I don't know Butchie instead

Why is this man smiling?

------

Some Things I Know and Some Things I Don't:

• John From Cincinnati is a really great show. I do miss Deadwood, but this has the same great dialog, colorful language, and beautiful vulgarity as David Milch's previous show. Like Deadwood, there are times where the show is so brilliantly written and performed that you laugh in delight -- not because of humor but because they are just getting it right. Particularly fun is Ed O'Neill as a retired Imperial Beach policeman who may be suffering from dementia. I got my eye on you.
• Michael Chertoff needs a groin punch something fierce, eh? Can we all come together as Americans and decide that we're not going to put up with the manipulation of security concerns for the purposes of politics? Can we at least limit our fears to threats that have actual evidence or, like, substance behind them? Also, is it Chertoff's physical similarity to John Waters that has me wondering about his sexual preference?
• A parenting question: how do you discourage a child from excessive whining while avoiding any positive or negative reinforcement of that same whining? That is, if one gives into the whining, the child learns that if he whines, he gets his way. On the other had, if you don't give into the whining, this brings on more whining. (I hope this is just a pre-language phase that won't last much longer!)
• Storm the Bastille!