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PORSCHE 1600—MORE THAN 60 YEARS AGO
TODAY, PORSCHE SELLS SUVS (about two-thirds of its products)—and then there’s the 911 (about 15 percent of production) and some others. However in October 1961, R&T marveled, “… back in 1949, when...
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THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND “BRAIN ROT” PART 1
GIVEN THAT 49.9 PERCENT OF U.S. VOTERS chose Trump, it comes as no surprise that “brain rot” has been named the Oxford Word of the Year. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits about...
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THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND “BRAIN ROT” PART 2
YESTERDAY I RANTED ON ABOUT THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE versus purist democracy, tied loosely with “brain rot” being named Oxford’s Word of the Year. Today, we focus on this and its five also-rans. OUP...
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TRUMP AND SCIENCE/TECH PART 1
PERHAPS YOU’VE NOTICED, SCI-TECH IS ONE OF THE eight categories of SimanaitisSays. The others: Classic (largely focused on old R&Ts), Trippin’ (my Baedekers and personal travel), Editor (language...
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TRUMP AND SCIENCE/TECH PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE EXAMINED AN ARTICLE IN SCIENCE addressing funding cuts and policy shifts likely with a second Trump administration. This continues today in Part 2. “Go Wild” on Health, Medicines, and...
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ADVENT CALENDARS: GENGENBACH’S AND PENZEY’S
TODAY, DECEMBER 9 IS THE NINTH DAY OF ADVENT, beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Wikipedia notes, “The name comes from Latin adventus (‘coming; arrival’).” Here are tidbits about...
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TRIPPIN’ MUSICALES
ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF MY EARLY RETIREMENTS (my several-day stayovers on business trips) was seeking out cultural enrichment. A recent musical encounter on SiriusXM “Symphony Hall” rekindled memories...
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MERCEDES-BENZ W196R—FOR THE WELL-HEELED COLLECTOR
MY FAVORITE CAR MAGAZINE, Classic & Sports Car, reports that “Moss and Fangio’s Mercedes-Benz W196R is for sale.” This is surely to be a highpoint of the February 1, 2025, RM Sotheby auction in...
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CELEBRATING THE CELESTA—IN VARIED MEDIA
“THERE COMES A MOMENT IN ‘THE NUTCRACKER,’ ” Joshua Barone writes in The New York Times, December 8, 2024, “a ballet full of fantasy of fantastic music, when the Sugar Plum Fairy dances to a tune...
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MERRIAM-WEBSTER WORD OF THE YEAR 2024
MERRIAM-WEBSTER SURELY NAILED “POLARIZATION” as its Word of the Year 2024. As noted, it “happens to be one idea that both sides of the political spectrum agree on. Search volume on Merriam-Webster.com...
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PASTRAMI QUESADILLA—FUSION CUISINE OLE!
THERE ARE SEVERAL LAYERS OF THIS TALE, one a bit scary but with a happy ending. They’re offered as tidbits chronologically. The Basic Quesadilla. Wikipedia describes, “A quesadilla is a Mexican dish...
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ON STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF FIFTH AVENUE AND SHOOTING SOMEBODY
I WAS GOING TO TITLE THIS “TRUMP NAMES LUIGI MANGIONE TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT POST,” but decided that Andy Borowitz would do a better job with the satire. I read Robert A. Pape’s insightful “What the...
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MUNICH HAPPY SNAPS PART 1
I WAS RUMMAGING AROUND for Birthday/Christmas wrapping when I discovered an artifact from days when Cal’s Cameras/Video did all of R&T’s photo processing. Its prints came from August 2002, about...
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MUNICH HAPPY SNAPS PART 2
AS NOTED YESTERDAY, THIS STARTED serendipitously with Munich happy snaps from 2002. We continue our trippin’ today in that Bavarian city’s ViktualienMarkt just south of Marienplatz and conclude in a...
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A.I.—ITS CREATIVITY, ITS ABDUCTIVE REASONING, AND ITS GRANNY DAISY
PETER COY’S “HOW DOES A.I. THINK? HERE’S ONE THEORY,” The New York Times, December 16, 2024, is replete with tidbits to be gleaned. And, in another note entirely, a grandmotherly Brit named Daisy...
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IS THERE A RIGHT OF IGNORANCE? PART 1
MERRIAM-WEBSTER DESCRIBES THE NOUN IGNORANCE as “the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.” Further, it defines the adjective ignorant as “1 a: destitute of...
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IS THERE A RIGHT OF IGNORANCE? PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE LEARNED NEARLY HALF OF AMERICANS do not reliably know the difference between fact and opinion. Today in Part 2, lamentably enough, the ignorant/uninformed include pre-President Trump and...
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PARK IT HERE, PAL
DAILY PASSPORT’S MARISSA KOZMA DESCRIBES “5 Architecturally Stunning Parking Garages Around the U.S.” Each is an example of how a ubiquitous multistory box can assume character as well as utility....
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THE AUTO INDUSTRY (AND TRUMP AND MUSK)
MY AUTOMOTIVE NEWS PILE HAS BUILT UP AGAIN with tidbits a’plenty. Generally, like any large segment of the economy, the auto industry (comprising 7 percent of U.S. workers and 3-5 percent of our GDP)...
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THE AUTO INDUSTRY (SANS TRUMP, MUSK)
YESTERDAY WE REVIEWED Automotive News tidbits admittedly gleaned with political twinges. But enough already. There are plenty of tidbits in the auto industry to continue the theme sans you know...
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