Clik here to view.
Poll: 49% of Americans are in the minority
Here are the results of the latest Nosie-Snupes poll: 78% of Americans believe that if only we got rid of the intelligence community, bad people would leave us alone. 56% believe that if we stopped...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The power of positive thinking
Manuel and Jorge Fazú were two brothers, born just 18 months apart, and as close as twins. They grew up in a run-down flop house in an impoverished district of an anonymous city in Brazil. Seeing them...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You don’t need a weatherman…
I have been following the exploits of Vladimir Vladimirovich in Crimea with great interest of late. As a Latvian I can see which way the wind is blowing, so I’m changing my Gravatar image: I’m hoping...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tough love economics
I was in the grocery store, jam-packed on this gorgeous day, when I saw a lane with nobody in it. Unbelievable, I thought, and went for it. As I was unloading my cart, I joked with the check out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Peanut butter manifesto
The coffee shop I frequent was out of peanut butter cookies today, again. This may seem a minor issue to you, but there’s a backstory. When I was very young, I put my trust in all the usual stalwarts...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Some rank observations
Why is the lowest rank in the army, which affords its holder no privacy whatsoever, called private? The corporal, at least, seems reasonably preoccupied with bodies. But what is a sergeant? Someone...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Notice to Consumers
It has come to our attention that some of you have been seen engaging in activities that have little or nothing to do with consuming. This, of course, must stop, as it jeopardizes the entire...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Vegan occupation
Something has been happening under our very noses: colonists from the Vegan star system some 25 light years away have been slowly infiltrating our planet. They kept a low profile at first, but now...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Courage, America, s’il vous plait
At this writing, the governors of 24 states, all but one of them Republican, have announced they will block the settlement of refugees in their states. It seems clear they don’t have the authority to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From the OPI
Office of Perpetual Investigation Popular Music Division Memorandum: Purple Berries? Here are the facts as we know them: An unspecified number of people are leaving, because they are not needed. They...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saving daylight
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a conspiracy nut, but there’s something fishy in this DST business. We do it, presumably, in order to save an hour of daylight during, well, most of the year, it turns out....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hipness
There are two keys to hipness, inextricably woven together: image and timing. Image has a lot to do with the proper air of disdain, not so much that you just look sour, but not so little that it’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
So over the rainbow: a noir interview
Say, whatever happened to all those characters from Oz? Glad you asked. We know what happened to Dorothy: she went back home and became an overworked farm wife, bitterly comparing her tedious life to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anti-social media
I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m actually tired of reading the same political comments over and over. They’re not even arguments any more. Each side just posts, bot-like, a few choice talking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Good Riddance Day
On page 14 of the current New Yorker is a brief notice titled Good Riddance Day. It’s about a promotion in Times Square by a company called Shred-It; they will utterly destroy and recycle any unwanted...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Modern Living
The latest in my on-going, if informal, technology series. Or, put another way, some more whining about machines. I have a machine that washes my clothes for me. It is a shiny new (ish) Samsung, the...
View ArticleTechnology: who needs it?
First of all, let me say straight out that I am against all these new fangled ‘improvements’ on things that were working just fine. Remember the old adage, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?’ It seems...
View ArticleHow to be a proper fool
But the fool on the hill Sees the sun going down And the eyes in his head See the world spinning round To be the best, most complete fool you can be, follow these steps faithfully, in the proper order...
View ArticleA Christmas message
Philosophers, mystics, and even cognitive scientists seem to agree that there is no reality, that it’s all an illusion. The vague, ambiguous category of persons called neuroscientists will take it a...
View ArticleFrom the jottings of John H. Watson, MD
It was October of 1896, a particularly cool autumn, although by no means unpleasant. I had been reading in my chair in our digs in Baker Street, and I confess I was about to doze off, when Holmes burst...
View Article
