Prinarily Political XXIV

The NY Times interviewed a cross section of women who voted for Trump and herewith a few clips of why:
-Trump's not a perfect man, by any means. He kind of reminds me of my ex-husband.
-I believe he knows how to build things.
-I made up my mind for Trump at the last minute.
-I don't think Donald Trump is really Republican but he's not in a box.
-If he would only have kept his mouth shut during the primary........
-I felt he was the lesser of two evils.
-I laughed Trump off like everyone else did.......
tjs

A Public Nap

In Japan, napping in the office is common and culturally accepted - a subtle sign of diligence i.e. you must be working yourself to exhaustion. Sleeping in public is especially prevalent on commuter trains but if you took up several spaces on the train you would draw reproach. In other words, no manspreading, please!
tjs

Virtual Reality et al

Welcome to the 21st century!
-At a tech show in Las Vegas, Intel distributed 3D video headsets. It also passed out motion sickness
bags to everyone in case anyone felt nauseous.
-At the same fair there was introduced a "smart mattress" that repositions itself as you toss and turn. If your partner snores, you can raise a part of the mattress to tilt their head and stop the snoring. It could save a lot of marriages.
-Lastly, there were 2.8 million drones sold in the USA last year - 1.2 million over the holidays. One parent said his daughter got a drone from Santa, and its first launch took off and never returned. The child was six years old. God save me from amateurs!
tjs

Potpourri XIV

Quote of the week: Timothy Egan in the NYTimes describes Donald Trump as "the pumpkin-haired rooster taking credit for the dawn."

Bill Maher commenting on the Senatorial selection routine - "If there are two Dakotas there should be fifteen Californias."

Barack Obama on reviving the D party "will need
 inspiration coupled with perspiration........"

Russia is pulling their one and only aircraft carrier out of the Syrian theater. You know, the one with the weird ski slope deck that always travels with a tugboat since its aging engines frequently break down.
tjs

Fallen Arches

Just in from Vatican City - To the horror of some McDonalds has opened a restaurant within eyeshot of St. Peter's Square - in a Vatican owned building! The Vatican will get about 30,000 Euros per month in rent. This revelation overshadowed the approval under the radar of a Hard Rock Cafe on the main boulevard leading to St. Peter's Square which replaced a religious bookstore. All this just in case any pilgrims get homesick.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/world/europe/rome-vatican-city-mcdonalds.html?ref=world

Virtual Assistance

The Google Home personal assistant appears to be the latest rival to the Siri voice of iPhone. The "Home" voice seems to be very responsive to travel information but not yet ready to dispense directions. When asked how to get to the New York Public Library, "Home" replied "I don't support directions yet." I guess it would be no use to ask that age old question "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/26/travel/google-home-travel-products.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel&action=click&contentCollection=travel&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Blue Blood

In years' gone by in Brahmin Boston, the saying went "The Lowells talk only to Cabots and the Cabots talk only to God." Fast forward and the NY Times reports that in 1979 the two most common surnames in the Manhattan telephone directory were Smith & Cohen (sounds like a vaudeville act) - the Social Register listed 600 Smiths and only one Cohen - but Cohen didn't mind - he was too busy running his hedge fund.
tjs