Welcome to jimjustsaying (formerly SZSEZ). Same wine, new bottle. Thanks for visiting; I hope you like what you see and visit here again....Jim Szantor
Saturday, March 1, 2014
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
What they're saying about Jim's provocative blog:
--"If Jim writes it, I'm there!"--Larry King
--"Almost too entertaining!"--David Letterman
--"Blogaschizzle!"--Snoop Lion
--"The one thing I DO read!"--Sarah Palin
--"About what you'd expect from a dopey, sniveling piece of execrable skunk vomit from Wisconsin!"--Don Imus
--"The most fun you can have with your clothes on (but DO take a shower afterwards)."--Dick Cavett
POPCORN
By Jim Szantor
Rhetorical questions, questionable rhetoric, and whimsical observations about the absurdities of contemporary life.
- The only trouble with Chinese fortune cookies is that 20 minutes later you want to read again.
- Okay, I'll admit it: I'm basically self-taut.
- How did we ever keep our storms straight without TV stations around to name them?
- Weather prediction: There's a 40 percent chance there will be a rock group named Polar Vortex. With a 30 percent chance of an Alberta Clipper. Watch this space for further updates.
- Overheard: "I really don't understand why people panic and have to clear out the grocery stores before a storm. Don't people keep food in their homes anymore?"
- "Don't just do something, sit there."--Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times
- I don't know much about military armament, but I do know that some hawkish politicians like to drone on and on.
- "Dr. King's dream has come true. His children are being judged by the content of their character."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Message to Big Pharma, whose latest obsession seems to be selling testosterone-boosting products to any male over age 10: Aging is not a disease, it's a process. If aging is a disease, then infancy is a disease.
- "Life is easier to take than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable and bear the intolerable."--Poet/essayist Kathleen Norris
- How does it happen that all the Olympic figure skaters are what most people would consider attractive? Do they weed out the "other" figure skaters before they advance that far? Or does figure skating just attract the attractive?
- Otherwise, the law of averages dictates that occasionally you're going to get a homely skater with a bad complexion in the Olympics. But it never happens! (I'mjustsayin'.)
- Think of the potential commercial tie-ins: "Clearasil--the official pimple cream of the 2014 Olympics. . . . " "This event is brought to you by the Plastic Surgeons Council of America."
- "Going down hill at 70 m.p.h. on two thin boards doesn't make you an athlete; an adrenalin junkie at best, or, if it really goes bad, an organ donor."--The Vent, AJC.com
- Newspaper Obituary Nickname of the Week: "Freddie Buff." As in Alfred "Freddie Buff" Ruffalo, Kenosha (Wis.) News obituary, Feb. 9, 2014. R.I.P., Mr. Ruffalo.
- Speaking of obituaries: Shirley Temple (R.I.P.) and Judy Garland--two child stars, two very different lifestyles.
- Speaking of actresses: "Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.”--Sophia Loren
- "The money is in my Bill Pay pipeline" just doesn't have the same ring as "The check is in the mail." (Which isn't always a lie; sometimes the check IS in the mail! But who believes you?)
- Jimjustsaying's First Law of Dining: The hungrier you are, the least likely you are to experiment.
- And just what is so hard about waitressing (or waitering) that makes good ones so rare?
- Jimjustsaying's Dine-Out Tip O' the Week: At a Mexican restaurant, always ask to be seated in the No Guitarist section.
- Just who are the Gideons and where do they get the money for all those bibles? Have you ever met a Gideon? And where are all the Gideon churches?
- Jimjustsaying's Book Title of the Week: "Comets and How to Observe Them," by Richard Schmude.
- Once I have a key, I can't throw it away, even if it hasn't been used in 40 years and I can't remember what it was used in.
- Another Stupid Warning on an Actual Product: On a wet suit: "Capacity, 1."
- Fifty-second Wisconsin Town I Didn't Know Existed Until I Saw It Mentioned in a Green Bay Press-Gazette Obituary: Flintville. (R.I.P., Robert "Bob" White, Green Bay Press-Gazette obituary, Jan. 8, 2014). Previous entries: Athelstane, Walhain, Duck Creek, Breed, Anston, Sobieski, Amberg, Osseo, Angelica, Brazeau, Waukechon, Sugar Camp, Kossuth, Lessor, Kunesh, Pulcifer, Cato, Florence, Greenleaf, Eaton, Poygan, Hofa Park, Hilbert, Hollandtown, Beaufort, Glennie, Harshaw, Bessemer, Crooked Lake, Tigerton, Goodman, Readstown, Dousman, Butternut, Montpelier, Cecil, Red River, Gillet, King, Laona, Kelly Lake, Glenmore, Tonet, Stiles, Morrison, Dunbar, Askeaton, Wild Rose. Neopit. Ellisville and Pickett.
