Quote of the Day

Where I come from, "common" is still used as a term of insult, ranked somewhere between "poor" and "lowdown" if I remember my taxonomy aright. I believe it to be a holdover from the days when America was still fondly imagined as the land of the Natural Aristocrat, rather than the Proud (to be a) Peasant. The latter attitude no doubt came west in steerage in the baggage of many of my ancestors. - Tam on View From The Porch

I remember hearing the term "natural aristocracy" a long time ago, probably in a history class somewhere. Don't think I've heard it since. People are complicated, and the smarter they are, the more complicated they get. Tam is about as complicated as they come.