You may have heard of how the CIA, trying to nail down Osama Bin Ladin’s location, invented a fake hepatitis b vaccination campaign that attempted to obtain blood samples from children living in a compound suspected of being Osama’ hideout, hoping to match the kids’ DNA with Bin Ladin’s to confirm his presence. The Taliban,…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Jesus, dad, your first lay must have been incredible!” “Como se dice in Español, ‘Don’t quit your day job’?” “Cole Porter must be turning over in his grave.” “A Courtney Love you isn’t.” “I’m guessing, the papa bear’s porridge was too hot!” “Yeah, yeah, ‘Don’t do drugs, stay in school.’ Dad, I’m…
The grand bargain that nobody wanted
Alec MacGillis has a nice piece in the New Republic about one of the most fatuous of the grand confabs that float about the French cuffs and poached salmon universe, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s “Fiscal Summit,” at which a variety of rich people moan about the fact that the gutless politicians in Washington won’t…
James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide, Part 11
INTRODUCTION This is the 11th episode of “James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide,” a rambling consideration of Thurber’s works, examining his life and work in some detail. Generally, these appear every Friday. The links to the first part and the most recent part are given below. Part 11 continues discussion of Thurber’s The Middle-Aged Man on…
Sex and hypocrisy, now and forever, one and inseparable!
I grew up in the 1950s, when we laughed at the Victorians and emulated their prudery. At Thanksgiving, we ate “white meat” and “second joints” rather than breast and thigh. Freud’s theoretically explosive insights were put in the service (by Freud himself) of a nice Jewish boy morality that exalted family and career. Pre-marital or…
Can’t stop the Ennui! And it’s all Obama’s fault!
Fareed “Everyone else has said this so I have to say it too” Zakaria writes a column accusing President Obama of running a foreign policy that has failed, over and over again, to be, well, fabulous! Remember Ronald Reagan? He gave speeches that had some swagger, some class! “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Why…
Pseudo New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Talk about lying down on the job! Just kidding. But, seriously, Smedley, this is not a standard death benefit.” “I told him to get a life, but, obviously, he never listened.” “Remind me never to hire anyone named ‘Bartleby’. Man, I am on fire!” “The kicker is his productivity has never been…
Conclusive Proof that ObamaCare is Working
The Republicans have formed a “Select Committee” (of Select Assholes) to “investigate” Benghazi. Best evidence that said committee will be a complete and total farce: Charles Krauthammer thinks so too! Yes, Charles Krauthammer! Yes, that Charles Krauthammer!
James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide, Part 10
INTRODUCTION This is the 10th episode of “James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide,” a rambling consideration of Thurber’s works, examining his life and work in some detail. Generally, these appear every Friday. The links to the first part and the most recent part are given below. Part 10 continues discussion of Thurber’s The Middle-Aged Man on…
The Republican Party, beneath contempt and beyond it
The Republican Party reached a new low yesterday, when House Republicans voted to hold IRS bureaucrat Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for exercising her constitutional right not to testify against herself. Crazy is the new normal for Republicans. Although they talk of the Constitution and the rule of law, they believe in neither. They…