Circular Reasoning: U Albany President

"Anyone who is found responsible for their actions will be held accountable."   And for this Robert Jones is paid about half a mil a year.

Debate Critique

Overall impression:   Marco Rubio has enormous ears.

14 Wires

   The wire is just lying there, in the hell-hole beneath the computer desk.  Somehow, someone must have jostled it loose.  I know the drill:  move the desk out, risking disturbing more of the wires, cables, cords that connect us to the outside world.  I know how to plug things in, once I know where they belong.  I count at least 14 wires or cables, or cords--I'll just call them wires.  And then there is the hard drive, monitor, modem, Trend-Net, LogTech device, printer, cell phone, speakers, and desk light, and a few other things I can't name.
   I've called the help-line several times before, but find it a tedious and ignominious experience.  I'm uncertain of the vocabulary, and dislike feeling like an idiot. If there were one connection per wire, I'd have no problem. But the above-mentioned devices tend to have multiple orifices, some of them not in use, or probably for some other connection.  I don't know.  Crouched with a flashlight on the floor in front of the computer, I find the loose wire has 3 prongs, so I look for any device that corresponds to that.  I find a three-outlet space, and plug the wire into that, don't know what I've connected to, but it fit, so I figured I've got a chance.
    The desktop comes up, but the internet connection is lost, the screen tells me.  I don't know if more than one wire had been jostled loose, or if I plugged the wrong wire into the wrong hole. I give up, and get up from the floor, push the computer desk back into place, return the flashlight to its place, and ponder what to do.
   I am saved.  In the form of a 12-year-old who has come to visit.  He quietly assesses the situation, and without moving anything, or asking a single question, enters the space beneath the desk, performs  whatever magic it is that he invokes, and in a matter of minutes the computer is back in action.  Hallelujah.
 

I Smell A Rat, Harmless and Quixotic

    Every major and minor media outlet has picked up on the story, which makes such a nice human-interest end  to a broadcast.  A man lost his wallet, and some of the contents have been returned via the U..S. Mail.  The victim goes to the media to report that he received a letter from the finder, with his driver's license, credit cards and other stuff, along with a written explanation detailing why he returned some items and kept others.  He needed the cash (amount is unspecified) to buy weed, the Metro Card because fares have gone up, and the wallet itself because it was "kinda cool."
    If I were an investigative reporter, I would question the validity of the entire story.  The letter writer has better-than-average mastery of the English language, though a few punctuation marks have been omitted.  He takes the time to explain his reasoning for retaining some of the property, for reasons best assigned to one of the hipster genre.  He returns credit cards, which any thinking person  would know have been cancelled.  So evidently the only item of value is the driver's license. He is not an honest person; he kept all the property that he could use.  So why would he go to the trouble to write an explanatory note and pay the postal fees to send it?   And, most telling of all, why would he explain that he knew where to mail it because he saw the  owner's address on the driver's license.  That should have been obvious to the owner of the wallet, but it does clear up all the questions that might arise when the story airs.
    It's an amusing anecdote.  No reporter is going to be sent to check it out.  We are all suckers for this type of story.  But I see very gullible forces of the mass media all too eager  to dish out such pap to a receptive audience. If we hear it on TV or read it on the internet, it must be true.  Just ask BaBabooey.
 

Binge Watching, but Not Really

    Afternoon television is the epitome of a vast wasteland, so I wholeheartedly endorse Netflix.  The service just recently was extended to us, and it is much appreciated.  To date, we have watched,  binged if you will, though in smallish bites, the episodes of Making A Murderer, Chasing Tyson, Better Call Saul, and today I viewed the first episode of House of Cards.  Of course, I'm a season or two behind, but it's possible that I'll be able to become current someday, if I live long enough.

Low-lives, Losers, and Lawyers

Steve Avery, Mike Tyson, and Jimmy McGill------Netflix, what would we do without you?

Morphing

   Is Ryan Seacrest transforming himself into Rob Lowe?

"Ash Wednesday"

"Because I know that time is always time
 And place is always and only place
 And what is actual is actual for only one time
 And only for one place."

The Life of Riley

     "What a revolting development this is."

Eats

    Now that I spend way more time in front of the TV than before, and Super Bowl is near, all the daytime shows have been inundated with recipes for game-day snacks.  We used to go that route years ago on  different occasions;  Dorothy made some very tasty appetizers, many of them including bacon.  But now, our cuisine is mainly of the meat and potato (well, starch) sort.
    The media-induced  seduction of the specialty prevailed:  Who could resist the simple but fantastic  treats that have the hosts and celebrities smacking their lips amid proclamations of deliciousness.
   So I decided to try one, after all these years.  It had to be simple though. I decided on one with only 3 ingredients, or that's what I remembered.  I didn't write it down.  Kelly Ripa was whipping up her specialty, a cheesy artichoke dip. I used to buy artichokes as a Thanksgiving relish, mostly to defer some of the criticism directed at the parsnips.  I haven't bought artichokes in a long, long time, but after a search I located a jar of them in the vegetable section.  Only a single jar. I reduced the Ripa recipe to one-third of her amount.  I mashed them up a little in a bowl, added a cup of mayonnaise and a cup of shredded cheese, and popped them into the oven at 350 degrees, until they were slightly browned on top.
    On the show, all present dipped a chip and tasted.  They unanimously pronounced the concoction  absolutely delicious.  Kelly said she brings it to many holiday events.  I tried it, on strips of toast since we had no chips.  It was okay, but I don't think I'm likely to ever make it again.  As I've mentioned, I do not have a discriminating palate.  (And when I think about artichoke dip now, I feel a vague sense of nausea.)
 
 

Know one?

A revenant, that is.  One who returns after a long absence, who may have been presumed dead.  Like a ghost, an apparition, a spirit.  I'm getting scared.

Flora and Fauna

    Today on my drive down Route 40, approaching the area of Hurley's Garage,  I saw a dead deer along the side of the road, and a few hundred yards further the carcass of a possum, and only slightly further down the road a dead raccoon.  It was kind of like a zoo exhibit, only with deceased animals.
    When I got home, the weather was so nice and I was so bored, that after I did my hundred deck-steps, I walked down the road a distance and picked up some litter, as the trash containers are out front for pickup day tomorrow.
    Later this evening, as I was taking my socks off, what do I see crawling on my leg but a tick.  Is there not safe haven anywhere?