Puking ...

as I listen to Blabberg cover the Forbes' 400 list of richest people in the world. That is one annual event that always makes me grab the barf bag. This adulation of the richest and most powerful is simply one of the most foolish actions of the American press. I can only reply with that fine quote from Pericles, the famed leader of ancient Athens:

"We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it."

The Forbes 400 is the antithesis of this laudable sentiment. Most of those people spend their time and money simply trying to make more money or spending it extravagantly. Bill Gates excepted.

Word of the Day

Misprision - noun [$10 - mis prizh' en]; from Shakespeare & Mrs. B.
Misprision means 1. maladministration of public affairs; 2. neglect in preventing or reporting a crime.
Sentence: The Obama administration so far deserves considerable opprobrium for misprision; perhaps it's due to his inexperience in the executive branch, but he needs to get some people in his government who know how to run complex systems.

Shakespeare's usage -
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgement making.

Le Mot du Jour

Remanier - verb, transitive; conjugated like 'prier'
Remanier means to rework, revise modify, reorganize.
La Phrase: Obama doit remanier sa adminstration dés que possible.
Sentence: Obama should reorganize his administration as soon as possible.