Current Affairs

  Come on admit it, there's not nearly enough cuteness in your life. Even if you're a big, burly heterosexual male, you long to go "awwwww" at least once a day.

A fascinating look at why things are the way they are, politically speaking. Big cities tend to be more liberal than rural areas because they require lots of government services (which explains a lot of Red State-Blue State stuff). Cities are more suited for newspapers, and the big ones tend to echo the local, liberal, culture. And . . .

You don't want drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? You think that will preserve the wilderness, protect the environment? Actually, you'll just denying some Alaskan Natives the things you take for granted, like running water:

This is the time of year when the Top 10 lists start rolling out. There will be the 10 biggest celebrities of the year and the 10 best new products. The other day I saw one on the 10 best toys.

So, do you really want smart growth? This New York nightmare is but one of the things that can happen to you when so many people are packed into such a tight space. Le's hear it for ugly suburban sprawl and all those clogged highways on the way to lovely suburban enclaves. I don't happen to live in one, but I'm glad they're there.

When I heard about this on the radio, I was prepared to be outraged on behalf of my Appalachian relatives, because the announcer flubbed it a little and said Iran had banned "country and western" music. Turns out that nation's president has banned all Western music, which would include the Eagles, Aaron Copeland and everything in between. See what we're fighting against, all you faint-hearted terrorism appeasers?

A lot more work could be done from home these days, if employers were willing to give up the notion that telecommuters are somehow getting away with something instead of actually saving the company money. And there are a number of public benefits as well as the ones to companies and the telecommuters.

If my math is accurate, the wife in this happy California family of 17 children has been pregnant almost 13 years of her life, and they still haven't ruled out having more children. This tidbit is interesting:

The census stops counting once households reach seven or more. Those households make up about 2% of the region of the Sacramento region's population

The liberal bias of the media is beyond debate, and this study merely confirms that. Still, it offers a surprise or two:

Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.

Only Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter.

Morgan Freeman is one of those actors whose work I admire but whose personal views I know nothing about. (Too frequently, it's best not to know; better just to appreciate the artistry rather than discover how much you detest the person providing it.