Current Affairs

There's been a death in the family -- my family of the newspaper world, that is. Another afternoon newspaper, the Cincinnati Post, has printed its last edition:

The story of the veteran who ripped down a Mexican flag because it was being flown above an American flag has been everywhere. Pat White brought it up on WOWO radio yesterday afternoon, and the consensus of the callers was: Maybe the veteran was wrong legally for messing with private property but, by God, he was a real American standing up for our country against the invading hordes.

It's my gun, not everybody's:

Deep inside Washington's police headquarters is a library like few others, with floor-to-ceiling racks displaying 1,700 guns, from a World War II-era rifle with bayonet to rows of pocket-size revolvers, automatic pistols and big six-shooters that look straight out of the Wild West.

Recalls of Chinese products have affected everything from our pets' food to our children's toys. Now, they're messing with the Scouts:

The Boy Scouts of America said Thursday that a painted, plastic badge commonly worn by some of its youngest scouts is being voluntarily recalled after a test revealed high levels of lead in the paint.

Jimmy Carter learns that power trumps rhetoric:

We've heard about Nazi Germany as the model of scary totalitarian states in which children are brainwashed to spy on their parents and inform on them if they do not follow accepted doctrine. Is this the same kind of thing or not?

They're watching you right now.

They counted every beer you drank during last night's Red Sox game.

They see you sneaking out to the garage for a smoke.

When I was a kid on Halloween, I was disappointed by the people who gave out fruit instead of candy. At least this woman wasn't on my trick-or-treat route:

A lot of people will probably be making fun of this. I am the government! I can even control the language:

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's Federal District Governor Jose Roberto Arruda ``fired'' the present participle from his administration, citing inefficiency.

You might think from some of my posts that I think environmentalists are the ones most likely to go off the deep end. They might be in the top 5, but the animal-rights people are the ones who are really out there. Just a few quotes:

"The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration."

"If the death of one rat cured all diseases, it wouldn't make any difference to me."

OK, I take it all back. Neil Young's "Southern Man" is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius compared with John Mellencamp's attempt to find meaning in Jena:

An all white jury hides the executioner's face
Is this how we are, me and you?
Everyone needs to know their place
And here we thought this blackbird was hidden in the flue

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down