Events

When studying French, it's important to understand that poutine, putain, and Putin mean two different things.

It's appropriate, though neither the OAFPOTUS nor any of his droogs will see the irony, that the War of 1812 officially began 214 years ago today when President James Monroe signed a Congressional declaration of war against the United Kingdom. That war ended after 2½ years of minor skirmishes and indecisive naval battles until both sides decided to cut their losses and end it. About 5,000 people died in combat and 30,000 from all causes including disease, 3,000 merchant ships were captured, and the...

Lovely day in Chicago today;

Parker would have turned 20 today. Awww.

For reasons known only to my limbic system, I woke up way too early this morning, about 45 minutes before sunrise. I'm actually glad I did, because this was gorgeous:

The OAFPOTUS claims to have agreed a deal with Iran but, of course, neither side will reveal what the deal contains. One thing is known, at least: it's not going to be as good for the US as Obama's 2015 JCPOA, which the OAFPOTUS hated because a black man Obama did it. Other thoughts:

New Republic staff writer and author Monica Potts moved from Arkansas to Upstate New York three years ago. It didn't take her long to learn how a functioning, adequately-funded government is so much better than the alternative:

(Do we still call them mixtapes?)

For the next 10 months or so, I'm squeezed into 60 m² (646 sq.ft.) with about one third of my belongings. (Somehow all of Cassie's toys fit, though.) I have to say, though, this view is quite the salve:

Today's SpaceX IPO has temporarily made the "human Ponzi scheme" (aka the Clown Prince of X, aka Elon Musk) the first trillionaire. In itself this is a sign that the arc of the moral universe is completely bent, and yet somehow the fraud and grift goes so much deeper.