Rationality is gender-neutral:
Maybe there will be a woman on the Democratic presidential ticket. That doesn't mean it has to be Hillary:
The critical thing is that women are both planning ahead and planning for contingencies. Hillary may or may not run; I think she will, but not everyone agrees with me.
Hillary may or may not win the nomination; I think she will, but there are any number of scenarios in which she could lose one or two early contests, an anti-Hillary movement could develop, and someone else could take off.
Certainly truck driver Robert F. Spencer acted recklessly, the same as if he'd been drinking and driving:
. . . he'd been driving his loaded rig for hours longer than federal law allows. With the windows rolled down and the air conditioning pumping full-blast, Spencer suddenly stopped talking. Minutes passed. Then, still listening to the phone line in Michigan, his sister Nicole heard a bang.
I missed this the first time around, but on Sunday night I caught Andy Rooney's screed on "60 Minutes" about ugly utility poles and lines:
How can the American economy be doing so well while people think it's so horrible? Because journalists for major institutions such as The New York Times and The Washington Post are either economically ignorant or have an agenda that requires them to twist the facts. Take your pick:
In fiction, we have Javert hounding Jean Valjean for his whole life, all over the theft of a loaf of bread, the great literature of "Les Miserables." In real life, we have this:
It's the lore of the North that allows a traveller caught in a blizzard to break into a cabin for food and warmth in order to keep body and soul together.
More reaction on the great "Survivor" diversity experiment. GM has withdrawn its ads but says it has nothing to do with the controversial content. Wellll, OK. There's this fascinating quote in defense of the show:
Show creator Mark Burnett said Tuesday that many of those criticizing the new approach haven't ever seen the show and don't understand how it works.
It's time for the weekly "another brilliant study" post:
An analysis of poverty rates and health published in the September issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people living in extreme poverty tend to have more chronic illnesses, more frequent and severe disease complications and make greater demands on the health care system.
Just one of the ways the human population could be all but wiped out:
What could cover the globe in ash, plunge Earth into an ice age and end life as we know it?
Isn't the Internet wonderful for helping people build communities of common interests? I did a post a couple of days ago about young nudists cavorting in Vermont. It drew a comment from a woman in Oregon, who invited us all to enjoy the two legal nude beaches in that state. She also helpfully provided a link to the American Association for Nude Recreation Web site.
You think there are control freaks among the political class here? I say Roseland gets the prize:
Some people are saying the gross overcoverage of the phony JonBenet suspect is the worst embarrassment for the press in recent memory. Worse than the Katrina incomeptence? Worse than the Valerie Plame non-story? Then, there is this, another strange lapse from one of the formerly great newspapers:
Now don't all you people feel guilty for chasing all the smokers outside?
A MAN was killed by a horrific explosion in a garden shed at his parents' home after popping outside for a smoke.
Investigators believe the 31-year-old victim was visiting relatives in Tyldesley, near Atherton, when he went out of the house to smoke a cigarette.
Boy, if Republicans as well as Democrats are piling on, that must mean the political class realizes how peeved people get at bad BMV service. Guaranteed 30-minute service? Longer hours to handle more people? What a brave stand.
I have to say, though, that I like this a lot better than Pat Bauer's plan to turn the whole shooting match over the the secretary of state:
The first two paragraphs of a story about new Census data:
The number of Indiana residents living in poverty increased 13 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to new census data, but advocates say even more people are struggling to make ends meet.
Well, for goodness sake. Any environmentalist in this country can tell you that the only way to combat the dwindling amount of landfill space is to recycle:
Tirana residents are trying to put off dying until the government and city officials end their row over space shortages in the Albanian capital's graveyards.
The Indianapolis Star wants the state to bail out Indy over the Colts debacle:
A brave citizen finds the courage to report a heinous crime:
A daily special at a Lincoln Square restaurant has triggered the first -- and only -- official complaint stemming from Chicago's controversial ban on foie gras.
A caller to the city's 311 non-emergency system complained that foie gras was being served over the weekend at Block 44, 4365 N. Lincoln. The restaurant is not refuting the claim.
While we wallowing in the "what went wrong with Katrina" reminiscences this week, let's not overlook the continuing debacle:
I think this is true:
Democratic insiders, who months ago thought their chances of winning a majority in the House were no better than even, and that the Senate was a lost cause, have become far more optimistic. Now, they say, winning the House is a lock, and the Senate is within reach.
