WHAT I'M READING

In case you're one of the many who's endlessly fascinated by the details of my personal life, I finished reading "Franklin & Winston:  An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship," by Jon Meacham. It was a pretty good read. Jon Meacham is the former editor of Newsweek, but I won't hold that against him. I previously read his biography of Thomas Jefferson, & that was also a pretty good read. Now I'm reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson. I watched the movie some years ago. It's a hard book to put down.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

We're continuing to watch Deep Space 9 & Star Trek Enterprise on Netflix. Lois got back late from Omaha yesterday--she went on an excursion with a friend--so I watched another Jim Gaffigan comedy special, then started watching "Road to Perdition," "a 2002 American period crime piece directed by SAm Mendes. It stars Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Paul Newman, & Daniel Craig.  

CONTROVERSY

"But offense & controversy are necessary in a free society, & even the most despicable opinions have a place. If you do not want to read them, hear them, digest them, that is your prerogative. But, the social media tycoons & their sycophants on the left should not have the ability to act as guardians at the gate of free expression. They should not, in their own way, exercise a 21st century version of prior restraint, dissuading people from reading things they themselves have decided are 'against community standards.' And the larger questions are:  whose community are they worried about? And what exactly are the standards that govern that pristine & protected society?" Column by Christine Flowers, Norfolk Daily News 8/9

TRENDING

"AOC announce she is leaving politics to host Jeopardy." Babylon Bee

ON THE BORDER

"July busiest month for illegal border crossings in 21 years." Drudge Report

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

"POLL:  More Dem voters favor socialism than capitalism in major shift." Drudge

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Touchless Taco Bell could be future of drive-thru." Drudge

OLYMPICS

"Never have so many won so many accolades for so real achievements on the world stage. That about sums up the Olympics 2021--or, as I call them, the O-limp-pics. Indeed, the time has come to retire the hallowed motto of the Games:  'Faster, Higher, Stronger . . . It's getting more & more difficult not to root against American Olympians who've turned the medal stand into their own personal grandstands. According to The New York Times, several militant athletes had been plotting for weeks to hijack the Games . . . The O-limp-ics 2021 are proof-positive that spoiled American athletes top the planet in self-absorption, narcissism  entitlement. Take a bow." Column by Michelle Malkin, NDN 8/10

A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

"Abortion is a gruesome and hideous act. It is not like a dermatologist removing a wart or a dentist removing a tooth, as abortion proponents argued in their early efforts to legalize it. Rather, abortion brutally dismembers a living human being. Skulls are crushed. Arms and legs are dismembered. And the human remains of children are scraped together, placed in a plastic body bag, and sent to an incinerator for disposal. Animals killed at slaughterhouses for food are treated more humanely. The procedures for the demise of condemned prisoners on death row are far more compassionate. Is abortion a procedure that we should continue to tolerate? Decent humanity requires that it be ended." Thomas Glessner