The more things change

I just got my lap top back on Tuesday. Tonight is Wednesday. I have played 64 games of minesweeper. I haven't won a one.

At work today I watched Algeria versus Egypt on an Arabic stream. They were playing in the Sudan - neutral territory - because of the threat of violence. Tonight, of all nights, North Africa must be volatile. There was no one in the office but me.

A thought - from whence springs stability? We take it for granted here in Fairfield County that people won't take to the streets and burn our towns. But I've often thought - why? I have it in me, and you have it in you. I know this is a horrible thing to ask in light of Ft Hood, and of some poor girl shot in the Bronx, and of serial killers in Cleveland, but sometimes I'm surprised there isn't more violence, that the fabric of civil society isn't more undone. Economics clearly figure into any answer, but it seems to me it's culture more than economics. We assume a measure of civility, are shocked by its breaches. But culture's fragile and everything can change for the worse.

Man, I just had a delicious bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream! Is there anything better? I think cultures with large amounts of reasonably priced mint chocolate chip ice cream are more likely to be stable than those without. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.