- Today's Latin Lesson: Operor non sudo vegrandis effercio. ("Don't sweat the small stuff.")
THE QUOTE RACK
Downsizing the military
[P]lease, could we stop talking about the size of the U.S. Army in World War II? America today has no enemies that come anywhere close to the threat Hitler’s forces posed in the 1940s. And thanks to technological progress, better training, and dramatically increased firepower, the U.S. military of 2014 is far more potent than it was in 2001. Nevertheless, [Defense Secretary Chuck] Hagel wields scant leverage on Capitol Hill, especially among Republicans, and Congress is sure to push back hard against many of his proposed cut-especially reducing future increases in military salaries and benefits. There’s little likelihood that the budget Hagel gets will much resemble the budget that Hagel is requesting.
Syria and other hot spots
We] should have learned some lessons from our recent experience in the Middle East: First, how little we understand about the social and political complexities of the countries there; second, that we can — at considerable cost — stop bad things from happening in these countries but cannot, by ourselves, make good things happen; and third, that when we try to make good things happen we run the risk of assuming the responsibility for solving their problems, a responsibility that truly belongs to them.
Pollution arrives on winds from China
Along with goods for U.S. markets, China’s booming factories are exporting pollution that fouls the air over the Western U.S., a new study has found. “We’ve outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us,” University of California, Irvine, earth scientist Steven Davis tells The Telegraph (U.K.). The study determined that Chinese emissions—blown toward the U.S. by powerful westerly winds—contribute as much as a quarter of the sulfate pollution on the West Coast, and inflict on Los Angeles at least one extra day a year of smog exceeding federal ozone limits. Researchers used computer modeling to calculate the impact of emissions from 42 industry sectors. Black carbon, which has been linked to asthma, cancer, emphysema, and heart and lung diseases, is of particular concern since it doesn’t easily wash out of the atmosphere and can travel long distances. “This is a reminder to us that a significant percentage of China’s emissions of traditional pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions are connected to the products we buy and use every day in the U.S.,” said UCLA law professor Alex Wang.
Fox News' wounded foot . . .
The most interesting news about Fox News is that for some years now it has been damaging the right far more than the left. As a pair of political analysts wrote at Reuters last year, “When the mainstream media reigned supreme, between 1952 and 1988, Republicans won seven out of the ten presidential elections,” but since 1992, when “conservative media began to flourish” (first with Rush Limbaugh’s ascendancy, then with Fox), Democrats have won the popular vote five out of six times. You’d think they’d be well advised to leave Fox News to its own devices so that it can continue to shoot its own party in the foot.
. . . as Beck comes clean on his hustle
Admitting a mistake is always an admirable act. So let’s give Glenn Beck credit at least for that. Reflecting on his time as an incendiary Fox News host, Beck last week confessed, I think I played a role unfortunately in helping tear the country apart. That’s actually an understatement. Beck’s “greatest hits” include describing President Obama as a racist and Marxist with a “deep-seated hatred for white people.” Beck called the (largely black) victims of Hurricane Katrina scumbags who just wanted taxpayer handouts. His feverish conspiracy theories and relentless, racially tinged attacks didn’t just rile people up; they outrightly misinformed them. A 2012 poll found that people who listened to no news were better informed than those who listened to Fox News. In an era of “infotainment,” pundits don’t become rich and famous by dealing in nuance and complexity. Instead, they need to rile up their audiences with a smelly chum of hyperbole and invectives. Beck’s apology comes very late, but at least he’s now admitting to his fans--and fans of any professional provocateur on the Right or Left--that they’re being hustled.
Gay marriage . . .
[The religious freedom' argument is an obvious fig leaf for homophobic bigotry. The Bible expressly forbids the remarriage of divorced people, yet Christian florists, bakers, and photographers have been working such "adulterous" weddings for decades without complaint.
