Current Affairs

This isn't too scary:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has begun field testing new technology designed to identify people who intend to commit a terrorist act.

It's definitely a good day when a liberal columnist takes The New York Times to task for being so surprised that violent crime is now at nearly a 40-year low despite the recession followed by a very weak recovery:. Says Richard Cohen:

Remember when Australia was seen as the last bastion or rugged individualism and a lot of people in this country were talking about moving there to escape the wussification of America? But the country's already tough anti-smoking laws are set to become the harshest in the world, and Aussies won't even be able to cuss about it:

If Maslow were around to work on his hierarchy of needs today, he might need to make an addition to the five layers of his pyramid. The existing levels would remain the same (from bottom to top): psysiological needs, such as food and water and sex, are met first; then safety needs, followed by love/belonging needs; after those are met, we can work on our esteem needs; finally we can work on our self-actualization needs, such as morality and creativity.

Political opportunism is to be expected, but they're abusing the privilege: Even longtime Washington insiders say they are struck by the brazenness with which Rebuplicans and Democrats are changing their rhetoric to woo senior voters.

Just a little over a year ago, Rep.  John Boehner (R-Ohio) took to the House floor to warn America of the perils facing seniors if Democrats' healthcare reform bill wasn't stopped.

For the "Who in the world do you root for?" file:

Protesting members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church were met with an unlikely group of counterprotesters Monday at Arlington Cemetery.

It can get kind of tricky when you have two experts testifying in court who contradict each other, as happened in the case of Latisha Lawson, on trial for the murder of her 2-year-old son:

Another unanswered question is whether Lawson was sane at the time of Jezaih's death. Two doctors

While Fort Wayne struggles to get its downtown going, Indianapolis has done so well that downtown might be entering the "victim of its own success" stage. Nordstrom, the only anchor tenant originally committed to taking a spot in the new Circle Centre Mall, is leaving downtown, which is causing some to worry about the future of the other anchor tenant, Carson Pirie Scott, and the whole future of the mall. But the upscale company's departure doesn't mean downtown has stopped thriving.

Tattoo artist Victor Whitmill is suing Warner Bros., saying a facial tattoo in its new movie "The Hangover 2" violates his copyright because the tattoo looks identical to the one he designed for boxer Mike Tyson. Apparently, no court has yet grappled with the question of whether tattoos can be protected by copyright.

Do these people really deserve to be "survivors"?

Even as the search for survivors continues in tornado-ravaged Joplin, a number of faith-based organizations were mobilizing to provide relief and recovery services.

As of Wednesday, the death toll in Joplin stood at 125 as search parties continued to comb through piles of debris that mark much of the southwest Missouri city of 50,000.