Why I hate Twilight
Edward: “But, Bella, I’m a killer.”
Bella: “I don’t care.“
(a.) Not much of a Thinker, is she? (b.) See also: Sweet Valley High, Super Milosevic Edition. (c.) Now she’s going to have to break off that long-distance pen pal love affair with that serial killer at the federal penitentiary. (d.) I’ll take “Things You Should Probably Care About” for a thousand, Alex.
The one and only thing Twilight didn’t get abysmally wrong
Bella: “Why do you like me?”
Edward: “Because you smell good. And, I can’t read your mind.”
Relationships have been built on worse grounds, really. Also, I can’t rule out the possibility that the entire evolution and proliferation of homo sapiens sapiens is built on the foundation of “Hey, you smell good and I don’t know what you’re thinking. Let’s go.”
Hey! I accidentally agree with Grover Norquist. Sorta.
To the assorted members of the Do-Gooder Billionaires’ Club who are advocating for higher taxes on themselves, Grover Norquist has said that a change in tax policy is ridiculous and Mr. Buffett, you can just go ahead and write a check to the U.S. Treasury if you feel so strongly about it. (Seriously, under “Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt.”)
Well, I think it’s snarky of Mr. Norquist to put it that way, however, yeah, billionaires and Average Americans alike: if this is your thing, then absolutely, throw a couple bucks into the maws of that debt. Walk the walk, or walk the talk, you know what I mean. But (1) keep talking about changing the tax policy, Grover’s wishes to the contrary notwithstanding and (2) make sure the whole country knows you voluntarily wrote a check to put your money where your mouth is and practiced what you preached, et cetera. But keep preaching.
Oh, and (3) advocate to get that capital gains rate up to 20% or to match the income tax bracket. If nothing else, it’ll help me in my quest to avoid cases in which I agree with Grover Norquist.
(Yes, I realize that Mr. Norquist said this way back in Septemberish, but the recent story on PBS NewsHour about the “Patriotic Millionaires” refreshed me. So there you go.)
Lastly, Your Pre-Thanksgiving Dose of Americana
Edward Hicks, "The Residence of David Twining." Oil on canvas, ca. 1845-6. Carnegie Museum of Art.
I had originally intended to post Edward Hicks’ Peaceable Kingdom as the prelude to Thanksgiving (a.k.a. “Black Friday Eve”). Goodness knows that any of the 60-plus versions Hicks made of it are more famous than this painting.
But this one has a turkey in it.
