Current events

This "teach writing in every class" idea is so commonsensical that I wonder why it hasn't been done always at every college in the country. The fact that it's such an innovative concept that they have to give it a name is a little sad:

Want a glimpse of our future under Obamacare? Just take a look at the medical system the government already operates:

CNN) -- At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list.

Camille Paglia sure knows how to start a good argument. Here she is on our past-its-prime drinking age:

It appears that big city newspaper columnists can be idiots on subjects other than politics as well. Here's the Washington Post's Catherine Rampell on why dumb Americans just don't get it that home ownership is a lousy investment:

I think opinion polling has reached a level of absurdity close to self-parody:

WASHINGTON (AP) — While scientists believe the universe began with a Big Bang, most Americans put a big question mark on the concept, an Associated Press-GfK poll found.

Well, that's one way to do it:

Who says print journalism is dead? Whoever the naysayers are, they forgot to tell the owners of Corriere della Sera, Italy’s leading national newspaper, which will deliver 20m free copies of the daily on a single day in May.

From The Onion -- FBI uncovers al-Qaeda plot to just sit back and enjoy collapse of United States"

WASHINGTON—Putting the nation on alert against what it has described as a “highly credible terrorist threat,” the FBI announced today that it has uncovered a plot by members of al-Qaeda to sit back and enjoy themselves while the United States collapses of its own accord.

I was busy with election-preparation stuff yesterday so I didn't have the chance to blog about this. It doesn't seem any less stupid one day later:

A consensus seems to have been reached about the Cliven Bundy case: 1) He has no legal leg to stnd on in his creative interpretation of government authority leading him to believe he doesn't have to pay no stinkin' grazing fees. But, 2) The federal government so overreached in its reaction (tasering a woman from behind, for God's sake) that it had no choice but to stand down in the face of public disgust.

Happy tax day!Check out this Gallup Poll story from yesterday:

As many Americans scramble to prepare their taxes ahead of the April 15 deadline, a majority, 52%, say the amount they have to pay in federal income tax is "too high," while 42% say it is "about right." The percentage who say their taxes are too high has hovered around 50% since 2003, although the current 52% is up from 46% two years ago.