And Semper Fi

Marines, religious freedom group fight over sign - NY Daily News

""This sign will remain in its present location and not be altered in any way," said Col. Sean C. Killeen, commander of Marine Corps Base Hawaii…"

Ah, well then

Ben Carson admits details aren't all accurate in his books - NY Daily News

 

Look, Bunky, we're all for the rule of law…

5 Weird Moments at the Fox Business Debate | The Weekly Standard

“There were a few weird moments at the debate last night, but none was stranger than the crowd reaction when John Kasich and Jeb Bush were talking about immigration.…Neither bothered to make concessions about how problematic the breakdown of the rule of law is when it comes to illegal immigration. "

…but before you get all worked up about it you ought to go out and spend, say, 30 minutes on the Interstate. Somebody once said the U.S. is the only country where the speed limit is a secret. We don’t know about that, but it sure ain’t what it says on those signs.

You know you're having a bad day…

…when you open a bag of potato chips you just brought home from the grocery store and only then discover you already have a half-full bag lurking in the drawer with the bread…

…or when you’re standing on a stage in front of umpty-bazillion TV viewers (and Facebook users!) and say something really, totally dumb.

Marco Rubio, Bad Guidance Counselor | The Weekly Standard

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary of a mid-career American welder is $37,000 a year. The median starting salary of a philosophy graduate, meanwhile, is $39,000 a year, according to Payscale. The mid-career median salary of a philosophy graduate, meanwhile, tops $80,000 annually. That’s right: Contrary to Rubio’s assertion, philosophy majors make twice as much as welders. That philosophy majors are poor must come as a shock to philosophy grads Peter Thiel, Carl Icahn, and . . . Carly Fiorina."

Two Pinocchios, says Post

Hillary Clinton’s claim that she tried to join the Marines - The Washington Post

"There are enough holes here that Clinton has an obligation to address the circumstances under which she approached the Marines, now that she had once again raised it in a campaign context."

11.10.2015

Be on the lookout…

World championship belts stolen in Boxing Hall of Fame burglary | Sport | The Guardian

“Four of the belts had belonged to Carmen Basilio, a native of the tiny New York hamlet who captured world titles at welterweight and middleweight…

Two others belonged to Tony Zale, the two-time middleweight champion…"

…for guys wearing these belts. They ought to be pretty easy to spot.

It's come to this, boys and girls

Twitter’s heart hits the wrong beat | Media | The Guardian

"Serious news about terrible events calls for a system of language (including visual language) which reflects the gravity or complexity of any given situation. One cannot for instance ‘love' the latest Nasa report on polar ice density, or profess amorous adulation for the news that the Metrojet aircraft which crashed in the Sinai might have been targeted by terrorists.

"The tiny red heart reveals that Twitter does not want us to talk about unpleasant things which cannot be loved, even on a casual, fleeting basis."

You can’t [heart] something unless you really, really [heart] it and not just [star] it, which is a while different thing.

And how can you [star] something if there are no stars?

Here's the start-up that'll make me rich

It’s a text returning service. Works like this:

You’re going into the kitchen, say, to make a cup of coffee. So you text that to this service, “I’m going into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee."

The service texts the message right back to you.

By the time the return message arrives, you’re standing in the middle of the kitchen wondering why you came into the kitchen in the first place…and now you have the answer!

Think of the time that’ll save.

In the beginning, bookworms


11.08.2015

Mall downplays Christmas decorations so as not to ‘offend’ | New York Post

Mall downplays Christmas decorations so as not to ‘offend’ | New York Post

"A Long Island mall swapped Santa’s sleigh for something resembling a spaceship and nixed the Christmas tree because it didn’t want to “offend” anyone, irate shoppers told The Post."

And…

Christian evangelists upset with Starbucks’ red cups - NY Daily News

"“Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus,” wrote former Arizona pastor Joshua Feuerstein in a viral Facebook post that had at least 8 million views Saturday night."

I lived in Michigan twice…

…all together longer than I lived in Nebraska, but with a song like this (I learned it in elementary school, back in the1940’s)…

There is no place like Nebraska,
Dear old Nebraska U.
Where the girls are the fairest,
The boys are the squarest,
Of any old school that I knew.

…which team would you root for?

Go Cornhuskers, and the refs are right even when they’re wrong.

Bad air

The Return of London’s Fog - The New York Times

"In 1952, a “great killer fog” lasted five days and killed an estimated 4,000 people."