Politics and other nightmares

Woody Guthrie is one of my musical heroes, but he was, alas, a hard-core Communist. "This Land Is Your Land" was not a sentimental song of  American idealism; it pretty much presented the Stalinist view of land and property. Many leftists who came of age in the 1920s and 1930s, it is said, became party members or avid followers of the Soviet Union out of some misguided sense of collectivist altruism. For many, this was true.

I trust all of you understand some of the reasons reports of the "poverty" rate must be viewed with skepticism. For one thing, they reflect only income; things like food stamps and other government benefits aren't counted -- neither are stock dividends, for that matter. For another, those classified as poor in this country today have material comforts the rich in our past didn't have and the relatively well-off in other countries still don't.

"A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness--

Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

-- Quatrain XI of  the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ," translation by Edward Fitzgerald, 5th edition

I love the kitchen, so I'll bake the bread. You bring the poems and find us a tree to sit under. But we have Circuit Judge John D. Tinder to thank for the better wine selection:

So, Geoff Paddock is one of the people who don't get their reminders to renew their license plates. He forgets and is issued a ticket. He complains to the BMV and is told, well, it was one of our computer glitches, and it's just a courtesy anyway, so quit yer whinin'. Paddock isn't buying it:

 “But it's more than a courtesy. License fees are a tax, and the least the state can do is to mail notices in a timely manner.”

What a pal -- Fred is going to announce on my birthday:

DES MOINES (AP) — Republican Fred Thompson, whose entry into the presidential race has been long anticipated, will officially launch his candidacy Sept. 6 in a webcast on his campaign site, followed by a five-day tour of early primary states, the Associated Press has learned.

A veteran of the Iraq war calls for a return of the draft:

A deferment draft, however, is a different story, and ultimately counterproductive because of the acrimony it breeds. By allowing the fortunate and, often, most talented to stay home, those who are drafted feel less important than what they are asked to die for. At the end of the day, it was this bitterness that helped fuel the massive antiwar movement that pushed Nixon to end the draft in

Today's quiz: What distinction does the Indiana Supreme Court have?

Answer: It's the only state high court without a woman.

This will matter to those who think women still aren't getting a fair shake in certain areas. Of course, having a representative on every state Supreme Court but one has to be seen as progress, even if it seems to make Indiana a little backwards.

I am learning more than I want to know about men's restroom etiquette. The only rules I have known for sure are that there is no eye contact at the urinals, and there is no talking except for a brief exchange during the hand-washing process or a "How you doin'?" if you meet while one is going in and the other is leaving. Now I have to wonder about my stupid feet:

States keep moving up their primary contests:

Wyoming Republicans have jumped to the head of the pack in the nominating process, moving their delegate-selection conventions to Jan. 5 before even Iowa or New Hampshire vote.

Are women really that dumb? "Oooh, what a pretty package! I must have it, so I will start smoking!"

Sleek packaging, pretty colors and rosy images reach out to female consumers from pages of a magazine. Their allure is not unusual for businesses seeking to attract customers. But in this case, the image portrayed is a mirage and the purchases could be deadly to any woman who doesn't read between the lines.

You see, the product advertised is a brand of cigarettes.