lookin

Give me the Wall Street Journal's Thanksgiving op-ed

It wasn't in New York but, since we're sharing, I also recall being a tearoom denizen in my teens. In fact, somewhere I think I still have an old urinal cake pressed in my scrapbook.

Right on the money, jgoo. No doubt our friends in the Netherlands are among the most esteemed of gastronomes, but I did happen to watch an episode of the Two Fat Ladies last week in which Jennifer opines that the Dutch are ahead of even the Americans in pushing tasteless produce into their supermarkets. Even so, I'm pretty sure I could find something tasty and organic to eat in Holland.

I'm talking about the large set of nuts he's grabbing onto. Although they could also be a nice pair of onions. Also thought the 'chocolate chips' were toasted onions too. One track mind, huh? I'm sticking with the cream cheese though.

Sampling his first bagel with nuts, David decides it would be really good with cream cheese.

Please rate tie bar. Do you prefer something colorful? Or basic black? Maybe classic gold? Or perhaps something a bit less dressy? Whatever you decide, please don't forget the payoff!

Antisocial Media® founder AdamSmith sits back and waits for advertisers. So far, only ISIS and the NRA have signed up.

While I don't dislike likes, I have a hard time liking dislikes. It's like what's not to like?

Either this stuff stopped working or I just sat on an anthill.

Fashionista Felicia Fishnet gives a leg up to glamour

I seem to be a little short today.

Well, I'll cop to "grievously ignominious lout", but "rotten blood-freezing excrement stain on a Sumo Wrestler's underpants" is just hyperbole. Everyone knows they wear a mawashi.

Well, Aristophanes probably could have foreseen it and, if Wikipedia is to be believed, so could Seneca, here satirizing the Emperor Claudius: When he had made a great noise with that end of him which talked easiest, he cried out, "Oh dear, oh dear! I think I have made a mess of myself." My guess would be that our preoccupation with crepitation began pretty early on, probably right after we discovered that it annoyed others. Don't tell me it was the volcano!

They said it was only cosmetic damage, and I would have believed them. Personally, I'd have been a lot more pissed off, having gone through all the hassle of finally getting on the plane and on my way, to have to turn around and do it all over again the next day. I probably would have kept it to myself though.

Dammit, I said Grady's Wines, not Shady Pines!

Who knew hacking could be so easy? . . . . . . . . . Let's call and order some crackers.

Unhappily married for thirty-five years, hoarders Bill and Ellen Grabowski are terrified of divorce.

I sure don't feel qualified to comment, having never set foot in Hong Kong or any part of China. But just reading this one recent article makes it pretty clear that the dynamics between Hong Kong and the mainland are undergoing a sea change. I understand it used to be differences in political freedoms that divided the two areas, but now financial issues seem to be getting mixed in big-time. And we all know what happens when that occurs. Although Hong Kong's per capita GDP is still five times that of the mainland, its total GDP is less than two percent of the mainland's. And my guess is that percentage will shrink. On the other hand, if folks in Hong Kong show their brothers and sisters on the mainland how to manage an effective protest, it may be the lever that moves the world.

She does seem to have disappeared from the airwaves lately. Fortunately, after I subscribed to Netflix streaming, I found they have all forty-five episodes of Keeping Up Appearances. Best eight bucks I've spent in a long time. I like everything I've ever seen with Patricia Routledge. Even her low-key Hetty Wainthropp character is a must-see when it's on. If you like the lady, and haven't seen her 'Kitty' character, here's a real treat: I think her physical comedy is among the best I've ever seen. Just watching her get off the stage gets me laughing. That woman can put her ass right in the chuckle zone every time.

What would be really helpful, to me anyway, would be if you would share just how you think those things got done and just who did them. In spite of his healthcare initiatives in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney wasn't planning to extend them to the nation at large. Unless you have some evidence to the contrary. John McCain wasn't trying to figure out ways to reduce our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and shift some responsibility to Middle Eastern partners. Unless you know something I don't. Rick Santorum wasn't working to let gays get married, or even serve openly in the military. Unless he shared those plans with you and I just missed it. Paul Ryan wasn't suggesting that insurers cover preexisting conditions and he sure wasn't backing away from handing out vouchers to Medicare recipients and letting them figure out how to make up the difference. Unless he's changed his thinking and forgot to let us know. I know it's a lot easier to say "Obama's awful and has not done a single thing for anyone in the Country!" but, when it comes to pointing to a specific Republican initiative that would have worked better, the voices seem to get much quieter. Believe me, I am not averse to learning something new. It's just that I still have this old-fashioned desire to base that knowledge on something with even a tinge of specificity. All lines are open.

His accountant probably toted up what that universal gold was going to cost him. But I bet he won't pry it out of AdamSmith's hands for a measly ban. Besides, AdamSmith didn't get where he is without learning how to deal with a little shit-stirring.

After death, hell, I'd settle for a little awareness before death.

Been there once, the first Mardi Gras after Katrina. I didn't stay long as a friend was waiting. (His family talks like Brooklyn although they're fifth generation NOLA. Like AdamSmith, they say the same ethnic groups settled both places. And probably about the same time too.) Anyhoo, I talked to one dancer who said he didn't make outside appointments. On the other side of the bar, I noticed another dancer squeezed between two bar stools and facing the bar. The dancer, as well as the two gents on either side of him, were staring down toward what I assume was his package. It looked like there might have been some hands down there too, but I can't be sure as they were all packed tight as a huddle of penguins. I need to get back there one of these days, armed with the insights you folks have kindly provided.

Obama's no PR guy, that's for sure. If he were, I think he'd have some pretty good material to work with. When he took office, it wasn't a sure thing that: - our economy wouldn't still be in the tank - the stock market would get out of the 8000's - unemployment would go down - we could bring troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan - the auto industry would survive - we'd stay out of default - we'd have millions more folks with affordable insurance - Social Security and Medicare would still be intact - we'd have a coalition in the Mideast with Mideast members - DADT would be abolished - gays could marry in thirty states and DC If a PR company couldn't find something to work with in that list, top-of-my-head as it is, they should take down their shingle. Even his failures in immigration reform and economic equality have been stymied by an obstructionist Republican Congress. I think Obama can be forgiven for thinking that folks must be able to see that with the naked eye. But it wouldn't hurt to remind them. The Democratic Congress, in my opinion, is getting nearly as dysfunctional as the Republican Congress. Why they think it's up to Obama to do all the heavy lifting is beyond me. It wouldn't hurt them to get out in front and talk about the accomplishments they've all shared. The fact is, more of us are a hell of a lot better off than we would have been with any of the 2008/2012 Republican presidential candidates and, to my knowledge, no one is saying that. At least not that I can hear. I don't see it happening but, if the 99% of ordinary folks in the U. S. want to see their lives get better in the next little while, they'd vote to continue the things Obama's got done and get him some more Democratic help in the Congress. On the other hand, if they want to see wealth continue to get concentrated at the top, they'll vote in some more Republicans. If voters need someone to tell them that, then it wouldn't hurt the President to be that someone. Although perhaps he's saving it for the book.

I wonder if that's what I like so much about them. You always get to the nub, MsGuy, and I think you've done it again. I also wonder if it might be possible that they do understand the exercise of power but, as you say, are not comfortable with it. Gotta confess though that folks who are comfortable with the exercise of power sometimes give me the willies.