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.