This week I’m trying something new for the OpinionList. I’m introducing category sub-headings, and because I’m anal, the entries in each category are alphabetized, except for Tech for obvious reasons (at least to me). Let me know what you think.

POLITICS

Putin’s Op-Ed: Of course, by now you know that Vladimir Putin wrote an Op-Ed piece on the New York Times addressing the American people on Syria. Some on Twitter have rightly remarked how he hypocritically ends the post by stating that “we must not forget that God created us all equal,” when homosexuals are so intensely persecuted in Russia. I think that he was a bit confused overall. He states, “Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan ‘you’re either with us or against us.'” Has he not noticed that George W. Bush is no longer the President? Well, it really doesn’t matter. He can say whatever he wants, we have decided to listen to OUR President. All of us that are not GOPers, that is.

Rush…To Judgment: Salon’s Joan Walsh called Rush Limbaugh a racist troll after he said that President Obama is doing a “shuck and jive” on Syria. Wikipedia explains, “According to the 1994 book by Clarence Major, ‘Juba to Jive, a Dictionary of African-American Slang,’ ‘shuck and jive’ dates back to the 1870s and was an ‘originally southern ‘Negro’ expression for clowning, lying, pretense.” And, “According to linguist Barbara Ann Kipfer, the origins of the phrase may be traced to when ‘black slaves sang and shouted gleefully during corn-shucking season, and this behavior, along with lying and teasing, became a part of the protective and evasive behavior normally adopted toward white people.'”  I’m glad that Walsh called Limbaugh a racist troll. I’m just sorry that she couldn’t  call him something worse.

Weiner & Wiener: “Anthony Weiner Ends His Campaign By Giving The Press The Finger.” What else can be said but that this guy is truly obsessed with wieners? Actually, a lot more, but I’m honestly weinered out. Aren’t you?

ENTERTAINMENT

Better Call Saul: It’s confirmed! Breaking Bad will have a spinoff TV series about Walt’s slimy lawyer Saul Goodman. From everything I read, the series has a chance of becoming a huge success. First, “Breaking Bad producer and writer Peter Gould, who created Goodman, will serve as showrunner.” Second, in a nice twist the spinoff will focus on Saul’s life pre-Walter White. In other words, it will be a prequel not a sequel, as spinoffs usually are. Third, we still get to watch the hypnotic Bob Odenkirk in the slimy role.  I can’t wait.

Yahoo Logo, Again?!: I can’t believe that I’m talking about the Yahoo logo once again. That’s two weeks in a row. But, look, I have to. As it turns out, I agree with The Huffington Post. One of the logo re-designs that was rejected is actually better than the one that they ended up choosing. The only negative is that it’s missing the exclamation point, and Yahoo likes the exclamation point a lot (although not as much as I do). Get it? No? Ok, I’ll spell it out: OP!N!ON!STA.

TECHNOLOGY

iPhone, iKnow:  On September 10th, Apple showed us what we had been hearing about for months: a gold iPhone, a color iPhone, fingerprint validation, etc. There have been so many leaks about the new phones, that Apple lost some of that “show and awe” effect of past years. But maybe the company will get a little bit of it back when consumers start using the new phones. Apparently, the hardware changes that have been made will bring about significant performance boosts. Wow, I sound like a real techie. Still, it’s a bit worrisome when someone like me, a die-hard, early adopter Apple fan is not at all tempted by the new phones, and prefers to hang on to her 4S until Apple launches a wider screen. I hope that’ll be on the iPhone 6. Otherwise, I’ll have to seriously start considering the Samsung Galaxies, and I really don’t want to.

IOS7 Coming Soon: On September 18th to be exact and it’s free. I can’t wait. I love to try out new things, especially where technology is concerned and especially if it’s on my Apple devices. But to be totally honest, I’m going to miss some of the current icons, like the Reminders one. The new one looks like a child drew it. On the other hand, I can’t wait to get rid of the current Game Center icon. In any case, according to many reports, the new design is so radical that even old iPhones will feel totally brand new. Another great reason for me to hold on to my 4S.

Case In Point: Apple is introducing a case for the iPhone 5C that is drawing a lot of criticism. To give you an idea Fast Company wrote an article entitled Why iPhone 5C’s Case Is Pure Trash and likens the case to the game Connect 4. What’s wrong with Connect 4? I like the new case. I think it’s bright, fun, playful and we could all use some of that these days. Besides, I find it practical too. When not using it to protect the phone, it can be used as a cheese grater. Apple does think of everything!

 

Note:  Original Publication Date: 9-20-13. Publication date has been changed exclusively for display purposes.