A Pet Peeve

I cringe every time I hear something like: "Savings of up to 50%, or more!"

This sort of redundancy is becoming more prevalent. The phrase is used even in promos done by talk radio hosts who ought to know better.

If it can be more than 50%, then it is not accurate to say "up to 50%." Either the "up to" is redundant, or the ceiling ought to be raised. That is, it is either:

"Savings of 50% or more"

or

"Savings of up to 75%."

Just a pet peeve.

One nation

Today is Memorial Day. Before I do anything else, I want here to express my gratitude to those men and women who have given their lives for my freedom. I never served in the military, though for no nobler or baser reason than that it never came up. I had an invitation to West Point, but chose another path. It is a decision I sometimes wish I had made differently, if for no other reason than to have given myself to this great country.

But my post is not about today. I was reading the Gettysburg Address today, and noticed that Lincoln ended with "that this nation, under God..." And I wondered if this is the origin of the phrase, and if the addition of "under God" to the pledge was motivated simply by a desire to commemorate that brilliant turn of a phrase by Lincoln. I don't know, and unfortunately, no one reads my blog who could likely confirm or deny.

Maybe I'll call Dennis Prager on Friday.

Life is hard

It is a shame that we live in a country where people can enjoy such abundance and still complain about what they don't have.

The following comic really says it all. When I went to Tibet several years ago, I found myself appreciating the simple fact of toilet paper as well. Every now and agan, it's good to remind myself of that.