It's Monday in America

• The Democratic convention opens today in Philadelphia.  I said last week that I didn't have any predictions as to the tenor of this week's proceedings, but I am surprised that many are expecting more protests than at Cleveland.
• It seems ironic to me that resigning DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been offered a senior position in the HRC campaign.  If lack of honesty, integrity & judgment were the key shortcomings dogging a candidate throughout their career, why in the world would that candidate hire someone fresh out of a scandal - a scandal involving her own candidacy?  Maybe there is something to the notion of the HRC hubris factor?
• I don't know how effective DJT's overture/invitation to Bernie supporters will be, but apparently the Sanders crowd will be somewhat vocal in/outside the convention.  Could the party still draft the current VP?
• After the dust clears from both major parties' conventions, and the American public wakes up to collective nausea, could an independent candidate emerge a couple of weeks from now?
• Most automobiles manufactured after 1996 feature some form of self-diagnostic software, typically ODBII.  For under a hundred dollars, you can buy a decent code reader, and for less than $10, you can even get a Bluetooth module that displays or logs data from your vehicle's computer to your Android device.  In the past, this has caused some conflict with manufacturers, who would prefer to keep their vehicles' information in the hands of affiliated service providers.  Now, a similar brouhaha has come to the farm implement market.
• A Colorado waitress has been fired after racist Twitter remarks.  You know, there's something to be said for self-editing, if you're inclined to those type of sentiments.
• I didn't know this guy was still around.  The congress-critter who compared Israeli settlers to "termites" is the same guy who, a few years back, worried that the island of Guam might tip over if additional U.S. service members were based there.
• Maybe the DNC exorcised all of the rancor & divisiveness on opening night: Speeches by Bernie Fife, Bernie Rubble, Bernie Miller, Smith Bernie, and a performance by Bernie and the Jets all urged party unity to defeat Ronald Tramp.
• The preceding was brought to you by Mssr. Émile Litella.
• I watched most of a 1990 suspense thriller called Narrow Margin, starring Gene Hackman, tonight.  I knew when they boarded the train, there'd have to be - at some point - an obligatory 'walking on top of the train cars' scene.  I was not disappointed.
• Carson's show tonight was from June 1985, and featured noted primatologist Dian Fossey.  Sadly, Ms. Fossey was murdered six months later in her mountain camp cabin in Rwanda.  Although not officially solved or closed, the investigation centered on a disgruntled former employee, as well as powerful poaching interests.  The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, continues her mission of conservation and protection of the mountain gorillas.

Update weekend

• Mark Cuban thinks HRC has a problem in marketing.   Dude, marketing is the least of HRC's problems.  The problem with her campaign is much more fundamental: It's the candidate.
• One of the video segments they've played at church for the last two or three weeks features a snippet from an event at Burger's Lake.  I think it's been four or five years since I was out there.
• I watched the McGoofy Group today - McLaughlin does not look or sound well.  I like the current line up nearly as well as any other: Tom Rogan, Clarence Page, Eleanor Clift, and Pat Buchanan.  Mort Zuckerman apparently still appears from time to time, and is a good contributor.  I also liked Fred Barnes and Michael Barone in the past.  Thankfully, they have retired the looney leftist moron Lawrence O'Donnell.
• Not sure if this is proof of DJT's claim that we are in grave danger or not: Fox News is reporting today that SoS Kerry has declared air conditioners as great a danger as ISIS.  Yesterday, I was in the home center, and personally witnessed a contingent of heavy artillery 24,000 BTU, several  mechanized 12,000 BTU, and a platoon of 5000 BTU infantry units massed across the aisle from the power tools.  Of course, they were laying low, trying to play it cool, but now I'm on to them. Several even had code names: Frigidaire, GE, DeLonghi, LG, and Zenith - so be on the lookout.
• After a better convention in Cleveland than I would have expected, and what I thought was a decent, if over-long, acceptance, DJT is apparently back to crafting insults.
• No predictions here regarding how next week's DNC in Philadelphia will go.  I am still trying to sort out reports whether speakers will include "Mothers of the Movement", i.e. the mothers of young black men killed by police.  Conservative sources seem to be playing up the notion, but I haven't found a definitive answer regarding who exactly might speak.  It seems it would be a bit risky, as some of them - despite the reality of their loss - are not particularly telegenic.  A couple of weeks ago, Erica Garner (Eric's daughter) walked out of an ABC News Town Hall with the President, after producers deemed her behavior too volatile and incoherent for inclusion on the program.
• I do think the week after the DNC may prove interesting, as the campaigns move into the final stretch.
• Did Ben Matlock ever represent in front of Justice of the Peace Andy Taylor?
• Blogger RPM reported recently taking a job in the bucolic pastures of the former Turner Ranch in Westlake.  The surroundings are beautiful, though the commute is a witch.  I myself have recently expanded my job-improvement radius, applying to jobs in Cleburne and Allen, each of which would entail nearly 100 miles round trip per day, but due to the Chisholm Trail and GWB tollways, respectively, might be manageable.  Of the two locales, I think I would prefer the Johnson County gig, as I'm not sure how well I'd gee-haw with the North Dallas/Collin County mindset.
• In late spring, I got new contact lenses, after having not worn them regularly since about 2002.  Although I can see the veins in leaves on trees across the boulevard, I have to keep readers handy to see close up stuff (the bifocal contacts I tried out weren't to my liking).  Unfortunately, they get uncomfortable after about three hours.