. . . and 'religious freedom'
People are entitled to their beliefs, , but not when they violate other people’s rights. Let’s not forget that Southern segregationists also argued that it would violate their personal consciences and freedom of association if they were forced to serve blacks in their businesses or sit alongside them in schools and restaurants. If we reopen the door to legal discrimination to satisfy conservative Christians, bigots could claim the right to refuse to employ Muslims, sexually active single women, or Mormons.
Our automated future
Can technology remake our economy? Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon doesn’t think so. He came out [recently] with a new, depressing paper that deals a sharp blow to “the so-called techno-optimists.” While technophiles see advances in robotics and artificial intelligence ushering in a new age of universal bounty, Gordon says they can’t fuel enough progress to offset America’s scourges of “socioeconomic decay, poor educational test scores, massive student debt, high school dropouts, rising poverty,” and inequality.
Compared with innovations like electricity and cars from previous generations, Gordon says, computers and smartphones haven’t really been all that transformative in economic terms. And he’s convinced that the most obvious uses of robots and computers have already happened.
Wealth of nations?
"Unless the rich suddenly get a conscience, the U.S. will soon be the world's biggest banana republic, with the ruling plutocrats living behind gilded gates."
Why Dems will go down with the S.S. Hillary
Republicans operatives--of the sort who man presidential campaigns and run political action committees--are virtually convinced the Democrats will not dump Hillary Clinton, no matter how bad her poll numbers and how dodgy her record as secretary of state is revealed to have been. One GOP insider remarked that Democrats would rather "go down with the ship" than find another candidate. "All the [Democratic] poohbahs are convinced she’s their best horse," he observed. It is worth considering why that may be and what it means for the GOP field.
Democrats aren’t known for giving the nomination to the previous cycle’s runner-up. In fact, they are much more likely to kick the losers to the curb. But their devotion to Clinton is based on several factors.
First, theirs is a party driven by identity politics; I have no doubt that a man with similar credentials and longevity would have to battle it out. To be crass, Democrats elected an African American, so now it is time for a woman, many Democrats feel.
Second, there is a certain nostalgia for Bill Clinton, at least his widespread popularity and relative competence among Democratic ranks. Getting Hillary Clinton means getting Bill Clinton, but perhaps a more left-leaning (they hope, or are willing to convince themselves) version of the Clinton presidency. (Hillary Clinton was the ideologue of the two; Bill Clinton was the one who wanted to make a deal and be liked.) From a strategic point of view, Bill Clinton is the best campaigner and spokesman for the Democratic Party in recent memory (including President Obama), and having Bill Clinton back on the trail will be getting the band back together, a nostalgia tour for baby boomers.
Third, the Democratic field of Clinton challengers is extraordinarily weak. Reviving former Vermont governor Howard Dean or former Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold would be a Herculean undertaking. More viable alternatives, such as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York (a much more formidable and scandal-free candidate, I would suggest), are too intimidated to challenge the liberal doyenne.
And, finally, Hillary Clinton is one of those pols who bring out the tribalism among members of both parties. She’s the wrongly vilified woman and the unsinkable Molly Brown for Democrats; for Republicans, she’s the epitome of liberal hypocrisy. (Because she is such a flash point, it is extremely difficult to convince her supporters she is flawed or her critics that she is not the devil incarnate.) In some sense, Democrats want her so badly because the far right detests her so much. (This is why, bizarrely in my view, so many right-wingers in 2008 said that if they had to risk a Democrat in the White House, they preferred Obama--whom they saw as more reasonable and thoughtful [!]--over Clinton.) The more the right attacks Clinton, with more justification as the tell-all stories and books emerge, the more Democrats will rush to her defense. That, from the Republican perspective, is just fine. They are content to define her for 2016 and see the Democrats embrace the Obama-Clinton legacy.
Now, everyone could be wrong. Contrary to Republican perceptions, the Democrats may be more eager than the right imagines to get a new lefty standard-bearer. Clinton’s crowd may be wrong in imaging they can clear the field of opponents. Conservatives may underestimate the degree to which the Clintons can brush off scandal and controversy (they’ve done it all their adult lives). And Republicans may be foolish in thinking a right-wing ideologue (or a blah governor) can beat her.
All that said, it seems like the Titanic movie: You see oblivious people racing for a ship that is doomed. Go back! Take the next ship! But they won’t. The ending is ordained. And soon it will be every man (or woman) for himself (or herself).
