Thanks for sharing your story. I’m blogging on the issue of McCain’s cognitive problems is to raise awareness so that it becomes a campaign issue. Only then would there be a chance McCain got tested. One of the biggest problems for voters in presidential elections is getting “off agenda” issues on the discussion agenda. Otherwise both parties work off a Chinese menu of approved discussion points. We paid a very price for the public unawareness of presidents with very serious medical and psychiatric problems. I recommend “In Sickness and in Health” by the neurologist and former UK Foreign Secretary David Owen. A brilliant clinician he breaks new ground in his analysis of the profound impact JFK’s and Woodrow Wilson’s health problems had on critical national policy. Best of luck—Mark Klein

Kitty—You don’t need an M.D. or certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology to question the cognitive abilities of an elderly United States senator who didn’t know who the enemy was when visiting Iraq.

One of now grown children remarked how much smarter I became since he was 16.

McCain couldn’t remember how many homes he owns because of age related cognitive problems. His memory is so poor handlers have tried to stop him talking off the cuff which is the reason he ended up with the housing gaff. Do we want a cognitively impaired president with a notoriously bad temper to be most the powerful man on earth? He needs to pass a battery neuropsychiatric cognition and memory tests.

James—False humility is a conceit. My egotism doesn’t extend to defending my syntax, spelling and grammar. The 500 I got on the English SAT I in 1958 didn’t stop me from success. Well seasoned by experience I suspect all the SAT measures is the capacity to learn yesterday’s knowledge. Talent backed up by hard work, balls, and imagination rather than test scores are the ingredients for success in a free society.

Kitty—I hope Kim doesn’t exclude really smart very tall successful guys who are lousy proofreaders! What’s fundamentally “addled” about my comment? Is it our fault women give away sex usually for nothing in return? I grew up in a world in which the minimum condition to have sex with “good” girls was an engagement ring.

Thanks to the Kim Cattrals for smart guys life couldn’t better!

Those who bought gold at $800 plus in the 1970s and held it until now were basically wiped out by the depreciation of the dollar. Since gold doesn’t pay dividends, there’s no way to compensate for depreciation. $800 in today’s dollars barely equals a $100 in 1970s buying power. Physical holders did especially poorly because they had the added burdens of storage and insurance costs plus high trading commissions. Now in a rerun of the 1970s stagflation bear market I’m back to my previously successful strategy of concentrating on high dividend yield stocks, bottom fishing the market, avoiding debt, and pinching pennies.

I’m not selling my Chevron (CVX) or Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COSWF). Given how tight oil supplies are any uptick in global economic activity would restart a price surge. My current favorite is Diana Shipping (DSX). Can’t help but love a company which files this kind of 6K. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318885/000091957408004155/d90681…

The groom saved himself from a lot of grief by not marrying her. If he really wanted her, he’d have gotten to the church on time. Too many men go through with an unwanted marriage because of guilt feelings and pressure.

Mrs. Edwards is just a realist. Suspect her husband has been a player through much of their marriage. A busy lawyer and mother she might have preferred that to maintaining her sexual allure by controlling her weight. Now with terminal cancer and young children she’d be a fool not to stand behind her man.

When my children were young, lived in charming upscale Berkeley neighborhood where I anticipated the children and my wife who didn’t work would have loads of friends. Turned out most of neighbors were working couples with their children in programs until supper.

What this fellow said about today’s Israel is true. I go a couple of times each year to see my daugther and my ever expanding tribe of grandchildren. The country is booming with modern road and building construction everywhere. Israelis have pluck. My daughter’s town got rocketed in the 2006 war with Hezbollah. In fact, heard the rockets coming in one day when I spoke with her on her cell in a bomb shelter. An Achet Chyl (woman of valor) she was is terrific spirits complaining only about how difficult it was to keep the children amused in the shelters until the all clear siren. Israel is total magic. Not to see it is to miss one of the world’s wonders!

Old women are often fools for love.

When I was young, to get sex in my world most guys had to be at least be engaged. Been the best of times for men since “the zipless fuck” became the gold standard for female sexuality. Re suggestion #5 I’ve got a joke. A guy sees an old buddy who once had a huge fortune scavenging for food at a dumspter. He asks how he lost his fortune. The man replied he lost 2/3 in the uninsured losses of his private jet and yacht and remainder in a divorce. Went on to say he learned from his experience if something flies, floats or f***s, rent!