If you’ve watched many TV “news” shows lately, you know they don’t really report much traditional news anymore. You don’t see footage of reporters on the scene interviewing witnesses or the newsmakers themselves. Instead, you see a suit in a studio, discussing the “news” with a suit in another studio. Virtually everything is filtered through [...]
Archive for the ‘America’ Category
Masters Of The Obvious
Posted in America, Humor, Politics, tagged America, Gallup, Humor, News, Politics, polls on May 17, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Mall Madness
Posted in America, Photography, tagged America, Lego, Mall of America, Malls, Minneapolis, Photography on May 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I’m up in Minneapolis for meetings and was scheduled for a lunch at Crave, a restaurant in the Mall of America. The restaurant was fine; the Mall of America was . . . too much. Too much noise, too much colorful eye-catching signage, too much over-the-top indoor amusement park activity, too much of just about [...]
A Quick Billion Dollars For The Avengers
Posted in America, Movies, World, tagged America, Escapist Movies, Europe, Iron Man, Movies, Scarlett Johansson, Summer Movies, The Avengers, The Hulk, World on May 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
It’s obvious that The Avengers has struck a chord with me, and with movie audiences generally. Only three weeks after its release, it has racked up an impressive $1 billion in box-office receipts. Imagine — $1 billion. Even by today’s standards, that is a huge amount of money. What is it about this movie that [...]
California On The Brink
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, California, Chris Christie, Jerry Brown, New Jersey, Politics, State Budgets on May 15, 2012 | 1 Comment »
California is teetering on the precipice. Yesterday Governor Jerry Brown said the state is facing a $16 billion budget deficit. He proposed some spending cuts to make up the shortfall and asked voters to vote to raise taxes, “temporarily.” If I were a California voter, I’d be a bit skeptical of Brown’s budget figures. He [...]
That Failed Drive-Thru Dry Cleaner Concept
Posted in America, Humor, tagged America, business, Drive-Thru, Dry Cleaners, Humor, Laziness on May 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Recently Kish asked me to stop by the dry cleaners to pick up some clothing. “Just go to the drive-thru window,” she added helpfully. Eh? A drive-thru dry cleaners? Intrigued, I drove to the side of the dry cleaner shop, where there was an open door rather than a drive-thru window. I summoned the clerk, [...]
Ron Gone
Posted in America, Humor, Politics, tagged 2012 Republican presidential race, America, Borders, Doggerel, Federal Reserve, Gold, Humor, Mitt Romney, Poetry, Politics, Ron Paul, Washington on May 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Texas Congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has announced that he won’t be spending resources to contest Republican primaries in any states that haven’t yet voted. It’s just another reason why Mitt Romney is now described as the “presumptive” Republican nominee. Paul always seemed like somebody’s batty uncle. Now that he’s called a kind [...]
Horror South Of The Border
Posted in America, World, tagged America, Drug Cartels, Mexican Drug Wars, Mexico, Monterrey, World on May 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday Mexican officials found the headless bodies of 49 unknown people — all with hands and feet also cut off — on a highway near the city of Monterrey. The bodies, already beginning to decompose, were dumped in a pile on the road. Mexico has been dealing with drug violence for years, and its politicians [...]
When People Give Up
Posted in America, The Economy, Work, tagged America, Giving Up, High Unemployment, Parenting, Qutting, The Economy, Unemployment, Work on May 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »
The April unemployment rate dropped slightly, to 8.1 percent. Unfortunately, the decline was due not so much to the creation of new jobs, but to the fact that hundreds of thousands of people just quit looking for work. Under the government’s approach to calculating the unemployment rate, those people just aren’t counted as unemployed any [...]
Mitt’s High School Days
Posted in America, Growing Up, Politics, tagged America, Cranbrook School, Dogmeat, Growing Up, High School, Mitt Romney, Politics, President Obama on May 11, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The news media is now reporting on Mitt Romney’s high school days. The lead is about a 1965 incident where Romney allegedly led a pack of Cranbrook School students who tackled a new, long-haired student and forcibly cut his hair. Romney says he doesn’t recall the incident, but has apologized nevertheless. We should all follow [...]
In Favor Of “Flip-Floppers”
Posted in America, Politics, tagged Abraham Lincoln, America, Emancipation Proclamation, Flip-Flopping, gay marriage, Mitt Romney, Politics, President Lincoln, President Obama, Same-Sex Marriage on May 9, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Today President Obama announced that he has changed his mind about gay marriage and now favors it. Opponents of the move called him a “flip-flopper.” Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney has modified his position on certain issues over the years. He’s been criticized as a “flip-flopper,” too. I don’t get the “flip-flopper” criticism. I think [...]
Let A Pig Be A Pet
Posted in America, Humor, tagged America, Charlotte's Web, Humor, Neighborhood Associations, Neighbors, News, Pets, Pigs, Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pigs on May 9, 2012 | 1 Comment »
In Houston, a Texas district court judge has declared that Wilbur, a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, is a “household pet” who can remain in his owners’ home. The case addressed whether Wilbur violated the local homeowners association rules. Wilbur was a Christmas gift from Alex Sardo to his wife, Missy, and he quickly became a member [...]
Firing The Lugar
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, Indiana, Politics, President Carter, Republicans, Richard Lugar, Richard Mourdock, United States Senate on May 8, 2012 | 3 Comments »
In our neighboring state to the west, Indiana voters have decided that Senator Richard Lugar has served long enough. The networks are calling his primary race and have concluded that he will lose to fellow Republican Richard Mourdock. I don’t blame Indiana voters for giving the 80-year-old Lugar the boot. He has served in the [...]
Adverse To Austerity
Posted in America, World, tagged America, Austerity, Euro, Europe, France, Germany, Golden Dawn, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, World on May 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Elections have occurred in Greece, France, and Italy in the past few days, and voters have cast their ballots against the austerity measures that were imposed to try to put a brake on the European debt crisis and, in Greece and France, have thrown out the governments that agreed to those measures. In France, the [...]
Begging Door-To-Door
Posted in America, Family, tagged America, Begging, Charity, Children, Family, Generosity, Parenting, Values on May 7, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Last Sunday Kish and I were getting ready to take the dogs for a walk when there was a knock at the door. We opened our front door to find a teenage girl and her mother, both unknown to us, on the doorstep. The girl explained that they were members of a nearby church. She [...]
Canada Loses Its Cents
Posted in America, Humor, Technology, The Economy, World, tagged America, Canada, Canadian Penny, Cash, Coins, Currency, Humor, Money, Pennies, Technology, The Economy, World on May 6, 2012 | 1 Comment »
On Friday, Canada minted its last penny. The rationale for this move is that it costs more to mint the penny ($.016 each) than the penny is worth. In addition, Canada’s Finance Minister concluded that people weren’t using the penny for business. Instead, they were just putting them in jars at home. So, no more [...]
