Darn, darn, drat, dadgummit, and oh-shit-oh-dear. It was all supposed to work out so well. I had a clever idea. I had a cooperative member of a fellow chordate genus and co-habitator. And I had the perfect environment. Okay, not quite perfect as the color balance showed. Nevertheless, my idea was a complete failure. I just couldn’t pull off what I wanted to do for your weekly entertainment in the time allotted.

So, damn.

Since, for the first time in quite a while I will not be able to regale you with an original blog, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share with you some of the recent things I’ve stumbled across in my research and to show you that, despite how bad a picture I paint of the world outside these pages, things may actually be worse. The only issue is that rather than actually plagiarize the ideas (as I’d normally do), I’m going to let you go experience their thoughts and analyses directly. Straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were.

First, you’ve read here many times about spooks, big data, the real value of money, and how easily we (as a people, not you in particular because you’re not so easily swayed) are duped into believing something. So, to give you a nice explanation – using big words that may or may not be real – I’d like to send you off to read Alva Noé’s philosophy blog The Mind Is An Open Book on NPR.

Welcome back, I hope. See, and you thought I could ramble.

Then, for a bit of entertainment, check this out for the best argument I’ve seen in a long time for surrendering your passport and going to live on a rock in the middle of the sea.

It’s a five-minute video on the real reason our economy is on the way down the tubes. Plus it’s very funny, so click here to watch it.

And you wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t take us seriously.

Well, that should have wasted enough of your time for this week. Hopefully things will be back in order for next week and I’ll be able to bring you the above-promised bit of light fun. I better get back to it.

Here, kitty, kitty…