Is cognitive decline a myth?
Many older people can be slower to recall facts or learn new information because their brains are so stuffed with accumulated knowledge—not because of inevitable cognitive decline. That’s the conclusion of a new study by German researchers challenging the idea that otherwise healthy adults are bound to experience deteriorating brain function. “The brains of older people do not get weak,” Michael Ramscar of Tübingen University tells The Independent (U.K.). “On the contrary, they simply know more.” Using computer models, researchers simulated memory recall from different stages in a lifetime. The models with less information in their memory banks retrieved requested data more quickly, mirroring young adults, while the models packed with information were slower, in line with the performance of older ones. Researchers also analyzed the results of a prior linguistics test in which young volunteers outperformed their older counterparts at remembering pairs of unrelated words such as “necktie” and “cracker.” The German team concluded that the result, originally attributed to cognitive decline, really reflected older adults’ having a better understanding of language—and thus being naturally resistant to nonsensical pairings.
[P]lease, could we stop talking about the size of the U.S. Army in World War II? America today has no enemies that come anywhere close to the threat Hitler’s forces posed in the 1940s. And thanks to technological progress, better training, and dramatically increased firepower, the U.S. military of 2014 is far more potent than it was in 2001. Nevertheless, [Defense Secretary Chuck] Hagel wields scant leverage on Capitol Hill, especially among Republicans, and Congress is sure to push back hard against many of his proposed cut-especially reducing future increases in military salaries and benefits. There’s little likelihood that the budget Hagel gets will much resemble the budget that Hagel is requesting.
--Kori Schake, ForeignPolicy.com
Syria and other hot spots
We] should have learned some lessons from our recent experience in the Middle East: First, how little we understand about the social and political complexities of the countries there; second, that we can — at considerable cost — stop bad things from happening in these countries but cannot, by ourselves, make good things happen; and third, that when we try to make good things happen we run the risk of assuming the responsibility for solving their problems, a responsibility that truly belongs to them.
--Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times
Pollution arrives on winds from China
Along with goods for U.S. markets, China’s booming factories are exporting pollution that fouls the air over the Western U.S., a new study has found. “We’ve outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us,” University of California, Irvine, earth scientist Steven Davis tells The Telegraph (U.K.). The study determined that Chinese emissions—blown toward the U.S. by powerful westerly winds—contribute as much as a quarter of the sulfate pollution on the West Coast, and inflict on Los Angeles at least one extra day a year of smog exceeding federal ozone limits. Researchers used computer modeling to calculate the impact of emissions from 42 industry sectors. Black carbon, which has been linked to asthma, cancer, emphysema, and heart and lung diseases, is of particular concern since it doesn’t easily wash out of the atmosphere and can travel long distances. “This is a reminder to us that a significant percentage of China’s emissions of traditional pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions are connected to the products we buy and use every day in the U.S.,” said UCLA law professor Alex Wang.
--The Week
Fox News' wounded foot . . .
The most interesting news about Fox News is that for some years now it has been damaging the right far more than the left. As a pair of political analysts wrote at Reuters last year, “When the mainstream media reigned supreme, between 1952 and 1988, Republicans won seven out of the ten presidential elections,” but since 1992, when “conservative media began to flourish” (first with Rush Limbaugh’s ascendancy, then with Fox), Democrats have won the popular vote five out of six times. You’d think they’d be well advised to leave Fox News to its own devices so that it can continue to shoot its own party in the foot.
--Frank Rich, New York magazine
. . . as Beck comes clean on his hustle
Admitting a mistake is always an admirable act. So let’s give Glenn Beck credit at least for that. Reflecting on his time as an incendiary Fox News host, Beck last week confessed, I think I played a role unfortunately in helping tear the country apart. That’s actually an understatement. Beck’s “greatest hits” include describing President Obama as a racist and Marxist with a “deep-seated hatred for white people.” Beck called the (largely black) victims of Hurricane Katrina scumbags who just wanted taxpayer handouts. His feverish conspiracy theories and relentless, racially tinged attacks didn’t just rile people up; they outrightly misinformed them. A 2012 poll found that people who listened to no news were better informed than those who listened to Fox News. In an era of “infotainment,” pundits don’t become rich and famous by dealing in nuance and complexity. Instead, they need to rile up their audiences with a smelly chum of hyperbole and invectives. Beck’s apology comes very late, but at least he’s now admitting to his fans--and fans of any professional provocateur on the Right or Left--that they’re being hustled.
