Current Affairs

How much money do you dribble away, a dollar at a time?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are spending roughly $48 a week on ... who knows what? They certainly can't remember, according to a new survey by Visa.

A lot of people on the right are all exercized over Hilary Clinton's characterization of Dick Cheney:

September 20, 2007 -- Hillary Clinton pulled out her light saber last night at a fundraiser in New York as she called Vice President Dick Cheney "Darth Vader."

Another exciting idea from a Democratic presidential candidate:

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Nancy Flores Report: Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson called Wednesday for obese Americans to be brought under the protection of the Americans for Disabilities Act.

Hugo Chavez, in his own zone if not his own little world:

CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez wants Venezuelan clocks turned back half an hour and he wants it done in record time -- next Monday.

No, I wasn't shocked that someone who had been a reporter for 15 years, pesumably with a front-row seat for the stupidity of criminals, would think he could rob a bank without things going terribly wrong:

Lowery,  who had disguised himself, then walked into the bank carrying a single-shot sawed-off shotgun and about 25 shotgun shells, the reports indicate.

Forget O.J. and the stalking astronaut and the tasered college-student jerk, entertainment-news junkies. I have a Courtney Love bulletin:

Courtney Love wants to launch her own perfume but is worried nobody wants to smell like her.

The former Hole singer - who has battled drink and drug addiction - wants to lay to rest her rebellious image and reinvent herself before she brings out the signature scent.

It was just 30 years ago that the guillotine was last used in France. That method of execution, as horrible as it sounds to us today, was adopted during the French Revolution as a more humane method of capital punishment than some of the methods then employed. In this country, our search for the most humane way of execution has taken us from hanging to firing squad to electric chair to gas chamber to lethal injection. The search continues:

Look, I know I'm a libertarian crank who sees Big Government lurking in every nook and cranny. And I know Americans are so dispirited about health care that a majority are ready for a federal "solution." But, God almighty, do you have any idea of what these people are thinking about?

1. Why do the news media still treat Jesse Jackson as a serious person deserving serious coverage instead of the race-baiting charlatan he is?

2. How has he managed to peddle his nonsense with public funds -- that would be you and me paying for him -- all these years instead of being forced to do honest, productive work?

His latest:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson called Tuesday on Democrats seeking the 2008 nomination for president to give S.C. voters “something to vote for” when they go to the polls in January.

When the Army shipped me overseas, all I got was a bunch of vaccines for whatever bugs they thought I might encounter over there:

Before they leave for Iraq, thousands of troops with the 101st Airborne Division line up at laptop computers to take a test: basic math, matching numbers and symbols, and identifying patterns. They press a button quickly to measure response time.