Saturday Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Recently you've seen Hillary Clinton become more and more visible with some Democrats and journalists calling for her to run for President in 2024. You also may have seen reports that "donations" to the Clinton Foundation are at their lowest point ever. Don't fall for thinking that those two things are unrelated...  Reminder that high crime rates along with inflation in the 1970's were key reasons that liberal Democrats were relegated to loserville for decades. Why does each generation have to learn these lessons on what DOESN'T work?... The Hagia Sophia was built between 532 and 537 AD. Just 5-years to build one of the wonders of the world using basically just muscle power. Today many small local bridge projects take longer than that... Movies like Saving Private Ryan begat X-Rated parodies like Shaving Ryan's Privates, the advent of YouTube inspired the launch of YouPorn, and now the popularity of TicTok has spurred the creation of an adult knock-off TitTok. (Obviously NSFW). Porn always seems to be at the forefront of any Internet trends... Think the next big step for NIL (name, image and license) money for college football players is for well-heeled boosters to buy big insurance policies for key players like Pittsburgh's QB and ACC Player of the Year Kenny Pickett who decided not to play in the Peach Bowl but prepare for the NFL draft instead. This bowl game is the biggest for Pitt in decades (since Dan Marino). Pickett doesn't want to risk injury hurting his draft position but a massive insurance policy paid for by NIL money could help eliminate that risk and give whatever booster who comes up with the cash bigtime bragging rights... Wonder if Hillary is aware of the law of unintended consequences? Trying to raise her visibility and perhaps running again for President may make people on both sides of the aisle ask, "Why wasn't she prosecuted for (fill in the blank felony)?" Thinking Kamala Harris in particular wouldn't hesitate to get a DOJ investigation of the Steele Dossier or the missing email server or many other things off and running... Fascinated by language and this week I was thinking about the word "congenital" which of course means "present from birth." However I can't help but remember that the prefix "con" usually means "with" while "genital" normally means well "private parts" (to use a euphemism).  So shouldn't "congenital" mean "with the genitals?"... Slightly worried about the snow season here in the Northeast. Everyone knows a restaurant that had to cut back hours or close altogether because they cannot find enough workers. Well you see signs everywhere you go in New England for snow plow jobs that need to be filled. If there just aren't enough people to plow the snow - things could get very messy after even a medium sized storm. Just something to keep in the back of your head... The word "congenital" now also makes me think of Errol Flynn who was rumored to be able to play the song You Are My Sunshine on the piano with his penis - or put another way - he could play the piano "congenitally"...  As always if this column has made you smile or think - don't be afraid to hit the like button. Also please subscribe (it's FREE) and share with your friends. Thanks in advance...