Tax Time

During Sunday Mass the priest's homily included the phrase - "Christ sat down with the tax collectors, prostitutes and other unsavory characters............" Now the IRS has been getting a lot of heat from various corners, some deserved, but some not so. In fairness they have never audited me and I always look forward to that refund in the Spring. It's called Taxation with Representation.
tjs

Beieve it or Not.

This out of Western Michigan: A jury convicted a woman of killing her husband with five bullets when the sixth bullet failed her suicide attempt. It seems the panel may have been swayed by the appearance of the man's pet African parrot, Bud, who it is alleged witnessed the shooting and cried out - mimicking the man's voice - "Don't bleep shoot!" Of course, Bud wasn't cross examined. So be kind to your fine feathered friends, they may speak well of you when you're gone.
tjs

Primarily Political XXIX

Over the last several years I have accumulated a veritable lexicon of negative adjectives applicable to the current resident of the White House. But after his rambling response to the Health Care reversal, I found a new word - "PETULANT" which Oxford Press defines as "childishly sulky or bad tempered, peevish or cross." Of course, of all his flaws I think the greatest is the absence of a sense of humor. IMCO.
tjs

China Bear

Winnie-the-Pooh has run afoul of the censors in China since internet users there have related his likeness to the President of China. The government army of censors has been battling the meme since 2013 and they are relentlessly unforgiving. Pooh had run into similar problems in Russia which may have stemmed from a case of jealousy by the Russian Bear. An obvious need for diplomacy here.
tjs

Double Fault

Roger Federer, a Swiss citizen, just won his eighth Wimbledon tennis championship. He and his wife are the parents of two sets of identical twins. He seems to have a penchant for producing "deuces". Perhaps there is something about those Swiss Alps and their "twin peaks". A gracious champion and a fine gentleman.
tjs

Boxers or Briefs?

The Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon concluded yesterday. While you can dress colorful in New York, Paris or Melbourne - the uniform of the day on the trim lawns of England is lily white and all participants are so informed. But despite this alert, two male teenage players appeared wearing dark undershorts which peeked thru when stretching. The referee intervened and white "knickers" were procured from the clubhouse, and play proceeded. Apparently, they keep a supply on hand for such emergencies. The elder champion, Bjorn Borg, has an underwear business but who wants to go to Sweden for such essentials.
tjs

Quote of the week.

Quote of the week:
"I willingly drank the Kool-Aid" confessed the mastermind of the George Washington Bridgegate scandal as he addressed the court. The source of such "drinking" dates back to 1978 during the Jonestown Massacre at Georgetown, Guyana in South America which resulted in mass suicides by a cult group. The phrase was expropriated from a harmless beverage of my youth. Further on the Jonestown story, a U.S. Congressional delegation was visiting there looking into the cult leader, Jim Jones. Gunshots broke out and our Congressman Leo Ryan (D) Cal. was killed. His aide, Jackie Speier took five bullets but survived and she now holds that same Congressional seat of her mentor. I think of her as she appears frequently on the TV interviews.
tjs