Which is worse - the Brian Williams lied, or that

he started presenting kitten videos as news?

I'd like to install some tile in my bathroom and elsewhere in the house -

the problem is that we have very, very hard water and I don't want to spend the rest of my life scrubbing grout. I'm thinking of having the grout dyed gray to start with. Any suggestions?

Just how evil are potatoes, anyways?

They are the food of my people; I was 58 years old before I realized that potatoes weren't the default carb at supper for the rest of the world. ( I knew Italians ate lots of pasta, but I thought they were the exception!)

So now, I see potatoes listed with white rice and white bread as being full of bad calories. I wonder how much of this is due to how potatoes are prepared. For example, I loved boiled potatoes with a little butter, and increasingly leave the skins on. I love baked potatoes, and will often eat the skins as well. Mashed potatoes are for special occasions. (and I leave the skins on and serve smashed potatoes instead!)

Processed french fries sprayed with all kinds of preservatives are not my idea of a potato.

I think before potatoes are condemned, we need to look at how they are actually served. As I noted above, i generally eat potatoes with a little added fat. That has to be taken into account with considering how the meal is digested. They are also excellent sources of potassium, B6, fiber and an outstanding source of Vitamin C.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2546/2

My plan for taking down IS and Boko Haran:

Convince people worldwide that the members joined because the only way they'd ever get near a girl is to kidnap her from her home. It shouldn't be hard, it's what I think. Make a joke out of them, and see how many they recruit then.

Red carpets and high heels: I take guilty pleasure in checking

out the dresses on-line the day after the awards ceremonies ( I don't have the patience to watch in real time). A lot of the feet that are in high heels look swollen and bent. I'm talking about some very beautiful women who presumably would have very nice looking feet if they were in a proper shoe. Isn't it time for designers to take on a real challenge? Instead of trying to see how much flesh can be exposed, ( I think Joy Villa took that prize!) how about designing a good looking, sexy but comfortable shoe for women?

Thank you for the hearts - it's nice to be noticed!

All the talking heads seem to agree that Greece will be forced to return

to austerity.

Maybe.

This could be Czechoslovakia 1968, or Germany1989. Don't forget, Germany 1989 led to the Soviet Union, 1991. This may be the first step to bringing down a financial system that supports the 1% and strangles the rest of us.

Annual rant on winter weather reports:

The US Weather service does a pretty good job of predicting the weather; no complaints there. My problem is that weather hazards are a combination of weather and location. For example, my understanding is that 8" of snow overnight can really mess up NYC. However, upstate in Oswego County, 8" overnight can be pretty much the norm. I hate seeing "Winter Storm Alert" only to check in further and see that total snowfall will amount to 1"-3". "High Wind Alert" for Buffalo when wind speeds are 35-45mph is just plain silly. That high wind alert is perfectly valid for other places, but not there.

The real problem is that if every snowfall is identified as a winter storm, people won't react when the same description is given to an expected serious snowfall.

When i was a child back in the early 60's, I used to take out

library books about the heroes of science:Jenner, Pasteur, Robert Koch, Walter Reed and of course, Jonas Salk.

When did those books become passe?

Measles and the ACA: how many here are trying to recall if you

and/or your kids had that second measles vaccination? Wouldn't it be nice if we could all look it up on our electronic health record? Just another example of how Obama Care is making things better!