Did you know there is a very long tradition of Russian Political jokes? I find this out from Wikipedia. The jokes start with Imperial Russia and conclude with Post-soviet Russia. They are HERE. A Bloomberg article with the best jokes is HERE.
Bloomberg's article, as with Wikipedia, demonstrates that Russian humour about the way the country is run is an unbroken tradition from the czarist era to the present day. The article's author, like me, finds that many of them aren't funny. But there are some great jokes in the article. Here is Reagan's joke.
"The CIA-Reagan Soviet joke pipeline was no secret at the time. One from a list declassified in 2013 was a particular favorite — Reagan told it repeatedly, once adding he’d shared it with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and gotten a laugh from him. The CIA version goes like this:
An American tells a Russian that the United States is so free he can stand in front of the White House and yell, “To hell with Ronald Reagan.” The Russian replies: “That’s nothing. I can stand in front of the Kremlin and yell, ‘To hell with Ronald Reagan,” too.
Two more from Wikipedia:
A Gulag joke: Three men are sitting in a cell in the (KGB headquarters) Dzerzhinsky Square. The first asks the second why he has been imprisoned, who replies, "Because I criticized Karl Radek." The first man responds, "But I am here because I spoke out in favor of Radek!" They turn to the third man who has been sitting quietly in the back, and ask him why he is in jail. He answers, "I'm Karl Radek."
A Stalin joke: Stalin reads his report to the Party Congress. Suddenly someone sneezes. "Who sneezed?" Silence. "First row! On your feet! Shoot them!" They are shot, and he asks again, "Who sneezed, Comrades?" No answer. "Second row! On your feet! Shoot them!" They are shot too. "Well, who sneezed?" At last a sobbing cry resounds in the Congress Hall, "It was me! Me!" Stalin says, "Bless you, Comrade!" and resumes his speech.
Our pictures today come from Moyer Road - this is the road that Vineland Estates Winery is located on. This silver barked bush along the side of the road is very photogenic as it is. It becomes the texture for an abstract pattern created in photoshop.
How old would you have to get to to feel like you are experiencing eternal life? The oldest-lived human was Jeanne Calmest who passed away in 1997 at age 122.
"Classical mythology brings us the tale of the Sibyl of Cumae, a prophetess who bargains with Apollo for endless life, and centuries later comes to yearn for death. She failed to negotiate for eternal youth, you see, and with the years she grows shrunken and decrepit and miserable. The story echoes a sentiment that endures in contemporary life: However much time that kale, yoga, spa weekends and wonder drugs may buy us, we accept at some point we’ll become so enfeebled that we’ll be ready to pack it in, once and for all."
That humorous summary comes from a review of the novel titled "Eternal" by Dara Horn.
We are experiencing a scientific debate on the length and nature of the human life span. It was set at 115 years last year by researchers in a Nature article. There has been a flurry of rebuttals since then.
Companies such as Google are pursuing projects in this area. It announced it would make a significant investment in Calico, the California Life Company, to advance research into new approaches for extending life. "With some longer term, moonshot thinking around health care and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives," CEO Larry Page said when the announcement was made. (I am enamoured of the expression "moonshot thinking")
I think about the everyday impact of someone who is really old for decades. I estimate it would be from 90 to 110. The advice on what things not to say to your aging parents would go on for decades. Moreover, we would also be the subject of such advice. Isn't this already familiar?
You've already told me that
I showed you how to use the DVR yesterday
What does that have to do with what we're talking about?
You could do that if you really tried
Our pictures today are digital painting abstracts - we transition from winter to spring with "Elizabeth's Winter Colours" to "Love Birds in Spring, to "Spring Equinox" and conclude with "Birthday Cake".
