I want you to imagine the worst person that you’ve met on Wall Street, the most ruthless and the most diabolical. That’s the best person in Washington.
– Former Trump White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci
Since this is election season, let’s take a vote. Please check one.
Would you rather:
[ ] Read a column all about one thing this week, or
[ ] Read a column about several different things.
Hang on, let me tally the votes. OK, well, I aim to please. You asked for it; you got it …
Trump Watch, Part 1: Though everyone has been talking about new Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh lately, I myself have been enjoying all the drama surrounding Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – and the accusations that Rosenstein and his associates discussed wearing a wire to secretly record Trump saying crazy and irrational things.
What? Wear a wire!? Look, if you want evidence of Trump saying batty things that show he’s out of his mind, just transcribe his Twitter stream or record one of his rally speeches or press conferences.
Wear a wire? What?? Why?? What’s the point? That would be like coming up with some highly involved and elaborate scheme to try and trick a Jehovah’s Witness into coming to your house to talk with you about religion.
Trump Watch, Part 2: Speaking of Trump rhetoric and of crazy things coming out of Trump World, recently, I got a kick out of hearing former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci on a Sunday show when he said – and I quote – that, in light of recent comments, Trump should “be more verbally disciplined.”
Maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t this from the guy who called Reince Priebus “a [deleted]-ing paranoid schizophrenic” and gave him the nickname “Rancid Penis.” And isn’t this the guy who said, “I’m not Steve Bannon; I’m not trying to [deleted] my own [deleted].”
When that guy is telling you you need to tone down your rhetoric, you need to tone down your rhetoric.
Since mid-May, there have been over 20 run-in-and-grab robberies of Apple Stores in California and many of the security cam videos of the robberies can be seen on YouTube. Typically, a gang of thieves just runs into the store and, in front of the geeky and malnourished Apple store staff, grab computers, iPhones, iPads and other devices. Losses to the company have now reached a staggering $850,000.
It’s not clear yet if Apple can survive the financial hit of all those losses but I, for one enjoy their products and hope that Apple can continue on as a functioning entity despite this huge hit to its bottom line.
Sometimes I watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS. There is no way that junk on Antiques Roadshow is worth what they say it is.
I went to Duke and, as you well know, there’s no love lost between Duke and UNC- Chapel Hill, but I have to say that I do feel sorry for UNC-Chapel Hill every time there’s an update in the Chris Watts story – he’s the Colorado man who murdered his wife and kids earlier this year.
Apparently, in addition to being a triple murderer, he’s a huge Tarheel fan. Every time they show Watts – either in an old still photo or in a newer video, he’s wearing a UNC shirt with the Tarheel logo plastered across the front in huge letters. I mean, every time. Evidently, even though he’s in a prison jumpsuit now, no one can find a picture or a video of this guy where he’s not wearing a Tarheel shirt.
You know that the public relations department at UNC has to cringe every time they show him on TV. Watts was probably wearing a UNC shirt during his mug shot as well, but fortunately for Carolina fans, they only show the head in those shots.
The internet and the modern world are starting to really freak me out. If you think everyone isn’t watching everything you do now all the time, then you are sadly mistaken.
This is a true story. I swear this is true.
The other day I reached for some curry powder and realized I was out. I hadn’t thought about curry for about a year – the last time I bought some. The only food I buy now is organic so I get the expensive curry. When I was driving by Earth Fare, I went in and bought some organic curry powder and few other things I needed.
The moment I got home – about five minutes after checking out at the store – I put up the groceries and turned on my Apple TV to watch some YouTube videos. The number one – top row, left – video recommended for me was titled “$2 Curry vs. $75 Curry. Worth it?”
I just stood there staring at the TV screen because that’s just …
Creeeeeeeepy.
Hey internet, you are really starting to completely creep me out these days. This is all getting to be way too much for my taste.
Former Guilford County Commissioner Bob Landreth passed away recently and it’s been very nice to see the well deserved outpouring of love for Bob, who was one of my favorite people. I wrote an article about his life and included some stories from others about Bob, and that got me thinking back about my own Landreth stories. Here’s one that makes me smile.
Over a decade ago, when Bob was chairman of the Board of Commissioners, the board used to get special guests to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at Guilford County commissioners meetings. Usually, it would be a Boy Scout troop or someone who represented a cause the commissioners were trying to call attention to that month.
Well, on the night of one meeting, it was time to start and, I guess, whoever was supposed to lead the Pledge of Allegiance didn’t show. So Bob, who was seated in his chairman’s seat at the dais right before the meeting began, signaled over to me at the press table and, when I walked over to him, he said, “You’re going to lead the Pledge of Allegiance tonight,” and I said, “OK.”
So I stood up there in the center of the meeting room and I suddenly panicked because I realized that I didn’t know all the words to the Pledge of Allegiance.
I turned to Bob quickly with a very worried expression and I said, “I don’t think I know all the words!”
Bob just laughed.
“You don’t have to know the whole pledge,” he said, “just the first three words.”
I was still trying to figure out why that was when I just trusted what he had said and started leading the pledge and, after the first three words, I figured out why you could lead the pledge without knowing all of it.
