June

I read somewhere…

… it's a sin to eat catsup on hot dogs. I do it anyway.

But I like them with mustard too; also with kraut, chili, or cheese. A Chicago-style dog is not my first choice but I'll eat one if it's right in front of me.

So now when we talk about spam in our email we might mean real Spam?*

Amazon to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion - CNET

http://cnet.co/2tv4JwI

* The officially correct spelling of Spam is SPAM. 

Steganographic snow and other secret stuff

Here is a nifty piece from the BBC about modern-day steganography  (the art or practice of concealing a message, image, or file within another message, image, or file) that gives new meaning to the notion of reading between the lines.

BBC - Future - Why printers add secret tracking dots

http://bbc.in/2tuKI9y

Secret recordings are the thing this year

Alex Jones says he secretly recorded Megyn Kelly interview, posts preview online | Page Six

http://pge.sx/2swzDHJ

I read this somewhere else and thought it must be a joke…

…but here it is again, this time from Politico.

Putin offers James Comey asylum - POLITICO

http://politi.co/2su7KjE

That's priceless. We should all have as much fun as Putin seems to be having; the world would be a much jollier place.

Eclipse Megamovie

Here's an interesting plan to photograph a solar eclipse happening on August 21 this year. If you're into this kind of stuff, have a look.

https://eclipsemega.movie/

Last night in a paroxysm of insomnia I signed up for Uber…

…and I can confidently report there is no Uber within 20 miles of me in any direction. If I want to take a Uber somewhere I will have to take a bus to where Uber is.

Taking a bus is a problem in itself. For example, the nearest city bus stop to my house is right in front of the grocery store I use, so to take a bus to the grocery store I have to walk to a bus stop farther away and take the bus from there. You can see.

I could take a bus to Boston—I'm pretty sure they have Ubers in  Boston—but they also have one the best public transportation systems in the country (and one of the first) in Boston so what would be the point of that?

I hope I sleep better tonight. 

A judge in Montana may have just solved all our problems

Congressman sentenced to do community service

http://bbc.in/2tgTUhM

Nobody could just make that up.

Here is hands-down the dopiest thing I've read all week (I know it's only Tuesday)

COVFEFE Act would make Trump's tweets official records | New York Post

http://nyp.st/2sjgc59

"If the president is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference," Quigley, a member of the House intelligence committee, said in a statement.

Has this guy never heard of the Internet?

We don't need to preserve Trump's tweets – they will haunt us for all eternity. The internet never forgets anything.

"Tweets are powerful, and the president must be held accountable for every post."

There you go, Quigley old boy. Making progress. Slowly. 

Here's the title Quigley picked for his act in order to make the acronym work out COVFEFE: it's the "Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically For Engagement" Act. 

And yes, it was "intelligence" committee.

Will getting softer like cheese be the next big thing?

Trump is Trump, and will always be - NY Daily News

The odd behavior of many Republicans — the stated belief that Trump, like cheese, will get softer with time…

http://nydn.us/2siRxOc

So it's vittles after all

Victuals - Words Commonly Mispronounced | Merriam-Webster

http://bit.ly/2tgK7bv

English is difficult to spell. Like this word. What a relief.

I've imagined this about English speakers: People of my age know how to spell words they aren't quite sure how to pronounce; a lot of younger folks know how to pronounce words they aren't quite sure how to spell. I fancy this is because a lot of us geezers learned new words by reading them, while a lot of younger people learn new words by hearing them. That makes sense somehow, doesn't it?

Well, anyway, here's a little help on some of it.

Another day in the modern world

Pakistan, in a First, Sentences Man to Death Over Blasphemy on Social Media - The New York Times

"The forensic report of his mobile phone showed that he had committed blasphemy in at least 3,000 posts," Mr. Qureshi said.

http://nyti.ms/2tgO14c

Here's a word you haven't heard for a long time

Calaboose | Merriam-Webster

http://bit.ly/2tcbZOa

Drones

Plutarch…

…who lived around the year 100 CE, give or take, had this to say about economics and society:

"An imbalance between rich and poor in the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics"*

So it's not like we were't warned.

*Cited in the book The Second Machine Age,  by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAffe.

Here's something I bet you didn't know

Chicago Tribune: 

Everyday, 10 people die from unintentional drowning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Makes you wonder about intentional drowning, doesn't it?