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And other things do… Anyway, this piece on “Aristocratization” from our friends at the Onion, even seven years later, is still funny (and no, that is not Stately Dog Manor in the picture).

The Grey Lady gives us this exegesis on the now thirty-year collaboration between the National Security Agency and itself AT&T. Short answer: if it was technically feasible for AT&T (and to a lesser extent apparently, Verizon) to hand the government anything transmitted over telecommunications (telephone or internet traffic), it would appear that it was done. Which has been my surmise for some time: the only limits on the government’s ability to spy on you are technical, not “legal” let alone “constitutional.” And so the powerful– the government and its corporate partners (and yes, that is the word used), can, and...

The Grey Lady treats us to its own version of NY Post style speculation/encouragement on the issue of whether Vice President Joe Biden will be entering the Presidential race against Eva Peron Eva Braun Hillary Clinton. Let me say that with Hillary Clinton, all things are possible. She has already been instrumental in giving us our first Black President (no, not her husband). Right now, she is on track to give us, quite possibly, our first Jewish/avowed socialist President, or possibly our first Latino President, or, maybe even our first woman President (Elizabeth Warren or perhaps some Republican… such as...

A WaPo op ed columnist urges us to “Stop Laughing at Donald Trump,” even as he mocks Republican icon John McCain for having been captured in the Vietnam War. Seems like reasonable advice, given that he might well be a false flag candidate. The slow moving toxic-waste-train-wreck that is the Greek bailout rolls on as the EU approves a seven billion euro loan to pay back the EU bondholders

As you know, American national policy is that Paranoia is Patriotic [TM]. Today, and really the last few days, are truly worthy of the old adage, “Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.” Not over the official horsesh*t, like ISIS Islamic State ISIL, but over, well, you know, the world coming apart at the seams. (I’d personally blame that water-stealer Tom Selleck, but that’s just me.) Item: the Greek PM has, shortly after sacking the only grownup in his government Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, gone back to the EU finance people begging for a new three year loan, without discussing any specific...

As Druids dance around Stonehenge, and Americans celebrate Father’s Day, Roy Edroso gives us this taste of “heritage” from the American experience, in response to the recent racist horror of the murder of nine people in a church in Charleston, S.C. Roy’s inimitable take pulls no punches. Of course, the premise in which one can pull no punches these days is humor. People of goodwill have now been trapped by their own sense of fair play, which has metastasized as if a cancer into the premise of “everyone is entitled to their opinion,” which in turn has morphed into the...

We’ll start with the immediate solipsism, and note my finish in the Retro Four-Miler in a faster pace than last week, but still… not… fast. Ran the first mile with my friend E., who finished about eight minutes faster than I… all in all, her (10 min. mile) pace picked up after the first mile, and mine slackened. A tough year running-wise… but, now I have my nine, and hence, have automatic guaranteed entry for the 2016 NYC Marathon, and am already entered in the 2015… if I complete both, that will be fifteen in a row, and life-time guaranteed...

Hot day here in the big city. Not so hot that I didn’t manage to eke out a finish (just under a 12 minute mile) in the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K, my eighth finish of the year towards nine needed to qualify for the 2016 NYC– which would then be my 15th consecutive if I make it to the finish line– entitling me to guaranteed entry until I drop… since I’m registered for at least three more races here, including the 2015 NYC… I’m optimistic… And on the subject of things I’m optimistic (albeit cautiously) about… Sen. Rand Paul of...

The old joke was “Welcome to Ireland; please set your watches back 200 years.” Times they would appear to be changing as Ireland appears to be at the forefront of one of the big human rights developments in the world; the Grey Lady treats us to this discussion of the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland, in light of the impressive (62% to 38%) referendum win for a constitutional amendment permitting same sex marriage in Ireland. While a huge (and well-deserved) rebuke for one of the most abusive and corrupt religious institutions in the Western world the Church, the...