--Charles Blow, New York Times
Gay marriage . . .
[The religious freedom' argument is an obvious fig leaf for homophobic bigotry. The Bible expressly forbids the remarriage of divorced people, yet Christian florists, bakers, and photographers have been working such "adulterous" weddings for decades without complaint.
--Andrew Sullivan, Dish.AndrewSullivan.com
. . . and 'religious freedom'
People are entitled to their beliefs, , but not when they violate other people’s rights. Let’s not forget that Southern segregationists also argued that it would violate their personal consciences and freedom of association if they were forced to serve blacks in their businesses or sit alongside them in schools and restaurants. If we reopen the door to legal discrimination to satisfy conservative Christians, bigots could claim the right to refuse to employ Muslims, sexually active single women, or Mormons.
--Noah Feldman in Bloomberg.com
Our automated future
Can technology remake our economy? Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon doesn’t think so. He came out [recently] with a new, depressing paper that deals a sharp blow to “the so-called techno-optimists.” While technophiles see advances in robotics and artificial intelligence ushering in a new age of universal bounty, Gordon says they can’t fuel enough progress to offset America’s scourges of “socioeconomic decay, poor educational test scores, massive student debt, high school dropouts, rising poverty,” and inequality.
Compared with innovations like electricity and cars from previous generations, Gordon says, computers and smartphones haven’t really been all that transformative in economic terms. And he’s convinced that the most obvious uses of robots and computers have already happened.
--Zachary Goldfarb, WashingtonPost.com
Wealth of nations?
"Unless the rich suddenly get a conscience, the U.S. will soon be the world's biggest banana republic, with the ruling plutocrats living behind gilded gates."
--Matthew O'Brien, TheAtlantic.com
Why Dems will go down with the S.S. Hillary
Republicans operatives--of the sort who man presidential campaigns and run political action committees--are virtually convinced the Democrats will not dump Hillary Clinton, no matter how bad her poll numbers and how dodgy her record as secretary of state is revealed to have been. One GOP insider remarked that Democrats would rather "go down with the ship" than find another candidate. "All the [Democratic] poohbahs are convinced she’s their best horse," he observed. It is worth considering why that may be and what it means for the GOP field.
Democrats aren’t known for giving the nomination to the previous cycle’s runner-up. In fact, they are much more likely to kick the losers to the curb. But their devotion to Clinton is based on several factors.
First, theirs is a party driven by identity politics; I have no doubt that a man with similar credentials and longevity would have to battle it out. To be crass, Democrats elected an African American, so now it is time for a woman, many Democrats feel.
Second, there is a certain nostalgia for Bill Clinton, at least his widespread popularity and relative competence among Democratic ranks. Getting Hillary Clinton means getting Bill Clinton, but perhaps a more left-leaning (they hope, or are willing to convince themselves) version of the Clinton presidency. (Hillary Clinton was the ideologue of the two; Bill Clinton was the one who wanted to make a deal and be liked.) From a strategic point of view, Bill Clinton is the best campaigner and spokesman for the Democratic Party in recent memory (including President Obama), and having Bill Clinton back on the trail will be getting the band back together, a nostalgia tour for baby boomers.
Third, the Democratic field of Clinton challengers is extraordinarily weak. Reviving former Vermont governor Howard Dean or former Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold would be a Herculean undertaking. More viable alternatives, such as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York (a much more formidable and scandal-free candidate, I would suggest), are too intimidated to challenge the liberal doyenne.
And, finally, Hillary Clinton is one of those pols who bring out the tribalism among members of both parties. She’s the wrongly vilified woman and the unsinkable Molly Brown for Democrats; for Republicans, she’s the epitome of liberal hypocrisy. (Because she is such a flash point, it is extremely difficult to convince her supporters she is flawed or her critics that she is not the devil incarnate.) In some sense, Democrats want her so badly because the far right detests her so much. (This is why, bizarrely in my view, so many right-wingers in 2008 said that if they had to risk a Democrat in the White House, they preferred Obama--whom they saw as more reasonable and thoughtful [!]--over Clinton.) The more the right attacks Clinton, with more justification as the tell-all stories and books emerge, the more Democrats will rush to her defense. That, from the Republican perspective, is just fine. They are content to define her for 2016 and see the Democrats embrace the Obama-Clinton legacy.
