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I have been slacking off on making my usual acerbic comments in this space the last few months. I am in the midst of working on two homes- the one on Long Island we plan to sell, and the other here in Albuquerque where we will be living most of the time. My life is replete with tools, paint, spackle, dust and unexpected problems. Toss in my day job as a telecom technical consultant/go-to support guy, mix that with having put seven decades of living behind me, and the necessary concentration to write has been lacking.

I have been watching, however. The Presidential race is in total high jinks mode, with Donald Trump pulling off that opening act dirty trick of upstaging the headliners. The sound-bite Trump-et has already forced Rick Perry and Scott Walker out of the race and relegated better known aspirants like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio to playing catch-up. All of this is well documented by an adoring media, which pants in orgasmic anticipation each day while waiting for the latest twist and turn in the campaign for an election which is over 13 months away. What a country! I have nothing to add to the daily oatmeal of news except these few insights:

One person will eventually be the Republican nominee. It will not be Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, or George Pataki. Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have a shot. My dark horse has been, for the last 2 years, Ohio governor John Kasich, who has governed as a solid conservative, has a congenial demeanor on the campaign trail, and is not given to making moronic public statements.

As for Trump, his act will eventually wear thin, but he has succeeded in not only making this pre-season campaign entertaining, but has exposed his fellow candidates as mealy-mouthed slaves of their talking points, all the while presenting almost no specific policy proposals himself. That is, of course, if we do not count his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico to keep out the rapists and other criminals.

Enough of the campaign. I have enjoyed some items that the media has found interesting enough to cover: There is the county clerk kerfuffle in Kentucky, where Kim Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After a stint in jail for contempt of court, she now is refusing to sign the licenses, though most of her deputies are issuing them. I am going to venture a guess that Ms. Davis is not a constitutional law scholar. I’ll further wager she is not a theologian. I therefore challenge Ms. Davis to explain that what she is doing in willfully disregarding a ruling of the US Supreme Court is no different in substance and form than the practice of Sharia law.

My Favorite News Item: Hamas Arrests ‘Israeli Spy’ Dolphin

Nina Strochlic reported in The Daily Beast last month that Hamas had arrested an Israeli ‘spy’ dolphin. The offending Flipper was purportedly (pur-porpoisely?) equipped with a “camera and an underwater monitoring device capable of firing small arrows”. Hamas sources claimed the cetacean mammal was a Mossad agent engaged in spying.

The article went on to detail in tongue-in-cheek fashion the obsession in the Mid-East with Israeli use of various animals as spies. Iran has detained squirrels and pidgeons, the Egyptians, a stork. The point is made that most of the tags and monitoring devices found on various birds and sea creatures are for tracking the animals in scientific studies.

How long before blood libels are attributed to the Israelis?

My Really Favorite News Item: Bear breaks into Colorado bakery and eats 24 pies – but leaves one behind

 As reported in numerous media outlets back in July, a bear broke into a Lyons, Colorado bakery through a window one night and ate 24 pies. He took two others with him when he exited through the window: the owners found two empy pie boxes in the yard.

In a display of discriminating taste, the burgling bear did not touch the strawberry rhubarb pie.

 In actuality, it has been a momentous few months. Lost in the cloud of campaign hot air are the accomplishments of President Barack Obama. He has gotten an agreement with Iran to curtail its development of a nuclear weapon. With opposition from both the Left and Right, he has pushed forward the Trans-Pacific Partnership to counter China’s influence in the region. The EPA has promulgated tougher standards for coal-burning power plants. The FCC has affirmed in new regulations its commitment to net neutrality. Obama has presided over the slow-but-steady economic recovery that reduced unemployment to a lower level than at any time during the Reagan administration, watched the stock-market increase in value nearly three-fold and US corporations earn record profits. Whether or not you agree with any or all of these moves, you must admit that the list of accomplishments is not too shabby for a Socialist Kenyan Muslim President.

 All the while, the Republican-controlled Congress has not shown results after beginning the year with the promise to govern.

 Now autumn has arrived. Baseball is heading for its playoffs, football is underway, the Pope is visiting and ruffling feathers, and TV’s new season is beginning.

 I’m sure I’ll find something to write about.