A Blast of Fresh Air

One downside of having windows that can open:  I opened both of the bedroom windows last night and luxuriated in the breeze.  Well, about 2:30, the storms started, the windows picked up, and breeze slammed the bedroom door completely shut with a loud racket.  I woke up, of course, and figured I was being attacked/bombed/visited by Marley's Ghost.  After a few seconds -- amidst the thunder and the wind -- I realized what happened, but it was still amusing....later on.

Another first -- in a while -- tonight: watching J! live at 7:30, instead of on Tivo.  I blew the final, which offset the fact that I scored 45, but... well, that is not going to last, but for tonight it was glorious.  Down to one serving of cabbage and noodles, which is about right... Aside from the dishes, it is actually not that hard and you do get several meals out of it, a not-unimportant consideration for a lazy-you-know-what like myself.

Donald Trump Pulls The Wabbit Season Trick On the Iranian Regime – HotAir
Funny...being the history nerd I am, I immediately recalled 1861, when Lincoln declared the southern ports blockaded -- which implied a state of war between hostile states -- instead of closed, and created a hot mess.  Or, 1962, when we "quarantined" Cuba.  Now, of course, all the pretense, and gloves, are off, and we have a blockade.  Dare I say that in some/many ways, this IS a brilliant move; if the Iranians want to close the strait, we will close off their oil, and if the US Navy is keeping watch, other ships can make free passage.  In the meantime, tankers are coming here to buy our oil.  If this works -- and it may drive them back to the peace table -- I think the man is...well, my faith, while not redeemed, is a bit more polished.

Then, of course, there is this:
How an Image Depicting Trump as Christ Sparked a Backlash on the Religious Right - WSJ
To be sure, if there is one man who can legitimately claim to not know anything about Christian iconography... it is the Donald.

The whisper network that caught up to Eric Swalwell - POLITICO
I -- and a lot of others -- mentioned this yesterday... in this day and age, why is there a whisper network, especially given that 1) These are Democrats, the people who invented cancel culture; 2) These are actual crimes the man committed; and 3) if the guy was a Republican, this would have been on page one.  Now, of course, I don't expect the real Fourth Estate to go after Dems (and to be fair, GOPers) as to what they knew and when, but in a world of Nick Shirleys, now is their time to shine.