Now, everyone could be wrong. Contrary to Republican perceptions, the Democrats may be more eager than the right imagines to get a new lefty standard-bearer. Clinton’s crowd may be wrong in imaging they can clear the field of opponents. Conservatives may underestimate the degree to which the Clintons can brush off scandal and controversy (they’ve done it all their adult lives). And Republicans may be foolish in thinking a right-wing ideologue (or a blah governor) can beat her.
All that said, it seems like the Titanic movie: You see oblivious people racing for a ship that is doomed. Go back! Take the next ship! But they won’t. The ending is ordained. And soon it will be every man (or woman) for himself (or herself).
--Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
Is cognitive decline a myth?
Many older people can be slower to recall facts or learn new information because their brains are so stuffed with accumulated knowledge—not because of inevitable cognitive decline. That’s the conclusion of a new study by German researchers challenging the idea that otherwise healthy adults are bound to experience deteriorating brain function. “The brains of older people do not get weak,” Michael Ramscar of Tübingen University tells The Independent (U.K.). “On the contrary, they simply know more.” Using computer models, researchers simulated memory recall from different stages in a lifetime. The models with less information in their memory banks retrieved requested data more quickly, mirroring young adults, while the models packed with information were slower, in line with the performance of older ones. Researchers also analyzed the results of a prior linguistics test in which young volunteers outperformed their older counterparts at remembering pairs of unrelated words such as “necktie” and “cracker.” The German team concluded that the result, originally attributed to cognitive decline, really reflected older adults’ having a better understanding of language—and thus being naturally resistant to nonsensical pairings.
--The Week
THE LINK TANK
A word of advice . . . on advice
Americans are addicted to advice, so why are we still so screwed up?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304181204579364851559120522.html?mod=ITP_review_0
Economists in the dark
Faith in economics has hurt this country
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/O914NF/5V2YUR/RTN55P/180AXMT/AMSQH0/VU/h
The changing of the presidency
Power appears to be shifting in fundamental and lasting ways
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304899704579388782793560024.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1
Is GOP giving up tea?
Republicans make a slow retreat on immigration
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/46MP2V/QN3F5A/9XZUUM/KE9YTT7/KQL1IM/7V/h
Symptoms real, cause a mystery
Doctors are trying behavioral therapies for those in continuing discomfort but without any clear diagnosis
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303426304579403041504577658.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0
Americans are addicted to advice, so why are we still so screwed up?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304181204579364851559120522.html?mod=ITP_review_0
Economists in the dark
Faith in economics has hurt this country
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/O914NF/5V2YUR/RTN55P/180AXMT/AMSQH0/VU/h
The changing of the presidency
Power appears to be shifting in fundamental and lasting ways
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304899704579388782793560024.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1
Is GOP giving up tea?
Republicans make a slow retreat on immigration
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/46MP2V/QN3F5A/9XZUUM/KE9YTT7/KQL1IM/7V/h
Symptoms real, cause a mystery
Doctors are trying behavioral therapies for those in continuing discomfort but without any clear diagnosis
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303426304579403041504577658.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0
Inequality, dignity and freedom
The "1-percenters" inconsistent and insulting views about workers
Affordable Care Act's big plus
There is more freedom in the labor market
Baseball's case for the Winter Games
The Olympics can't find enough winter sports, and baseball could easily become one of them
Woody Allen, the celebrity vs. the person
Why do we tolerate behavior in entertainers we wouldn't tolerate in politicians?
Dave Barry's Manliness Manifesto
Everything is so convenient that men don't know how to do anything anymore
Every effort is made to ensure that all links are still available.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
POPCORN
By Jim Szantor
Rhetorical questions, questionable rhetoric, and whimsical observations about the absurdities of contemporary life.
- Which would be better: To have the hottest thing on the market . . . or the coolest thing on the market? Can one thing be both? Discuss!
- This just in: A new Olympic event has been added at Sochi--the Vacuum Cleaner Bag-Changing Challenge. Several weight divisions, including the Dirt Devil Decathlon.
- The evidence is clear: If planning to take an ocean cruise, bring your own food!
- Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just list the schools that aren't closed/closing instead of showing innumerable school names on the "crawl" at the bottom of the screen?
