People, tomorrow and the day after is the second anniversary of Eric’s death. I won’t be posting anything new for obvious reasons.

Here are some fun old posts for you to read while I’m away:

Students and money.

In case you forgot that robbery is not cool, here is a reminder.

I kind of miss taking the bus because of the funny stories that came out of the rides.

What the UK was like back in 1990.

A story about a Russian class I once taught.

Have you ever wondered why nobody wants to date happy men? Here is the answer.

Do you remember the weird anti-sex tantrum Naomi Wolf once pitched?

An immigrant discovers inequality.

Toilet religion is both funny and disturbing.

The KGB people had a sense of humor.

Do you remember the stuttering student debacle? That one was fun.

The attitudes towards responsibility among liberals and conservatives.

A short funny post on toddlers and tiaras.

Now seems like a good time to remember the Biden / Ryan vice-presidential debate. Good times!

In case you forgot my stalker story, here it is.

I’ll be back on Monday.

I found this on somebody else’s blog:

What is the total number of months during the Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush I administrations, plus the first term of Clinton, when the unemployment rate was lower than today?

I guessed wrong but not by much.

I think it’s ridiculous that the unstable county clerk from Kentucky or wherever had to be jailed. The woman obviously has mental issues, what’s with the weird personal history, the strangely emotional reaction to paperwork, sudden religious conversions, unhealthy appearance, and a weirdo son from one of the weirdo marriages.

It would have been more productive to send her on medical leave. Now she’s become some sort of a martyr for an undefined cause, and that’s just stupid.

People are incredibly stupid. A newscaster in Arizona has to defend herself for pronouncing Spanish words correctly because idiots were traumatized by the realization that other languages exist. The newscaster broke the unwelcome news to them:

Just so you know, I was lucky enough to grow up speaking two different languages and I have lived in other cities in the U.S., South America, and Europe. So, yes, I do like to pronounce things the way they are meant to be pronounced and I know that change can be difficult, but it’s normal. And I know that, over time, everything falls into place.

Just in case anybody has any more questions about the permanently unhireable, ask yourself what kind of a modern workplace would want an infantile hysteric who goes into fits when hearing the word “mesa” pronounced correctly. 

A flurry of news reports recently have suggested that as the Assad regime falters, Russia may be pouring troops and weapons into Syria.

Well, duh. Everybody who’s less into navel – gazing than the US media knows that Putin has sent troops to Syria. He’s doing it to impress and cow the US by posing as a fearless and dedicated anti-ISIS fighter. If he manages to make advances against ISIS, Putin hopes that his invasion of Ukraine will be forgiven and forgotten.

The added bonus of the plan is to show the world how weak and impotent Americans are, dawdling and fumbling in the region where valiant Russians save the day as the Americans stand helplessly by.

And Putin is right. The foreign policy of the US is all about finding any pretext for yet another idiotic “Reset” with Russia. And as we have seen since 2000, it matters not one bit who’s in the White House. Nothing seems likely to get the US off the path of appeasing Russia. Which means that Putin’s plan will be very successful.