When do we lose the things that we cherish?

Man, the guy can write a great song.  And here's a classic Glen Campbell performance:



Webb performs this song on his 2010 CD release, featuring J.D. Souther.  In the liner notes, Jimmy recounts taking J.D. for a sailplane ride in the early '70s, which went well, then later in the afternoon, they got into Jimmy's 172, but ran into a freak snow squall and were 'whited out'.  Luckily, Jimmy's pilot kept from getting spatially disoriented, and managed to get under the clouds, flying at just a couple hundred feet AGL in mountainous terrain (trust me, it's not fun).  They landed safely, but there wasn't much convo between Jimmy and J.D. on the car ride back to L.A., where Souther's GF was worried sick, waiting at Jimmy's place.

It was the first time Jimmy met Linda Ronstadt.

Mid-week Meanderings

• The fourth Baltimore officer charged in the death of arrestee Freddie Gray last year has been acquitted.  The officers that State Attorney Marilyn Mosby supposedly thought were most likely to be convicted have all been acquitted; nonetheless, two trials remain¹, presumably with the same outcomes. Today the circus blogger criticized a Texas judge who suggested harsher treatment for cop killers for pandering.  Although I don't disagree with the criticism offered, clearly pandering is not the exclusive province of either end of the political spectrum.
• It's all about the outrage these days.  An Albuquerque eatery that posted "Black Olives Matter" on its outdoor sign, has angered protesters.  A trendy/hipster clothing retailer has a line of anti-Trump apparel.  Not sure if anyone's got their panties - designer or otherwise - in a bunch over this or not.
• I like black olives, in case you were wondering.
• The tent camp in Cleveland is apparently somewhat sparsely populated, and a bit remote from the convention site, and seemingly reflects  both Trump supporters and detractors.  One camper, echoing Herb Hoover, said of the tent city: "Everyone with a belly button has a home" and "We encourage conversation and listening with people of diverse thoughts, and so far, that's been a really groovy thing."  Far out, man.  Can't really argue with that.
• Call it the law of unintended consequences, or perhaps proof of what Dallas PD Chief David Brown said about police agencies being tasked with trying to solve all of society's ills:  A Tempe woman is distraught after police kill her belligerent knife-wielding boyfriend.  Yes, the police she called 911 to have remove said BF from her residence.  I'm not saying the BF deserved to die, but Chief Brown is correct - police can't be expected to arrive on the scene and divine every participant's role and intention, then wave a magic wand and make everything better.
• Last week, the, uh, adult film industry derided the RNC for a proposed platform plank denouncing pron.  The golden arches restaurant seems to at least partially agree.  While it doesn't suggest that the fast food outfit has gone all red state, it has announced that its stores' wi-fi will filter inappropriate sites from being accessed.  This seems to be a reasonable step for the company in preserving its brand image.  
• Unsure if the ACLU will somehow take exception (since the routers are owned by the company, it seems they can use whatever filter they want). I also searched to see if perv poster boy Larry (you know the one) had any comments about the change, but didn't find anything.

Larry's brother (& magazine co-founder) Jimmy, 

with, possibly, a fan and supporter

• There's four hands you might not want to shake...
• Watched a bit of the RNC tonight.  Bizarre Cruz appearance.  Eric Trump's address was decent.
• Nary a word from Carson tonight about Trump; however, he did mention that Great Britain was sending naval forces to protect the Falklands...

¹ The first officer's trial ended in a hung jury.  It is scheduled for re-trial in September.

Where to now, St. Peter?

• Knowing my fondness for classic rock, you might take that as an intro for the song.
• I don't think so, Tim.  Not this time.

• It's not just me that wonders if we're accelerating toward the apocalypse: Dallas, Nice, Ankara, Baton Rouge.  With the Trump convention coming up - what could go wrong?
• Whenever I read an article online, I'll often scan at least some of the comments that follow (if they're posted), trying to get some feel of the public's 'pulse'.  It's an old habit that dates back to the days when I read paper copies of Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, the WSJ, DMN, and FWST.  Sometimes all in the same day.
• It's amazing to me how polarized society is, and how many comments some are willing to make that would probably strike most as being 'beyond the pale'.  I've long since conceded that I am a curmudgeon, a fact cemented by my using Paul Harvey quotes from time to time.  One that seems especially apropos to the raging division currently going on in the U.S. is: "Self Government won't work without self discipline."
• Those who say "We ought to send [them] back to Africa", and "Black lives splatter" - are not helping.  Those who say "Let's get some pigs in blankets", or "More dead cops" - are not helping.
• As a last resort, let us turn to the pages of the Book of Henley, where it is written "There is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here." There's no place to run to anymore, we've got to figure this thing out. Although that was almost two decades earlier, maybe it's kind of what Rodney King meant when he asked "Can't we all just get along?"   Rodney was no poster child for righteousness, but in that instance, he was right.
• Eighteen centuries before Harvey and Henley, though, a different Paul might have used the word κοινωνία (koinonia) to urge unity of purpose, participation, and cooperation to heal instead of divide.
• Here's to getting along.

