What have I missed?

We’ve been away for ten days out of touch with America. Have we missed anything? We were busy. Seven full days in Istanbul and three days traveling. No English newspapers, not my daily dose of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, or Orange County Register. No Fox News, MSNBC or CNN (except a Turkish CNN). No local news, Justified, Glee, Psych, CSI, Vegas, Golden Boy, Elementary, or Monday Mornings. No Sig Alerts Access to the internet was limited due to time constraints - barely access to headlines and perusing emails. What did I miss? Did President Obama begin to govern rather than campaign and cavort? Did the Obama deliver any memorable speech, perhaps about the dismal employment numbers? Has a grand bargain on the budget been reached? Has any budget deal been reached? Has any deal been reached on anything? Did the President broker a deal on gun control with the recalcitrant Senate Democrats? Has he reached a deal on immigration reform? Did he, and not Vice President Joe Biden, misspeak? Has anyone seen Vice President Biden? Did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid utter another of his Reidisms? Did Iran or North Korea do anything stupid? Has California really solved its budget problems? Has Mayor Bloomberg announced new new nanny regulations? Have more green companies failed? Is the Michigan Legislature going to punish the University of Michigan for extending its union contracts prior to the March 28 commencement of Right to Work? Is ObamaCare proceeding steady on course or is it imploding on its internal contradictions? Will the President even learn that mass transfers of wealth ultimately impoverish all? Sequester? What sequester? What’s happening in the NBA? Did the Lakers stumble into the playoffs? Which celebrities screwed up while we were gone? “Nobody ever died for Dear Old Rutgers,” but why is the Athletic Department and Administration falling on their swords? Did my students miss me the past week? 10 pounds of bulk mail were waiting for us on our return. I did not miss that. Above all, how could I not watch the last three Michigan (Florida, Kansas, Syracuse) victories into the NCAA finals? That’s what I missed!