Miscellaneous

Autobiographical Corner and Amish Stuff Whew. I survived another summer. I'm pretty sure I enter every summer with this mindset: Things are going pretty well, I feel relaxed, I'm looking forward to these next couple of months. And then: Wham! Summer turns into the barrage from

A Random Passage Just this for today: "Maryland was Catholic because the King had the happy thought of that way getting rid of some of his Catholic subjects." Garet Garrett, The American Story .

H.I.F. Only about 1,000 or more years behind the Catholic Church? Cleveland's government has passed a resolution urging its residents to abstain from eating meat once a week. Link [http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2014/08/cleveland_city_hall_urges_resi.html#incart_

> ICYMI: Which country drinks the most alcohol? China ranks far below the U.S. http://t.co/btZNcQS2ns pic.twitter.com/1JW9q8SbyV [http://t.co/1JW9q8SbyV] > — Henry Williams (@digitalhen) August 25, 2014 [https://twitter.com/digitalhen/statuses/503853835421380608]

> Vodka chaser? You mean another shot of vodka? > — Overly Manly Man (@OverlyManlyMann) August 10, 2014 [https://twitter.com/OverlyManlyMann/statuses/498310360647335936] > Light beer? You mean baby formula? > — Overly Manly Man (@OverlyManlyMann) August 16, 2014 [https://twitter.com/OverlyManlyMann/statuses/500673486697029632] > At 18, you can legally

If you're feeling wealthy and thirsty this Labor Day weekend, check out a few of these: Top 10 Most Expensive Libations [http://listverse.com/2007/11/03/top-10-most-expensive-libations/]. Excerpt (from the Number 10 slot): "[A]t $100 a bottle, Sam Adams's “Utopias” is too rich

"The minds of men always dwell more on bad luck. They accept ordinary prosperity as a matter of course. Misfortunes arrest their attention and remain in their memory." William Graham Sumner, Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals (1906). That 100-year-old

> Spanish retailer apologizes for shirt that looks like Holocaust prisoner outfit http://t.co/gsKYqPVoyn @g_forcewinds [https://twitter.com/g_forcewinds] pic.twitter.com/TBYkG6sYIZ [http://t.co/TBYkG6sYIZ] > — J. Freedom du Lac (@jfdulac) August 27, 2014 [https://twitter.com/jfdulac/statuses/504600743715016704]

Background: When I was the editor of Gilbert Magazine [http://www.chesterton.org/explore-the-acs/gilbertmagazine/], I was responsible for the "Tremendous Trifles" column. It was occasionally hard to find a sufficient amount of interesting GKC material to fill the page, so John Peterson sent me a file full