Far East Cynic

Recent Reading

On the trip over to Normandy-I had forgotten to charge my I-Pad. So I grabbed a book from the shelf to read on the train. Boy am I glad I did. It was an honor to re-immerse myself in this book. Schlesinger, a life long liberal, was also an outstanding

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And we are back.

Spent the last five days in France. It was outstanding-especially as we went to visit the Normandy Beaches. Pix to follow over the next few days. So here is where I spent my 4th-no fireworks, but a lot of sincere feeling for the folks who can never leave this place:

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The 140 character summary of the Hobby Lobby decision.

“This decision concerns only the contraceptive mandate” as I tweeted earlier, religion is now only about unapproved fucking— Atrios (@Atrios) June 30, 2014

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An open letter to Mr. David Green.

For those who don’t know, Mr. David Green, he is the worthless, religious zealot who runs Hobby Lobby. Today, in a decision that highlights just how political and out of touch with the law the Supreme Court has become-and how dysfunctional the American government has become-he was given a free hand

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Match Withdrawal

I watched the USA get into the knockout round by the skin of its teeth. Losing a match to Germany that Germany controlled pretty much from the start. Living here in Germany, it was kind of like being a Red Sox fan with seats on the first base line at

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What might have been

Newcastle Ale explores the possibilities: They may be on to something-celebrate alternate history on July 3, then celebrate real history on July 4th. Two parties, two hangovers-and a lot better cuss words. “Newcastle is a very British beer, and needless to say, it doesn’t sell that well on July 4.

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So much for brand loyalty.

United Airlines this year-decided to say a cheery “fuck you” to its loyal passengers closing in on Million Mile status ( and thus lifetime Gold Membership) like me. They decided to f*ck me at the drive through: LAST week, United Airlines announced a modification to its frequent-flyer programme, MileagePlus, that

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Why can’t the NCAA do this?

I was going bash my favorite group of deluded people tonight, namely, those who seem to think that after 8 years of effort, almost 5000 American lives wasted, and 5 times that number wounded-we should somehow go back into a country that proven itself completely unworthy of the sacrifice the

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It is that wonderful time of the year.

When one updates one’s “brag sheet”-and gets a little counseling. Mine typically goes something like this.

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I certainly did not see that coming.

I surely did not expect to see Spain fold like a cheap suit in the first match. It just got its culo- well and surely kicked by Netherlands 5-1. On an unrelated note, legions of Croatian fans are looking up the Portuguese phrase for “lousy referee” and hurling it at Japanese referee  Yuichi

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