Thursday Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

In case the Clinton Foundation somehow lost money on FTX let's just get ahead of the curve and say that SBF didn't kill himself.... AT&T is discontinuing both its operator service (dial 0) and its 411 service for information. It is an end of an era. They were the last US provider who had an operator or information service. The Jim Croce song Operator has never been more dated... Bothered by reports that Germany may be looking to buy oil from Iran to help with their energy crunch. They wouldn't openly buy Iranian oil because of US sanctions against Iran. My fear is the Biden Administration may be trying for a new nuclear deal with Iran and Germany paving the way to buy oil may be an indication the deal may be immanent. Or maybe they just think Joe Biden is too impotent to do anything about them violating the sanctions. Come on man...  This may only interest me but just learned that actor Ward Bond (one of my favorites growing up) was a football teammate of John Wayne at USC. Like I said - may only interest me... Looking forward to the upcoming horror stories coming soon from the Qatar World Cup. The question will be continued to be asked why Qatar was chosen in the first place (hint it was massive bribes and corruption)... Movie idea: Tolstory. Basically the same plot as Toy Story but with Russian characters who all meet grisly endings... Speaking of the Russians - mesmerizing Russian folk dance. The women seem to be floating or gliding as much as dancing... The first World Cup was held in 1930 which means the 2030 World Cup would have special significance. Not sure what other nations are bidding to be the host but my gut hopes the four country bid from Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay is selected. The first World Cup was held in Uruguay so I think it would be fitting... Personally think its way too early to care about the 2024 Presidential election so I paid no attention to Trump's announcement. I did find it interesting all the stories saying Trump is the only Republican candidate who if nominated could lose the election. Makes me wonder if the media is so afraid of Trump they are trying to take him down a peg. More likely they are just sowing division in the Republican Party to help out the Dems who, of course, immediately sent out emergency fund raising emails upon Trump’s announcement... Very cool tradition at NASA continues... The Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times” never felt so real. Although I don’t think the Chinese contemplated how that curse would work on a people with such brief attention spans. I mean people moved on from the news that UFO’s are real in a blink of an eye… 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..