6.01.2024

I'm not sure…

Biden breaks unofficial rule about headwear while hosting the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs


… what the unofficial rule is but I'm guessing — just guessing now — it has something to do with this:



I know. You hadda be there.

Mike Dukakis, a Massachusetts governor who was the Democratic candidate for President in 1988, was widely mocked for this picture. I (of course) campaigned for him but he was defeated (of course) decisively by George H. W. Bush.

5.31.2024

In other news…

New Costco finance exec reassures shoppers that beloved $1.50 hot dog will remain at dirt-cheap price

The franks have been a long-standing customer favorite staple at Costco, and the $1.50 hot dog-soda combo’s price has remained unchanged since 1985 thanks to a pledge made by the grocer’s founders.

Apparently, however, a person must be a member of this Costco place before one can dine at this startlingly low cost.

I wouldn't know myself because Costco is something we don't have here, where I live. But it must be wonderful. And delicious.

And isn't it nice to know there are still things one can count on in this world?

5.30.2024

This rant from Twitter…

 …(that's X, but I'm not saying X) has got to be the greatest rant in the entire history of rants.


https://x.com/dantypo/status/1796173295018016972





Asymmetric warfare

North Korea sends balloons carrying excrement to the south as a 'gift'

North Korea said the balloons were in retaliation for an ongoing propaganda campaign by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea, who regularly send inflatables containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets, alongside food, medicine, money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop music videos and dramas across the border.

Innovation is the key.  

5.29.2024

If a $6 Billion football team can't count on taxpayers for help, who can?

What's next for Bears stadium after Illinois lawmakers punt on funding

Why it matters: Team owners wanted public funding secured this month so they could start construction this fall.

Of course if they put some stock on the table…

But what do you think this is, Green Bay? 

Pretty much like eX Twitter, in other words

Google’s AI search problem may never be fully solved.

Hyped as the future of online search, the feature — in which Google’s software directly answers a user’s question, rather than just linking to relevant websites — spat out a slew of responses that ranged from absurd to dangerous. (No, geologists don’t recommend eating one small rock per day, and please don’t put glue in your pizza.)

 Geologists do like to lick rocks, however. So there's that. But no doubt about the glue.

5.28.2024

Oh, come on now…

U.S. aid deliveries to Gaza by sea suspended after damage to temporary pier

Over the weekend, four small U.S. military boats involved in ferrying aid broke from their moorings in bad weather, Central Command said. Two of them washed up on the coast of southern Israel near the city of Ashdod while the other two beached in Gaza.

…it lasted for more than a week. Almost two, if I'm counting right. 

Anyway, what did you expect for $180 mil? Or 200, maybe. If I'm counting right.

Don't ask

Nobody hurt after plane’s engine catches fire at Chicago O’Hare airport


You did, didn't you.

Well, it was Airbus. Whew. (And nobody hurt.)

Russian women?

Clinton says women abandoned her because she wasn’t ‘perfect’

“They left me because they just couldn’t take a risk on me, because as a woman, I’m supposed to be perfect,” Clinton said in an interview with The New Times, published Saturday. “They were willing to take a risk on [former President Trump] — who had a long list of, let’s call them flaws, to illustrate his imperfection — because he was a man, and they could envision a man as president and commander in chief.”

 Nope. Russians, that was another story. These were good old-fashioned American women.

Deplorable.

You can bet on it

AI will transform sports betting. It will also increase the risks.

The legal gambling industry has already figured out how to track bettors’ data, know whether they are on a winning or a losing streak, offer various odds, and supply predictions or probabilities of certain outcomes.…AI will know your favorite team and players, how much you typically bet, at what times of day and night — and target you with specific betting recommendations.

Any time of the day or night. Like bringing Vegas to your living room. Or bedroom. (Why not set up your own computer to bet for you while you sleep? Sort of like automatic stock trading.)

What risks?

5.27.2024

On this day 37 years ago…

…the corn muffin became the official state muffin of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Ony three other states have official muffins. They are Minnesota and Washington (both blueberry), and New York (apple), 

Aso today was Memorial Day, as you may have heard, Or may not have heard. Here's the crowd that turned out for our celebration:


There was a band.