The Villagers and Their Narrative

Just heard NPR Morning Edition correspondent Steve Inskeep cut Rep. Barney Frank off in mid-sentence (audio link here). Inskeep says (at 4:13 on the tape) “the biggest part of the federal budget is entitlements.”  Frank says “No, wrong, I’m sorry, the defense budget is bigger than Medicare, and Social Security is in fact self-financing, and […]

Friday Grab Bag

Good lord, yesterday’s post was quite the whinge.  I need to work on feeling less insecure, which is the same thing as saying I need a swift kick in the ass.  I blame my dog. Schatzi’s still down in the dumps, and so, by extension, am I.  She’s listless, slow, barely interested in things that […]

Tuesday Blahs & August Doldrums

Our dachshund Schatzi has been listless and sleepy the last two days, not her normal frisky self.  All bodily functions seem normal, she’s eating, her nose feels cool and wet … in short, we don’t have any idea what’s wrong with her.  If only she could tell us, right?  If the pup doesn’t perk up […]

You Can’t Read That! Banned Book Review: Crank

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. From my last You Can’t Read That! post: Apparently it’s a widely-held belief in anti-gay Christian conservative circles that the government — particularly the jack-booted thugs who run public libraries and schools — foists pro-gay literature on young readers while […]

Friday Grab Bag: Gridlock, Gas Gauges, Germans

Blog neglect again?  By way of lame excuses, I’ve been busy with historical articles for my hashing blog and working on recipes for my cooking blog.  Fat lot of good that does you, dear Paul’s Thing reader, right?  I’ll try to make up for it with some random Friday observations. ——————– I may not drink […]