People spend 'half their waking hours daydreaming'

People spend nearly half of their waking hours not thinking about what they are actually doing, according to a US study conducted via the....where does all the water in the rain go? Oh, look... there's a funny knob on the back of my laptop...like the knob at the base of my skull... never did like heavy metal music much... but sometimes those long-haired guys looked hot if they took off their shirts......iPhone.

More than 2,200 volunteers downloaded an app ...app!...app!...aaaaaappp!....AWP! GAWP! BAWP! AP...Agence France Presse... wonder how that French guy lost his left arm... which then surveyed them about their thoughts and mood at random times of day and night.

The Science study suggested minds wander, even from demanding tasks, at least 30% of the..........purpley

Remembrance Day

At Caterpillar Valley, the Somme, France:
McKINLEY, GEORGE KNOX
New Zealand Rifleman 12238 New Zealand Rifle Brigade, October 3rd, 1916. Age: 25

My great uncle George emigrated from Ireland to New Zealand in the 1910s. With his brother Robert, he joined the New Zealand infantry and went to fight in France against the Germans during the First World War. Robert survived the war, and moved to New York City. George was killed at the Somme, on October 3rd, 1916.

Angry Internet Mobs

You May Have Heard of the Longest Woman in Ireland..

It seems that the longest Wikipedia entry as of today is... a list of townlands in County Cork.

Note: the Longest Woman in Ireland is a character from County Cavan (I think), of whose provenance I am uncertain.

Justice is Severed

New York Times: No One Will Be Charged in Destruction of C.I.A. Interrogation Tapes, Justice Official Says

A federal prosecutor will not bring criminal charges against any of the Central Intelligence Agency officers involved in destroying videotapes depicting the brutal interrogation of Al Qaeda detainees, Justice Department officials said on Tuesday.

However, the C.I.A. has been warned that next year's supply of water balloons, exploding pencils, poison gas teddy bears and Mach 10 drones could be held up if the agency is caught being a naughty boy again.
 

The Summer Revisited Again

Blogging at Dungannistan has been non-existent lately for no particularly good reason. The onset — indeed, the onslaught — of Winter, has happened with its normal swift knife to the kidneys, felt as always in mid-to-late October, on a late afternoon day when for no good reason, one finds oneself under-dressed, cold and exposed to the eerie chill of some stupid street in the Bronx or Brooklyn. There is a late sun setting in the sky, but now it gives no warmth. What was so reliable, the warming sun, the fierce afternoon raging fire of the summer sun, is now a taunting memory. It is cold. It is Winter. Brrrrrrr!

New York City shares the same latitude as Rome, but the two cities have very different climates. To which I say: Brrrrrrrr! Above, a very different Brooklyn than today: August 2010.