Tuesday

A nice little chill is back. Following the flooding rains overnight. Fresh and crisp the air. The cats are not too happy with this, but they have to learn that nobody gets their way all of the time, not even cats. ... ... Pat Buchanan: "As with the EU, the cracks in the USA seem far beyond hairline fractures. Many sense the country could come apart. It did once before. And could Southerners and Northerners have detested each other much more than Americans do today?" [RCP] ... ... I tried to join Twitter. I actually made a tweet, but, almost immediately after that, my account was frozen. I was notified that they identified "automated behavior" on my part. In order to unlock my account, I need to give then a phone number. I am not inclined to follow through. I don't have a personal phone, and I don't want to use Pop's. Besides, the next day, the went back to normal and allowed non-members all of the access that we previously enjoyed. So, fuck it! ... ... Maureen quotes a protagonist from "Atlas Shrugged": "When I die, I hope to go to heaven. ... So I want to be prepared to claim the greatest virtue of all - that I was a man who made money." [Dowd, Year of Voting Dangerously] ... ... A Mr. Carr from Lincoln's youth recalled Lincoln's great sense of humor: "Never have I seen another who provoked so much mirth, and who entered into rollicking fun with such glee. He could make a cat laugh." However, his humor was also often crude and off-color. When asked why he didn't write up his funny stories, Lincoln wrinkled his nose and said, "Such a book would stink like a thousand privies." [Burlingame]