- Ice fishermen are to winter what Civil War re-enactors are to summer. What's the point of freezing your butt off/risking your life/investing in all kinds of gear in trying to catch $6 worth of fish? About as pointless as wearing heavy wool uniforms in August while running around pretending to shoot a guy from your bowling team who's dressed as the "enemy."
- "Travel magazines are just one cupcake after another. They're not about travel. The travel magazine is in fact about the opposite of travel. It's about having a nice time on a honeymoon, or whatever."--Paul Theroux
- Winter driving hazard no one ever mentions: Wet snow that clings to highway signs, making them all but unreadable. How many missed exits or wrong turns result? If we can put a man on the Moon, there should be a way to fix this. Yet . . . everybody sees this and nothing is ever done. Morning in America . . . .
- "Don't own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire."--Author Wendell Berry
- All-time-great howler from the Indianapolis Star (courtesy of the Columbia Journalism Review): "Jazz tunes, including 'Modern Leaves . . . and 'The Girl With Emphysema,' ended at 8:30 p.m. when the jazz trio packed up."
- This being the seed-catalog-in-the-mail season, a word of encouragement for all you gardeners out there. Please don't be discouraged if your stuff doesn't come up looking like the gardens in those colorful catalogs. Remember, those pictures were posed by professional vegetables!
- Speaking of vegetables, whatever happened to the Garden Weasel? Do they still make it? Will they double my order if I act now (and just pay extra postage and handling)?
- The latest trend in the automotive world is cars that drive themselves. Do they come with a computerized backseat driver?
- Jargoneering: An iKnife, we learn from Jonathon Keats of Wired.Com, is an intelligent electrosurgical kife, capable of identifying cancerous tissue as a doctor cuts out a tumor. (Kind of hard to work into a conversation, but there you have it.)
- Maybe we should start looking at people's names with an environmentalist's eyes, as in: "Hey, there goes Clarence. Not many of those left, you know. Two in the U.S. and four in England, at last count." (Not to mention Bruno, Shirley and Mortimer . . .)
- Drudge Report Headline of the Month (my choice) for January: "Thieves try to steal Sigmund Freud's ashes in London."
- No new is good news? Starting in the 1880s and lasting at least 50 years, U.S. government agencies were forbidden from forecasting tornadoes or even using the word, the Chicago Tribune reports. Officials were leery of inaccurate predictions and panicking the public. The result was that hundreds of people were killed or injured even when forecasters had been confident a violent storm was imminent.
- Headline: "Arsenio Hall returning after 20-year absence." (All due respect, but . . .. I never missed him before he went missing!) Nobody can be that upbeat all the time.
- Why do they call them "polo shirts"? The polo match I saw, no one was wearing anything of the sort.
- Another Media Word (a word you see or hear only in news reports and never hear a normal person use in real life): "Inveigle."
- Statement: "It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."--Ronald Reagan Comment: Well, he should know.
- Does the world really need these new jet-powered hand dryers? It's not too far-fetched to envision one of them blowing an infant's head off?
- At what temperature are the Fahrenheit and Centigrade readings the same? If somebody tells you it’s 40 below zero, the Chicago Tribune informs us, you don’t need to ask if they’re talking Fahrenheit or Celsius. At that temperature--and only at that temperature--the two are the same.
- Redundancy of the Week (from a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel news story): "verbal argument." As opposed to what? All arguments are verbal; if they escalate to the physical, they're fights, not arguments.
- Fifty-first Wisconsin Town I Didn't Know Existed Until I Saw It Mentioned in a Green Bay Press-Gazette Obituary: Pickett. (R.I.P. , Sue Belter, Green Bay Press-Gazette obituary, Dec. 26, 2013). Previous entries: Athelstane, Walhain, Duck Creek, Breed, Anston, Sobieski, Amberg, Osseo, Angelica, Brazeau, Waukechon, Sugar Camp, Kossuth, Lessor, Kunesh, Pulcifer, Cato, Florence, Greenleaf, Eaton, Poygan, Hofa Park, Hilbert, Hollandtown, Beaufort, Glennie, Harshaw, Bessemer, Crooked Lake, Tigerton, Goodman, Readstown, Dousman, Butternut, Montpelier, Cecil, Red River, Gillet, King, Laona, Kelly Lake, Glenmore, Tonet, Stiles, Morrison, Dunbar, Askeaton, Wild Rose. Neopit and Ellisville.
