Not the greatest thing

These days in the western world we have a pretty sizable middle class, we also by and large have democracies.  Do you think the two are related?

Oooh...that looks like a trick question, an attempt to lure gullible mopes like myself down a rabbit hole.  Hello, Bugs!

I'll not speculate on the vitality of the middle class in these United States, but I think the defining factor of a middle class is the success of free markets and capitalism and let it go at that.  The United States is a republic, as are most other nations except the absolute or constitutional monarchies.  With some exceptions, the democratic process is a part of all nation's governments at the local if not national level.  Plenty of interesting info is found on Wikipedia in the article titled List of countries by system of government

Which got me thinking that maybe it's time to retire our current system.  The Executive/Legislative/Judicial system has worked well for many years, but the powers of the president have grown too much and we're witnessing what happens when a goofball is in charge.  I doubt that a character like Trump would hold the highest office if he had to be chosen under a parliamentary system.  He wouldn't have been elected dog catcher in the first place, much less Congress.  Changing to a parliamentary system will never happen, though.  We're too stubborn.

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I'm getting too skeptical in my old age, thinking about that hearing the other day.
 
“I’ve seen nothing on the NSA side that we engaged in any such activity, nor that anyone ever asked us to engage in such activity,” Rogers said.

But what if heard something, and was told to engage in some activity; is he still telling the truth, without really being truthful?   Lawyers love to parse these kinds of statements.  It's like when the accused person responds that it's "Outrageous!  It's ridiculous!"  Yes, it is but that is not a denial, is it?

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Good old sliced bread!  I've always taken it for granted and never understood Mom's use of the expression "Greatest thing since sliced bread!"  But sliced bread didn't arrive until 1928 when she was a child, so maybe that was the first technological marvel she witnessed in her lifetime.  Sliced bread caused an increase in consumption because, although the slices were thinner, folks ate more at a time and ate it more frequently.  There was also a rise in jam consumption, with the rise of other spreadable goodies, no doubt, with the pinnacle being aerosol cheese (the greatest thing since...).

Getting back to home made bread, I saw a recipe recently on Instructables that may interest Mr. Beagles.  I don't expect him to attempt the multi-day effort, but there were a few baking tips that may be useful.  Besides steaming and misting, there was information about lowering the temperature while baking.  Perhaps the elusive crust is in sight, and here it is: www.instructables.com/id/Pure-Rye-Bread