e-commentary

. . .

K          “The Smilodon donned quite a smile.  Strategically curved white teeth.  Without orthodontics or whitener.  Or regular brushing.  Could have been a movie star.  Had to kill or be killed.  Killed and was killed.”

J          “You see it.  The critter explains life.  And death.  Sitting in the split-level cave with a flickering fire and nothing to eat in the last fortnight wondering if the saber-toothed tiger gets you or you get the saber-toothed tiger.”

K          “And today the saber-toothed tiger is much more subtle and cunning and menacing and camouflaged.  And stalking us everywhere and all the time.”

J          “Far more saber-toothed tigers are stalking us with less opportunity for us to harvest one than in recent memory.” 

. . .

J          “Airline seats will soon be modified baby chairs that may recline.  For a fee.”

K          “Another saber-toothed tiger stalking us.”

. . .

K          “The pack is scared.  The human pack.  Is scared.”

J          “You can feel it and smell it and hear it and see it and touch it.  Out there.  Everywhere.” 

. . .

K          “Those in power charge for access to water.  They will soon charge for access to oxygen.”

J          “As a society, we pursued oil and gas via fracking in the short run and in the process literally poisoned our water in the long run.”

K          “That is an 800-pound saber-toothed tiger.”

. . .

J          “And then there are Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).”

K          “Another 800-pound saber-tooth tiger.” 

. . .

J          “When an airline charges for access to the bathroom on the plane, take note.”

K          “Another saber-tooth tiger stalking us.”

. . .       

[See the e-commentary in no special order at “Recurring Revenue”:  Inserting A Tentacle Into Every Pocket (August 29, 2022), Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague:  Basically, Back To Basics:  Finding Food; Printing Rutabagas.  Happy Earth Day! (April 20, 2020), “Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” Seven Years Later (January 10, 2022), “Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” Revisited:  The “Fondle Slab” Enslaves Us All (January 28, 2019), Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015), Social (In)Security And The C.P.I. (May 29, 2017), Back Door Inflation (July 16, 2007), Fraudulent Frequent Flying Fiascos.  Oh, And Happy Canada Day and Independence Day! (July 2, 2018), Preserve Cash; Preserve (Some) Privacy (May 4, 2015), Close the Harvard Business School (February 23, 2009) and An Airline (Partial) Survival Guide (January 24, 2005).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Lion or Gazelle?

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.

It knows it must run faster than the slowest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.

It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn’t matter if you are a lion or gazelle: when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.

[Be the feline.  It does matter if you are a lion or a gazelle.  When . . .  and what does the gazelle get to eat?]

. . .

“War has also taught me that each one of us contains every ingredient of the human recipe.  By varying measure we are all cowards and brave men, thieves and honest men, selfish and selfless men, malingerers and champions, weasels and lions.  The only question is how much of each attribute we allow—or force—to dominate our being.”  Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit