The title of this blog is borrowed from a book by political satirist P.J. O’Rourke. It was written in 1990, but I checked it out again so I’d have something to read on the plane when I covered the Republican convention earlier this year. I wanted to know if it would hold up more than 20 years…
My colleague, Jim, and I are basking, like many of you, in the afterglow of the parties’ nominating conventions. I spent the week in Tampa covering the Republicans; Jim made the trip to Charlotte to see the Democrats.Quickly, let’s review the two parties’ completely different messages:”We need to sound the alarm!” the Democrats declared. “If we elect…
Have you guys heard about this place in New York that’ll sell you tap water for $2.50 because the guy puts it through a filter?He’s not even saying the water’s from an artesian well or France or something. He’s just saying, “Hey, come over here. I got a giant Brita pitcher.”Maybe I don…
I watched some of the opening ceremony of the Olympics the other night at a bar with a few co-workers. The sound wasn’t on, but I think I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.Except I missed this part.The Olympics are about pride and pageantry, two things the British are very good…
It was late afternoon, a Tuesday. I remember it vividly.I was driving home from work. I had hit an unusually slow stretch of traffic at Highway 161, but as I arrived in north Arlington, I grew more optimistic that I would soon arrive home (My commute had already been interrupted once when I was diverted to a breaking news…
Remember 1992? President George HW Bush threw up on the prime minister of Japan to protest the cancelation of Who’s the Boss. EuroDisney opened in Paris, billing itself as a sure way to alleviate tension in the Balkans.And a video game called Wolfenstein 3D made the concept of shooting Germans accessible to students learning about World War II…
Modern philosopher George Carlin once said, “Think of how stupid the average person is and then realize half of them are stupider than that.” (I was going to link to a video, but some of his language can be considered borderline indelicate.)I bring this up because of the Cinnamon Challenge.In case you’re not familiar, a participant in…