Category Archives: The Lighter Side

Humor: Who’s afraid of the joke police?

In addition to not being able to take a joke (thanks to the woke times: see “microagression”) most people cannot tell a joke. Halfway through the joke they get stage fright and panic that maybe it’s not even funny or that they’ll forget the punch line, wasting people’s time. Continue reading

US officials can guard against Havana Syndrome with this innovative home solution

As the dire threat of Havana Syndrome gains increasingly widespread acknowledgement, the US government employees who’ve been finding themselves targeted by these attacks are desperate for a way to protect themselves from this electromagnetic menace. Continue reading

With covid shutdowns over, can class reunions be far off?

We love to hate class reunions and hate to love them. First of all, they are not a true cross section of the class because only people who did well in life show up–a concept called “survivorship bias” in science. Where are the people who failed economically, professionally, socially, romantically and bodily? They don’t show up! And that’s not counting the people who really can’t show up because they are listed in the In Memoriam section of class handbook. “Those no longer with us” are a wakeup call to how old we are that no one wants to think about. Continue reading

Humor: Remembering ‘businessmen’ and ‘hippies’

Who remembers brief cases, carried by dads everywhere? Eight-pound, spit-shined, Mahogany-colored leather cases, they sometimes had gold plated combination locks and even “feet” so they could stand up on their own. Some expanded, accordion style, to accommodate extra papers from the office. Continue reading

Humor: The rationalizations behind holiday overeating

If you drink too much during the holidays most people––including you––will soon forget about it. But if you overeat during the holidays, tomorrow holds no similar reprieve for you. It is denial or the gym–or denial and the gym. It’s sweatpants with a drawstring, sweater dresses as wide as they are long and Liz Taylor style kaftans. (Unless you still have a muumuu.) Continue reading

Denis’s dreaming: Julian Assange and his doppelganger

Walking along Hans Crescent every morning on my way to work, I stop briefly to look up at the balcony fronting the room which Julian Assange occupies in the Ecuadorian Embassy. I’ve been passing his place of residence for five years now and I’ve yet to catch a glimpse of him. What I do see though, are some of Her Majesty’s compliant factotums doing their surveillance—best to keep tabs on the Ecuadorian Embassy and to monitor the founder of WikiLeaks . . . now in situ . . . compliments of the arse-licking British government ‘doing-it’ for American imperialism. Continue reading

Parody sweeps Washington—many infected

A senior official of the Centers for Disease Control has raised the alarm on the spread of a dangerous memory-sapping virus in Washington. Continue reading

Dog sleeping—everyone does it but no one admits it

A few years ago, a polling group made a startling discovery about America’s dog love. A surprising number of dog owners called their answering machines during the workday to talk to their dog. Many celebrated their dogs’ birthdays with gifts and parties. And most slept with their dog—unapologetically. It’s no dirtier than sleeping with a shoe, said one respondent. Continue reading

The newest depth of depravity

There it goes, disappearing into extinction, that fine old mark of punctuation, the comma of direct address. Every time I read an email that starts “Hi William,” I wince. Deep within me lurks a reactionary grammarian who insists on a comma separating the name of the person from what is being said to them. At first I tried to convince myself that in the salutation of an email the missing comma isn’t important. After all, the meaning is clear. Continue reading

Husbands, don’t commit these Valentine’s Day insults!

A recent poll revealed that while women plan their holiday gifts in advance, men often buy them at the gas station on the way to a family gathering. So it is no wonder that men’s Valentine’s Day gifts are often as inappropriate as their Christmas and birthday gifts. Here are some mistakes men repeatedly make on Valentine’s Day which you should avoid. Continue reading

‘Pssst, hotdogs ten bucks each’

“Pssst.” Continue reading