How the U.S. government is supposed to work

lawsandsausagescomic.com is the U.S. civics class we blew off in high school ... everything we never learned or carefully forgot.

Greg Weiner, a professor of political science, and his artist brother, Zach Weinersmith of "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal" comics fame, guide us through American government and law — history, philosophy, literature, and how things work in practice.

How I wish I could force-feed it to everybody in Congress and in the White House. And in  the federal judiciary. And "alt" trolls and ignoramuses on all sides.

I don't hold out much hope for our democracy. Scare people deeply and they gladly abandon rights in exchange for safety. In Trump's America, safety is on life support.

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Out the the mouth of a bigot

Today's offering from A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg:

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The mind of a bigot to the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour on it, the more it contracts. - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (29 Aug 1809-1894)

I was hoping to observe that the Republican candidate for Florida governor who told voters not to "monkey this up" by choosing his Democratic Party opponent could be an example of post-racism, where insulting an African-American with the monkey association wasn't at the back of his mind. That it was unintentional. Then I read the full comment.

Nope. Alive and kicking racism. Trump-fed.

And the bone-deep fears of Florida voters will be served up hot and steaming.

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Critters of the Truckee Ark

Newest creature visiting the house is a lizard about as long as my thumb, including its tail. It was on the front porch and reluctantly moved away as I came out and closed the door. Eventually, it went over the edge of the step, then under the step, which isn't sealed.

There's a lizard under the porch! It might be the same one that scurried out of the trimmings off a boxwood bush on the driveway last week. Or maybe we have a colony. Lizards are cool.

Update: the G-D spider's dead. Not my fault! A couple of days ago as I left, the spider was hanging about two feet away from the porch, at knee height, waving at me. An hour or so later when I returned, it was still there, hanging, dead.

This morning, I noticed a nest kind of thing in a corner of the outside walls. It's trash now, but what are the odds it was this spider's egg sack?

Ah, Mother Nature ... what a bitch.

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Ark and Ark Again

I live across a two-lane street from the Truckee River, in what qualifies as The Country.

But The Country's gone overboard; maybe it's the 100-degree heat, maybe the wildfire smoke.

This morning two squirrels played chase on the front lawn and up the huge maple, giving Charley the Cat fits. A 2-year-old, 14-pound, sleek black feline with bottle-brush tail losing his cool is astounding.

Earlier in the morning, the neighborhood hummingbird, born a couple months ago, flew right up to the window and stared through the screen, giving Charley the Cat fits. Puddy Tat reliably freaks when robins and black birds hop around the lawn. A staring contest with a 3-inch long brown-green flier pushed him close to the edge of cat sanity.

Last night, just after sunset, he freaked out, racing from one kitchen window to the other. Curious, I looked out, too. Six racoons, a big one and five small ones, glided under the gate, into the backyard. The outdoor cat, Gizmo, was on the deck on the other side of the house, and, for a wonder, came straight in when summoned.

Last week, the critters going under the gate were two skunks, tiny enough to slip out through the chain link fence. They seem to be mostly fur. Oh, right. Charley, fits.

Abandoning chronology:

The entity swaying in the breeze at the corner of the garage turned out to be the biggest spider I have ever seen, hanging from a web. It levitated back to the eaves. Traditionally, spiders come in sizes measured as Buicks, but this bugger's 18-wheeler scale.

Periodically, two coveys of California quail peck their way across the front lawn. One covey has a male, a female, and seven little ones. The larger group moves too busily to inventory. The walking path above the river bank provides spots for dirt baths, which Charley loves to watch.

Squirrels, birds, racoons, skunks I can handle. But the G-D spider's got to go!

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