Happy 38th moon-landing anniversary. I can still remember how stunning it was to see Armstrong take that first step and hear him speak those words. It was the greatest step ever taken in human exploration. What would the world be like today if we had used that as a starting point instead of . . . just . . . losing . . . interest?
I knew there was a reason I liked Christopher Walken (besides his acting talent, that is):
Q: I understand you're a great cook. Do you tend to take care of dinner at home with your wife?
While governments look for more and more new things to meddle in, the basics get neglected:
NEW YORK - With a blast that made skyscrapers tremble, an 83-year-old steam pipe sent a powerful message that the miles of tubes, wires and iron beneath New York and other U.S. cities are getting older and could become dangerously unstable.
[. . .]
Feeling good about being bad:
Researchers say that a little bit of gossip is healthy. It's what keeps the culture going, greasing the social machinery.
It's almost like being told that cigarettes are good for you.
Is this what passes for a tax revolt in Europe?
Norwegians are among the most heavily taxed people in the world, and that in turn has made Norway one of the most expensive countries in which to live. Most accept the taxes they're ordered to pay on income and even net worth and property, but growing numbers are publicly complaining about sky-high taxes on everything from cars to fuel to consumer goods.
Not so much a bargain:
Barrett agreed to meet the officer at the Holiday Inn Express in Fishers. The officer gave her $140 in exchange for a sex act and she was then arrested. Barrett is charged with solicitation of prostitution and is now out on a $2,500 bond.
Let's see. I can pay $140 for a sex act or kick in another $60 and have someone killed. Look at the photo -- not a tough choice.
It's bad enough that Democrats want to shake the foundations of the country by making the Constitution a "living document" instead of the bedrock of our principles. They also have no qualms about also destroying something really important:
According to researchers Christopher Zorn and Jeff Gill,] baseball fans are far more likely to embrace the designated hitter (DH) if they are Democrats.
[. . .]
Their explanation for this finding makes intuitive sense.
Oh, bite me:
Rugged American individualism could hinder our ability to understand other peoples' point of view, a new study suggests.
And in contrast, the researchers found that Chinese are more skilled at understanding other people's perspectives, possibly because they live in a more "collectivist" society.
Chicago is being overwhelmed with gang violence and has had 225 homicides so far this year. Yeah, this will work:
City officials again will use the carrot approach to reducing the number of guns in Chicago, by offering a $100 pre-paid gift card for each weapon turned in this weekend.
This sounds like a bargain:
An Angola woman is in jail after she paid an undercover police officer to kill her soon to be ex-husband. Mollie Krontz, 44, was arrested at the public access area of Marsh Lake around 10:00 Tuesday night.
Headline in the Evansville Courier & Press: Convicted sex offender loses appeal. I wonder who found him attractive in the first place.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a 110-year sentence for a woman who had pleaded "guilty but mentally ill":
Thirty-two-year-old Magdalena Lopez pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of murder for the July 2005 deaths of her nine-year-old and two-year-old sons.
She was sentenced in August to two consecutive 55-year terms. The judge decided against allowing the sentences to be served at the same time.
The Court of Appeals agreed, citing the brutal nature of the crime.
Oh! My! God! Report says al-Qaida seeks to attack U.S., the AP is reporting. When did this happen? Why didn't somebody tell us? What are they, terrorists or something?
This is just sad:
FURY erupted last night after Sir Winston Churchill was axed from school history lessons. Britain's cigar-chomping World War Two PM — famed for his two-finger victory salute — was removed from a list of figures secondary school children must learn about.
Listen you grammar Nazis I don't need no stinkin' commas and even if I did I wouldn't let you know because who are you to tell me to slow down after all I am the one doing the writing not you and I should be able to determine my own punctuation and it's no big deal if we don't slow down these days that's what I say anyway because this is America where we get to do our own thing:
The government rushes in to solve another critical problem:
Wisconsin legislators have introduced a bill that outlines how divorcing couples and the courts should handle custody battles over pets.
John Edwards got a lot of grief from conservatives when he said that the "war on terror" was just a slogan rather than a strategy. I wonder what the reaction will be to this, essentially the same argument from someone on the right:
Don Imus redux -- the "rap music made me do it" defense:
The longtime chairman of the Roger Williams University board admitted Monday that he had used the N-word during a board meeting, saying it "kind of slipped out."
[. . .]
He said he had never used the term before.
Count me among them:
Many Americans seem to eschew traditional vacations — a trend that has some experts worried that workers are not getting away from their jobs to relax and recharge, both physically and mentally.
The reasons vary, from having too few vacation days available to lacking money for travel. But in some cases, it seems, many people just aren't getting into the habit of getting away.
