(Shameless "As Good As It Gets" ripoff follows.) My brother sent me an e-mail a few days ago wondering if I was worried about the possibility of Russia having sole access to the space station for five years. "Well, not until now," I replied.
Then I saw this today:
Russia's invasion of Georgia is sending ripples right out into space, with NASA facing the possibility of no longer being able to hitch a ride to the International Space Station on Soyuz flights.
Finally, something that might knock the John Edwards story out of the news:
Bigfoot may have been found. Maybe. We'll see.
Two Northern California men and two Georgians say they've got a body, a photo and DNA evidence pertaining to the elusive forest-dwelling man-ape — and that they'll reveal all at a press conference in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday.
He fished. Then he wrote about fishing. It is a good read. A fine read. Not a hard read:
In a letter to Gertrude Stein, Hemingway described "Big Two-Hearted River" as a story in which "nothing happens." Nick Adams walks out of Seney, makes camp, and goes fishing. Beneath this mundane surface, however, swims a potent personal drama.
Haven't they learned in Posey that the Nigerians have the only legitimate big-money deals on the Internet?
Indiana State Police recently launched a criminal investigation after receiving information that a Posey County man had lost over $250,000 through a sweepstakes scam.
[. . .]
A reminder to all town, city and county legislators througout the state -- it you intend for the ordinance to cover goats, put the darn goats in the darn ordinance:
A Hancock County judge has ruled that a Fortville town ordinance does not prohibit a local couple from keeping goats in their backyard.
Congressional Quarterly says Indiana is still likely to go Republican in the presidential race:
Well, here we go again. The details change every time the governor brings this up, but the essence of the plan -- using vice to fund virtue -- remains the same:
Hoosier Sandy Allen, the "world's tallest woman," died early today in a Shelbyville nursing home. She was only 53 and had suffered from several effects of her abnormal growth:
Keep using that First Amendment, bloggers, while you still have it:
There's a huge concern among conservative talk radio hosts that reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would all-but destroy the industry due to equal time constraints. But speech limits might not stop at radio. They could even be extended to include the Internet and “government dictating content policy.”
Phony coyotes set up to discourage ducks and geese from gobbling up seeds and fresh shoots from wetlands plants didn't fool the fowl, but humans were another matter.
We don't have the space to print letters to the editor from out of state (unless they're commenting on something from our paper that the writers read online). Once in a while, I get one I'd like to run, however, such as this one from J. Andrew Smith of Bloomfield, N.J.:
Some ideas on global warming:
There's that wonderful scene in "Back to the Future" in which Marty tells Doc Brown that in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan is president. Oh, yeah? Doc answers. "Who's vice president -- Jerry Lewis?" That's no more improbable than imagining who the next secretary of defense might be:
It is true that the old press (mainstream media, legacy media, whatever) absoultely tanked on the John Edwards story. Whether it's because of liberal bias, a death wish, sheer incompetence or some other reason is being vigorously debated elsewhere. But the Clinton people are making just a tad too much of it:
BetUS.com has new odds out, and it's Evan Bayh on top:
I missed the column in Sunday's JG by Mindy Waldron, an administrator with the county health department, but I heard Pat White talking about it on WOWO on my drive home yesterday, so I hunted it up. The department has gotten a reputation for being a bunch of rule-obsessed, meddling busybodies because of its apparent attempt to kill outdoor cooking by restaurants.
Other people want to get in line to be one of the first to take a commercial space flight. This is what I'd like to reserve:
Journal Gazette cartoonist Dan Lynch and I were hang-out-on-break-together buddies, and we even got together a few times to mess around with guitars (he could actually play his). He used to describe one of his co-workers this way: "You know that governor you have in your head that tells you when to stop talking because you're in danger of going too far? And sometimes it even tells you not to speak at all?
China vs. the United States -- the count so far: China 20 medals, including 13 gold; the United States 21medals, but only seven gold.
And, er, China 17, the U.S. 16, but not till next year:
New projections indicate a weak dollar, failing trade agreements and an economy flirting with a recession will permit China to overtake the U.S. as the world's leading manufacturer four years earlier than previously predicted.
They just don't want to give up on the red-light cameras:
Both Lafayette and West Lafayette mayors said Monday they'll lobby state lawmakers to create a law authorizing municipalities to use red light cameras.
Don't go out in the sun -- you'll get cancer! OK, fine, I'll stay indoors more. Oops:
Inadequate vitamin D could increase your risk of death by 26 percent, a new study concludes.
Yet many people are not getting enough vitamin D, which the skin makes naturally when exposed to sunlight. A nationwide survey found that 41 percent of men and 53 percent of women in the United States were not getting enough of this vital nutrient.
