A few random thoughts:
(1) The Google driverless car
Why does it look like a toy? The aerial on top appears to be what you wind it up with. Auto design gone infantile? They should have got an Italian F1 driver to help with appearance, or someone from Jeep, or even Tesla. How many kids are going to buy it? Not very many. What is wrong with looking grown-up?
(2) POTUS as FLOPUS
The president received what is being described as “an icy reception” from the West Point graduates the other day when he delivered a “philosophical” speech on future US foreign policy, the essence of which was captured in his remark, “I am not weak.” Maybe it wasn’t his speech, but his failure to return their salutes, instead offering a handshake, that chilled the atmosphere.
(3) Pope flap?
On being told by the Prime Minister of Israel that Jesus spoke Hebrew, Pope Francis corrected by saying, “Aramaic.” That these do not necessarily constitute an alternative to one another is a matter of enormous scholarly debate. In urging peace in the region, the pope remains silent, so far as I am aware, on the increasing pace of unrest in Brazil as the World Cup looms.
(4) Oops
The White House “outed” the chief CIA operative in Afghanistan. Remember the “outrage” over the Valerie Plame affair? Sigh. Makes me long for simple competence.
(5) VA
The VA scandal surely at the very least is going to cost General Shinseki his job. Right? Right? Surely right? Meanwhile it is worth remembering that the VA hospital system is in disarray. The only viable model for the American government running healthcare. Sigh.
(6) Malaysian airliner
Sadly, it has been announced that the pings guiding the massive seven week search of a patch of the ocean floor in the Indian Ocean off Australia are definitely not from the plane’s black boxes. The search is being widened and relocated. This follows analysis last week that the Inmarsat data was reliable. Certainty is a slippery notion.
(7) H2O
It has been announced that seven states in the US are caught in “severe drought” and some areas in “extreme drought.” Meanwhile, Michigan sees opportunities for development of its “blue economy,” i.e. water-based job growth. One fifth of the world’s fresh water is at Michigan’s finger-tips. One man’s Messiah is another man’s meshugge.
(8) Seasonal displacement
No, this heading does not address global warming/climate change/climate disruption. Rather the two main North American professional winter sports (the NBA and the NHL) plod along through their play-offs. Neither has reached their final series. Will they be done by Midsummer’s Day? Sheesh.
(10) Bottoms up
There is “outrage.” No less … outrage. First a German and now an Australian newspaper have published a picture of Princess Kate’s bare bottom, exposed when a gust of wind lifted her dress. A question must be asked: why “bare”??? We have grown used to the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” and usually alerted to ponder whether such was deliberate. There is no reason for a wind-lifted lady’s dress to expose a “bare” bottom as kilt wearers the world over are very well aware. To bare or not to bare, that is the question, and if bare than bear the consequences.
clamjamfrey 