Thursday miscellanea #103

• I had an errand to run before I met Melanie for lunch today, so I left a little early.  Then it went more quickly than I budgeted for, so there were ten extra minutes.  I’m doomed to do that for some reason.  It’s like I’m sitting in the parking lot waiting for my schedule to catch up.  Reminds me of the end of The Langoliers.
• This is such a great time of year for butterfly watching around here.  I suppose they’re on the way south, though I don’t ever see big clouds of them.  I’ve seen some beautiful tiger swallowtails.
• Jay Nordlinger wrote this week:  “But I believe that, quite possibly, the most abused word in history — where politics and world affairs are concerned — is ‘peace.'”  Loved it.  Earlier this year an acquaintance rationalized away our political differences by “explaining” that I simply wasn’t as committed to peace as she was.  I also thought of Palpatine:  “Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy!  And we…will…have…peace.”
• Buick wants to yank consumers out of entry-level German cars with the 2011 Regal, and they just might do it.  Good work, GM folks.  Now continue getting about not being state-owned so that I might, one day, consider your products again.
• Folks, please try to get as unvarnished a story as you can, no matter what the story.  The effort to assign a specific narrative to an event begins immediately, and the goal is having you believe that the post hoc narrative attached to the story is the story itself.  The tactic is incredibly fast and often frightfully effective.  Stay skeptical out there.  Don’t settle with a view solely because it fits a preconceived notion.  Gee, I believe I blogged about that once.
• Recently a colleague was having a little fun with my borderline OCD, and accused me of not ever turning the car off with the windshield wipers on.  Guilty as charged.
• How about a virtual “speed bump” that looks like a little girl chasing a ball into the road? Come on.  Really?  Doesn’t this just work, you know, once?  This is dumber than the cutouts of police cruisers intended to curb speeding.

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