Current Affairs

A great American newspaper creates a thoughtful display of one of the most vital issues of the day.

Studies keep giving us astonishing revelations:

A study done by researchers at the University of Missouri, using a test developed at the UI, has correlated heavy binge drinking with diminished decision-making over time.

Over time? Like between the first drink of the binge and the last?

Old New Hampshire: Live free or die!

New New Hampshire: Ban smoking, or we'll die!

Governor John Lynch signed a law yesterday banning smoking in New Hampshire's bars and restaurants.

"The science is clear -- secondhand smoke poses a dangerous health risk, and that is why this new law is so important," Lynch said.

In case you doubt that our civilization is just one step ahead of barbarism, consider this scary Texas story:

Celebrants at an informal Juneteenth party in a crowded public housing complex parking lot turned into an angry mob that beat a man to death after the car he was riding in apparently struck and injured a child.

Trying to shore up the energy supply by messing with the food chain is just not a very good idea:

The boom in prices for corn, milk, beef and other food products is only getting louder.

While it's old news that corn prices have nearly doubled over the last two years - think ethanol - now experts say corn could move sharply higher still, pushing prices up further for milk, beef, pork and a host of other commodities.

Not in the running for Father of the Year:

The mother of a Sept. 11 victim is trying to prevent her son's absentee father from trying to collect half of the $2.9 million awarded by the Victim Compensation Fund, the Daily News has learned.

Elsie Goss-Caldwell will be petitioning a Brooklyn Surrogate's Court judge tomorrow to keep her ex-husband from financially benefiting from the death of a son that she said he had little contact with for 28 years.

Hey, kid, get rid of that gun before somebody gets hurt:

A fifth-grade promotion ceremony in Rancho Palos Verdes turned into a free-speech battleground Thursday, when students were asked to remove weapons from toys that had been placed on mortarboard caps because of the school's zero-tolerance policy for weapons on campus.

Newsweek has a nationwide take on the issue we've been talking about in Indiana in the wake of the Jack Trudeau hosting-drinking-parties-for-the-kids dilemma:

Danger, danger, fair-weather watch! If any actual sunshine is spotted, the watch will be upgraded to a warning:

Dang, there goes all our fun:

The initiative cracks down on a wide range of behavior that some say make Berkeley's streets inhospitable to residents and visitors alike. Among the activities that will be banned are smoking near buildings in commercial areas, lying on the sidewalk, public urination and defecation, drinking in public, possessing a shopping cart and shouting in public.

Happy Summer of Love 40th anniversary.