SAY THAT AGAIN....11/26/23

A “voiced labiodental fricative” is a phrase used to describe a type of consonantal sound used in some languages. Basically they are weird noises.

I had never heard these words before so thought I’d look up a few more just for fun.

Limerence is the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person - like Donald Trump, perhaps?

Obdurate is an adjective used to describe someone who stubbornly refuses to change one’s opinion or course of action - like election deniers maybe?

Flimflam is nonsensical or insincere talk - like what you hear on Fox News?

Loquacious is someone who talks a great deal - like what Vivek Ramaswamy does?

Omnishambles is a noun that describes a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations - like during the Trump Administration?

Tintinnabulation is a tinkling sound - we all make one of these several times a day.

And finally….

Persiflage is slightly contemptuous mockery or banter - this is what I do every morning.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?....11/25/23

When I was a young man, my parents had a wall phone housed in a wooden box with a crank that you had to turn to make a call. The horn-shaped receiver with a cord attached to it hung on the side of the box.

All calls on the party line came in, each distinguished by how a series of beeps was arranged. Our “number” was 2 longs and a short.

Rubbernecking, or picking up someone else’s call and surreptitiously listening to their conversation, was common. Everyone did it but no one would announce their presence. You could often tell that someone else was on the line by their breathing.

I guess that’s how news got around, but it was eerie.

So in the early 80’s our office received a call from a contractor who was using a portable phone while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.

We were impressed to say the least.

Just 40 years later, almost 7 billion people now use a smartphone.

CAN'T BEAT 'EM? JOIN 'EM....11/24/23

Biden is thinking about joining TikTok.

The platform is despised by many across the idealogical spectrum because of the company’s ties to China, but when 32% of adults under 30 get their news from TikTok, it’s political malpractice not to engage with this audience on their own turf.

The President is bleeding the support of young people, and this is one of the ways his handlers think they can recover some of those losses if he shows up being cool on the app like Bernie Sanders does with his 1.4 million followers.

The irony is that 59% of Americans think TikTok is a threat to national security because of all the data China is downloading about them, but they keep scrolling anyway.

Presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nicki Haley each said they’re going to ban the platform in the U.S. if they are elected.

Good luck with that….