CatmanDeux
Kitties always attract a big audience, so here’s my story. After Catman Scruthers’ untimely death, home wasn’t the same, so this week we adopted a rescue cat from Mary’s Kitty Korner in Granby, Connecticut. His photo is on the left. He’s a lovely fellow.
Catman Scruthers
You may have noticed that the new cat looks quite a bit like our last one, Catman (on the right). Adopting Catman’s double was sort of like falling in love with a guy because he looks like your former boyfriend. We couldn’t resist. Except the new cat (temporarily known as “CatmanDeux,”) isn’t a disappointment the way look-alike boyfriends can be.
Two Big Kitties
Lions just after mating.
On the subject of cats, I took this photo of the aftermath of two lions mating in the Serengeti. The coupling goes on for days, during which time they don’t eat or sleep but mate constantly. No wonder they don’t look as if they’re having any fun. (Actually, this photo shows normal behavior and there are good reasons for it. For more, read here.)
And on a serious note:
John Oliver and “Drumpf”
John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” takedown of Donald Trump was hilarious and, as always, fact-filled, including the disclosure that the Trump family name had been “Drumpf” generations ago. That was interesting because Trump hypocritically went after Jon Stewart for changing his name from Jonathan Leibowitz. It was upsetting later to read criticism from the Washington Post claiming Oliver was encouraging the same xenophobia as Trump, apparently referring to anti-German sentiment. While trumping up weak claims of xenophobia, the same Post edition carried articles about the “GOP’s Identity Crisis” and the “Republican Brand.” Note to the editor: there’s a lot more at stake now than “brands” and “identity.” This primary season has demonstrated how fragile our democracy is. Trump is a vulgar blowhard who can elicit support by playing to voters’ worst instincts, to the misplaced prejudices of the very people Trump has exploited during his entire career. That’s more than a “branding” problem and one that needs to be taken very, very seriously.