World Turning

• I gotta get my feet back on the ground.

• Political commentator David Brooks says the world is spinning out of control.  No disagreement here.
• The full moon backdrop of that FM Youtube is the same one they used on their Rumours tour when they appeared at the Tarrant County Convention Center, March 6, 1977.  Kenny Loggins opened for them.  My friend Paul and I, being squares straight-laced, did not bring or directly consume any contraband substances.  But hey, ya gotta breathe, right?  So we did.
• I lost track of him by the early '80s.  A dozen or so years ago, I happened to learn he had died in the early '90s of a sudden, un-diagnosed heart condition.  In 2013, when I was working in Arlington, I met a woman with the same last name spelling, and asked if there was any relation.  Turns out she had married his brother, so I asked about Paul's widow (who as his GF had accompanied me and my GF on a double date to see the lovely Linda at DCCC in December 1976).  She had passed away in 2011.
• The location of the truck terror attack in France makes for odd-looking headlines.
• I was in Nice in late July or early August 1974, but only have vague recollection of it.  My memories of Venice, Postojna, Jablanac, Dubrovnik, Athens, Rome, Florence & Pisa, Genoa, Madrid & Toledo, and Andorra - from the same trip - are much clearer.
• The U.S. State Department advised against travel in the area.  Then, as now, there were tensions in that part of the globe (Greeks and Cypriots fussing). However, it was a bucket list trip for my Grandparents from heartland America.  And as four adults, one adolescent (me) and a toy poodle in a Volkswagen Squareback with Austrian plates, the only places we were recognized as Americans were the borders when we flashed our passports.  The only border delay whatsoever was entering Yugoslavia, where it took maybe a half hour to process our visas.
• A few months ago I took an ill-fated job, the interview and background testing for which took over two months - and resigned after two weeks and one day on the job.  Somehow, my profile is still in their HR job agent database.  As of this morning, they have posted my former position 5 separate times.  Apparently no one else wants it, either.
• As editor-in-chief and publisher of MWB, I last night lauded Chief Foreign Affairs Bureau Correspondent ComKev for alerting this publication to the imminent collapse of Venezuela.  Tonight, however, I find that I must apologize to readers, as MWB did not receive any advance intel regarding the attempted coup in Turkey.  What up, brah?

Thursday's Thoughts

• On my day off, I dropped into a couple of local resale shops.  Snagged two pairs of nearly new jeans - Wrangler and Austin - for 75¢ each at the first.  The other was a dud, but if I'd needed furniture, they had an awesome sofa, oversize chair, and ottoman set in a brown paisley pattern for $289.

•  Apparently, they were overstocked with long pants.
• Stopped into the locally owned small-box hardware store.  Surprisingly, they did not have the item I was seeking (3/4" black plastic keepers for nylon straps), but they did have these:

Coyote fur chaps

Here, write your own joke...

• While I was shopping, all the ice cubes in my ice tea cup - left in the car - melted.  Oldest son taunted me with the following pic:

His Yeti-like cup that keeps ice cold all summer long

My Riscky's cup...not so much.

• I wanted to be sure to get home to catch the evening news, thinking there might be an interesting tidbit from the RNC rules committee, only to find out that terrorists have again attacked in France, killing at least fourscore on Bastille Day.  We are not living in good times.
• Also, my National Security Advisor, Combat Kevin, is right - Venezuela is going down the tubes.
• Ask any married man about P-Power, and he'll probably give a knowing 'sigh'.  After all, the IRS didn't invent withholding.  But a company in Britain is developing pee-power, using urine from public loos to generate electricity to light the loos' LED lamps.  I don't know whether to be angry with Reliant Energy or with the municipal wastewater utility for all the money I've p*$$*d away over the years.
• Not related, but...speaking of words that begin with 'P':  Several years ago, a friend told me he and his wife had had a disagreement which had gone back and forth a bit, and in which he decided to chauvinistically triumph by declaring "because I have the p*n*s!".
• Yeah, that apparently went over about as you would expect.
• In rerun-land, Curtis Armstrong made a guest appearance tonight on the [now syndicated] Rules of Engagement, playing himself.  Lots of 'Booger' references, but no mention of one of his best roles ever:

Petruchio (Willis) and Lucentio (Armstrong) with the good people of Padua

• Here in Texas, we commonly insult our neighbors across the Red River. Tonight, Carson read excerpts of cross-border rivalry insults that had been sent in.  Here's one: "What's the difference between FedEx and a girl from Pennsylvania?  For $14.95, one absolutely, positively delivers overnight - the other transports packages."
• So relaxing was my classical music splendor last night that I'll probably repeat it again tonight, as I was asleep before the second selection.