- Today's Latin Lesson: Ut rectus ex os of equus! ("That's straight from the horse's mouth!")
Sunday, January 5, 2014
POPCORN
By Jim Szantor
Rhetorical questions, questionable rhetoric, and whimsical observations about the absurdities of contemporary life.
- jimjustsaying's take on the economy vis-a-vis income inequality: A rising tide lifts all yachts!
- I had this dream: Jenny Craig was on an ocean cruise and tried to eat sensibly. But she didn't go overboard!
- Spendthrift: Someone who actually buys matches, calendars and return-address labels.
- Food-product icons who never existed: Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth and Mr. Coffee.
- jimjustsaying's dating advice, cont.: Never date anyone who has a defense attorney or a bail bondsman on his or her speed dial.
- "You don't know who's swimming naked till the tide goes out."--Warren Buffett
- Think how much easier your commute would be if the only people on the road were those with valid driver's licenses, proof of insurance and their seat belt on.
- jimjustsaying's suggested name for a new casino: Luck Dynasty
- Speaking of "Duck Dynasty," gay marriage at some point will inevitably yield gay divorces,.
- Therefore, the question becomes: What would be a possible grounds for divorce in a gay marriage? I've got it! Irreconcilable sameness!
- Malaprop of the Year, courtesy of a CNBC financial analyst: Asked whether he thought the bull market would continue, Mr. Analyst said: "Yes! It'll be like Secretariat racing down the last couple of furloughs!" (I think he meant "furlongs".)
- Still more of jimjustsaying's Words You See in Print But Never Ever Hear an Actual Person Use in Real Life: Turpitude, wizened and bereft.
- Where phrases originated: "By the skin of one's teeth" (Job XIX, verse 20); "Through thick and thin" (Chaucer's "The Reeves Tale") and "Raining cats and dogs" (Jonathan Swift's "Polite Conversation").
- Bumper sticker: Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
- "If ghosts can walk through walls, why don't they fall through the floor?"--Steven Wright
- How slow is business in Fast Food Land? Last year, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC and Arby's closed more restaurants than they opened.
- Whatever happened to Spuds MacKenzie?
- I don't know about you, but seeing a guide dog in action always gives me a warm feeling.
- Redundancy Patrol: "Tiny hamlet," "past history" and "sudden urge."
- Whose job is it to clean up the broken glass after accidents? (Answer: Your tires!)
- Why do stores with double entry doors always have one of them locked? (Answer: To make it harder for thieves to make a quick exit, but it's irritating nonetheless.)
- Closed-Captioning Gaffe of the Year, CBS News, 1:40 p.m., CST, April 19: "Debt nation" rendered onscreen as "detonation."
- Inside the infomercial: Producers have to find a reliable factory, get them a mold or drawings, and hire a fulfillment facility, a telemarketer to take orders and a media buyer to purchase air time. Then there's packaging, shipping, returns, customer service, an Internet storefront and more. A product that sells for $20 usually costs $2-$3 wholesale. After overhead costs, the hope is to squeeze out a $4-$5 profit.--NBC News report
- Why don't they make stationery that looks like cocktail napkins or coasters that look like used envelopes?
- Fiftieth Wisconsin Town I Didn't Know Existed Until I Saw It Mentioned in a Green Bay Press-Gazette Obituary: Ellisville. R.I.P. Vernis Ida Matilda (Gaedtke) Karnopp-Kudick, Green Bay Press-Gazette obituary, Dec. 18, 2013). Previous entries: Athelstane, Walhain, Duck Creek, Breed, Anston, Sobieski, Amberg, Osseo, Angelica, Brazeau, Waukechon, Sugar Camp, Kossuth, Lessor, Kunesh, Pulcifer, Cato, Florence, Greenleaf, Eaton, Poygan, Hofa Park, Hilbert, Hollandtown, Beaufort, Glennie, Harshaw, Bessemer, Crooked Lake, Tigerton, Goodman, Readstown, Dousman, Butternut, Montpelier, Cecil, Red River, Gillet, King, Laona, Kelly Lake, Glenmore, Tonet, Stiles, Morrison, Dunbar, Askeaton, Wild Rose and Neopit.
- Today's Latin Lesson: Res in speculum es propinquus quam they videor. ("Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.")
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