It's not that you envy and despise the rich, you say. You just wish they didn't have so much while the rest of have to do with less and less.
But you're buying into the myth of household-income stagnation. The truth is that all Americans are much better off than we used to be, including the poorest Americans:
Former fatty Jared Fogel, the guy who lost 245 pounds by eating Subway sandwiches, is going to be at Lincoln Elementary School, 1001 E. Cook Road, tomorrow at 10 a.m. According to a Fort Wayne Community Schools media advisory, Fogel will "visit with students and talk about the importance of healthy living, including exercising and eating right."
Hillary Clinton's latest gambit -- to divert attention from the fact that she is mired in second place -- is to float an offer to Barack Obama to take the second spot on the ticket. In what alternative universe does this happen? Obama, as always, had a good answer:
Looks like someone has anger-management issues:
March 10, 2008 -- The parents of two Bronx preschoolers are suing the city, charging that their kids were tossed out of class - and handcuffed by a school-safety officer - for refusing to take a nap.
Beware the Nap Nazis. Are you smarter than a 4-year-old?
Bill Gates has fallen on hard times:
U.S. financier Warren Buffet, 77, has overtaken his friend and partner in philanthropy, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires.
Forbes reports the chief of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company experienced a $10 billion jump in net worth last year to $62 billion, enough to end Gates' 13-year streak at the top.
OK, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer got caught on a wire tap being "involved in a prostitution ring." Hardly shocking these days. And he oozes the usual biolerplate contrition, saying he acted "in a way that violates" his obligations to his family: "I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family." Fine. Dandy.
But this part of the story stopped me:
As a strong believer in individual rights and responsibilities, I've watched with dismay as collectivism of one sort or another has made inroad after inroad. Now, even sin is no longer a personal matter:
He said that priests must take account of “new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalisation”. Whereas sin in the past was thought of as being an invididual matter, it now had “social resonance”.
Yes, I must say that I've noticed the same thing -- $1 million just doesn't stretch as far as it used to:
Britons need a lot more than a million pounds to enjoy the lifestyle of the rich and famous, a report said on Monday.
Talk will soon turn to John McCain's choice for vice president, and it can be fun to speculate:
If McCain really wants to have it all—to refurbish his maverick image without having to flip-flop on the panderings that have tarnished it; to galvanize the attention of the press, the nation, and the world; to make a bold play for the center without seriously alienating “the base”—then he can avail himself of a highly interesting option: Condoleezza Rice.
On the campaign trail, John McCain decries pork-barrel spending by, among other things, making fun of a $3 million program to study grizzly bear DNA: "I don't kjow if it was a paternity issue or criminal, but it was a waste of money." Wait just a second, says a Washington Post story headlined "McCain sees pork where scientists see success," that project accomplished what it set out to accomplish, and it was beneficial:
If the global-warming movement weren't so dangerous, its periodic descent into self-parody would be somewhat amusing:
Feeling green after drinking alcohol has taken on a new meaning in Australia with a brewer launching a beer that it says helps fight global warming.
USA Today and Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit fame) square off over whether journalists should have privileges such as shield laws.
Thank God John McCain is running so that I have an old, white guy to vote for:
Further evidence that I am getting way too old or the world is moving way too fast, or both:
RICHMOND, Va. - State legislators passed a law Saturday that would require adults who French kiss a child younger than 13 to register as a sex offender.
Does losing an hour make that much difference?
The Detroit Free Press obtained from the Michigan State Police crash statistics for the average Monday vs. the Monday after the time change, and the numbers are pretty crazy. On an average Monday in March, there are 1,022 accidents in the state of Michigan, but on the Monday after the clocks are moved forward, the average amount of accidents between 2002 and 2006 jumped to 1,396.
What's unusual about this story?
Fort Wayne Police have cleared the driver of a white Cadillac Escalade of any suspicion in the Tuesday morning robbery and assault of a manager at Family Dollar, 5307 Decatur Road.
No one was more cooperative than Randolph Jackson, who was behind the wheel of the Escalade and whose image was caught by surveillance cameras and broadcast on television news programs this week.
[. . .]
And you thought northeast Indiana was a staid, stick-in-the-mud region:
A man is being held without bond in the Allen County Lockup after police say they seized more than 6,000 pounds of marijuana from his rented home.
Sheriff Ken Fries says the drugs seized Thursday could have a street value of more than $6 million.
Americans would find it harder to part with their mobile phones than the Internet, television or landline telephones, according to a survey released Wednesday. The report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project also found that Americans are using their cellphones and other wireless devices for more activities including text messaging, taking pictures or sending email.
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - All the world's a stage at some of Minnesota's bars. A new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing up playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume, and pronouncing them "actors."
Just what I needed in my life, airport officials protecting me from my tendency to be unduly influenced by Bad Things From The Web:
Travelers using Denver International Airport's free Wi-Fi service cannot visit Internet sites that airport officials consider provocative.
A report in The Denver Post says the airport is blocking Vanity Fair magazine's Web site, the hipster site boingboing.net and others.
