We have many heroes among us, Mom, Jane, and rse for starters--many, many more. Lyle, thank you for the participation trophy--where should I put it? 1/2, that's cool about your huskerhood--my son is very bummed about the no-season (had season student tickets as a freshman this year--but what are they but dross at present?) I think Palin was a totally class act to give that completely neutral, well-meant advice to Kamala (however in the world we are supposed to pronounce it) Harris, including the main one that stings--"keep to your own people, not the new"--the Steve Schmidts and Nicole Wallaces of the world she evidently remembers all too well--those who didn't even bother to defend her from Andrew Sullivan's "Trig trutherism"--remember, when he accused Palin of pretending to have her son (who had Down), presumably to cover up for her daughter's pregnancy? All this was to show that Palin wasn't really pro-life... (ugh). Anyhow, I thought Palin showed her calibre--not that she'll get any credit for it from anybody that "counts."

Beasts, Kev--great to hear from you! Also great to hear that Nebraska may find a way to play--thank you, Scott Frost. Soylent, 1/2, I didn't know you were Huskers fans. Many congratulations to lyle and his perspicacity! Ig, I don't think a "liver fluke" should count unless you had specified in advance WHICH liver fluke. Jane, hang in there--you need a break from adversity, certainly. If we can get some breaks in #twoweeks, that might help...

lyle, that post about our being funneled into a Nietzschean view of humanity's gross biological reality and away from our status as a little less than angels, made in the image of God, was very, very good, and equally disturbing. We know this, but the author put it powerfully. Just the suspicion we now have when another of our species approaches shows that we are in a serious danger zone.

Carlos Osweda's thread is great re the Beirut ammunition dump explosion--highly recommended, especially his attention to how the Israelis avoided much collateral damage (outside of many broken windows from that amazing shockwave).

Sorry to be so late catching up--I'm with my parents in Florida-- Mel, that's pretty funny--but checking sources is important in almost any endeavor! JMH! So glad to see you! Pin--my fanship for your contributions continues unabated!

I loved the Perry Mason theme music--very arresting and drew you right into whatever implausible melodrama was on tap that day--and I watched it every day as a kid, right after the Flintstones (a rather incongruous match, but kids don't really care). That show made me want to be a lawyer, but at some point I did figure out that to be a lawyer required memorizing a lot of dry stuff, just as I figured out that being an opera singer required several hours a day practice--so being lazy I went for being an English prof.

Does anyone remember the SMELL of lightning bugs in a jar? Greenish-chemical smell--maybe that's what phosphorus smells like. A whiff of the same smell brings me instantly back to my Georgia small-town childhood.

Oh, and the hearing today was both madding and maddening. Barr could not be flustered, but what a long trail of idiocy from the whole blistering crew of the opposition.

Hi, Pin--your question of last night--madding is exactly the same as maddening, but people say madding because Thomas Hardy used it in a title for his fourth novel (the last he wrote with a happy ending) and because he took the phrase from Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (Gray here is talking about all the ordinary dead lying in ordinary tombs): Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray; Along the cool sequester'd vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

So many little cul de sacs and crescents in London proper--maddening for the unintiated. I sure hope TM sticks with us, though it is very relieving to know we have a back-up in the very generous offer of JamesD. Saw a guy in St. Pete yesterday on a motorcycle--virtuously wearing a mask, but speeding with no helmet.

Yes, Sullivan was completely SURE that Palin's son wasn't her son. Dotty and malicious. Get better, TK--we are all pulling for you. STEPH--I second rse's call--this Tuesday, 2 pm, at Canoe, with mom to boot! We'll probably be outside, with the Chattahootchie placidly running by...

TK, I'm so glad you're here and better. As for the rebound in clothing sales, I bet a bunch of people had grand hopes of actually being seen by other people sometime in the next few months at job or school--sillies--it's back to the basement, new threads notwithstanding! At least I get to have real classes for half the time this fall, unless the administration loses what little courage they possess at the moment and move us to all online.

cathyf, I join the chorus saying publish--this news isn't out there as it should be. And you put things very concisely and powerfully--much needed.

Hang in there, Dr. J--and prayers for you and Mrs. J. That's really nice news for Gorka--now where will Flynn and Grenell land in the administration?

Thanks, narc, for the reminder re Testament!

Gosh, I'm tired of being bopped out by Typepad--a pox on it! What was the apocolyptic film on TV about nukes hitting San Francisco (and other places) and tracking the suburban dissolution? Very sad and scary--presumably as bad as The Day After, which I didn't see. It was anti-Reagan nuke porn, of course, but still gripping because just conceivably plausible. I had a grad student classmate at Vanderbilt who gave up on her degree in 1983 to go join the No Nukes barrages in England at the time--what a nut!

Congrats, Momto2, both on the wedding and on the resumption of pjs! And God bless Violet--poor young lady--now that they know what it is she has a pretty good chance, I guess--but what do I know? Florida's spike is of cases. I'll be there soon and my concern is very, very low.

The nonsense can only last so long--ordinary people are fed up with "official compliance" because the privileged didn't have to hold to it at all--even toddlers are keenly aware of unequal treatment--your ordinary American much more so--it can't last for long. cathyf is great--thank you.

MM, your post about the orange bios of great Americans struck a chord--I read every one in our school library, starting with the women (there weren't as many as the men for obvious reasons) and moving on to what I assumed were the drier history of men--wrong about that of course. I particularly remember learning about how Edison lost his hearing in one ear as a kid when a streetcar guy tried to help him catch the streetcar by grabbing his ear. Ig, your 11:26 am was masterful as usual.

Happy Independence Day, all, a day early. Lincoln is the kind of place that loses its mind starting roughly about June 30th--here on the 3rd, from about 6 pm on, there's been a steady volley from all around. Poor dogs are in their "thunder vests," and have been given each a benadryl, disguised in string cheese--we hope tomorrow, with the total barrage, won't be too horrible! But I do like the patriotic spirit.

RG! how nice to see you! Your wife is just a victim of panic porn as are many, many others. Keep the mask off.

Steph, I'm late to your very sad news, but still want to offer my condolences. Poor Ghislaine, with all that protection money and info and still she was arrested. By the account of the girls she/he used, she was a monster.

Jack, I'm late but I'm so sorry about your ribs--oww! Don't let beagles jump on you.

Momsto2, rse, you guys just let me know where--I can be there anytime between 11 and 2 and should get out to where I'm going by 5ish. Someone do email me at lwhite4 at unl dot edu, please! Much looking forward to it. If Steph can come that would be great too. We're talking July 21st, Steph.

Catching up: D2 has chosen the name "texascorgimom," and is very welcome here, not just because we love corgis! D3 is a guy--we need a new name or new info. D1 is of course maryrose. AB quoting CH: “that sawed off piece of boomer shit Fauci.” This is the content I’m here for..." Hear, hear! This way I don't have to go to Ace's place for the very best of raw invective, for which I have a particular fondness! Re music: I can read and play up to at least hard Rachmaninoff preludes--never, never concert ready, but I can play them. My husband is a conductor--so he can read sixteen or so staves at once (remembering that many are on different key signatures)--he has no problem doing this, which to me seems close to magical. Went for a walk with a great friend, who hasn't seen anyone not in her family since mid-March--only by pleading was she let out. Held prisoner by her fearful husband, who keeps talking about how great it is with just the two of them. Not impressed. When I retire, down to Jack's side of Florida, I might like to tutor high school students who are home-schooled. I know a lot, and I will certainly get bored otherwise. My dad is tutoring in Greek and Latin, and he turned 89 a week ago.