Some young people in Vermont seem to have discovered something other legal scholars have overlooked:
"I think most of Vermont wants Vermont to be nude," said Hannah Phillips, 15, who added that she has not disrobed. "People have a basic human right to be naked if they want to."
Where are the front-page stories, the TV reporters asking people how their lives have been affected, the calls from politicians for immediate action, the letters to the editor from the conspiracy theorists? Gasoline prices have dropped dramatically, even drastically, in the last couple of weeks.
I don't care for the politics of either Bruce Springsteen or Pete Seeger, but I've always liked their music, so I was looking forward to Springsteen's "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions." But I had to give up at about track 5, and I haven't listened again. I like my folk songs rough and raw, and this sounded like elevator music. The songs were allegedly done in one take to capture a "spontaneous" feel, but they surely sounded rehearsed to death. And the 12 musicians sounded like an orchestra -- violins, horns and a grand piano on folk music? Come on.
The Indianapolis condo market is booming:
. . . the Downtown condominium market is alive, kicking and guzzling Red Bull.
Supply is high. Dozens of condos are open or in the works.
Demand is even higher.
Remember "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America"? Here's a project that's really ambitious -- "10,000 Reasons Civilization Is Doomed." There are only about 2,700 things on the list so far, but the Web community is invited to make additions. With that many annoying things listed, there are bound to be some we disagree with, but it's hard to argue with No. 1: Paris Hilton. I've stopped worrying about her, frankly. Even if she disappears, we'll get somebody else exactly like her. The culture demands it.
Better hurry. Only 117 shopping says left:
It's that special time of year again, when the first plush Santas, singing snow men and blown-glass Christmas ornaments begin to appear on store shelves.
[. . .]
Labor Day, Columbus Day and Halloween, much less Thanksgiving, are now mere speed bumps on the highway to Christmas, folded into the 115-day month of Septoctnocember.
Common sense on balancing safety and civil liberties in the fight against terrorism:
What we have tried to do, in the wake of watching 3,000 of our innocent fellow citizens incinerated before our very eyes five years ago, is to try and find ways of protecting ourselves against foreign and domestic terrorist threats. It seems to me we've done so with a great deal of respect and attention to civil liberties - even though the process has been awkward and clumsy at times.
If something so clearly isn't working, isn't it time to change course?
Prohibition has failed to stamp out markets and quality, or increase street prices for cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. The drug war kicked off by President Nixon in the 1970s costs $40 billion or more a year. It is a massive, embarrassing, destructive failure.
Whenever we're standing around at work griping about the weather, I participate only halfheartedly if the "this heat is unbearable" topic comes up. No matter how bad summer gets, I hate winter so much more. (Bring it on, global warming). I don't believe the claims of Farmers' Almanac that its forecasts are accurate 80 to 85 percent of the time (the dirty little secret of meteorologists is that when they're talking about the weather more than 48 hours out, they're just making it up).
The idea of school uniforms is looking better and better:
This is a pretty comprehensive look at the state of gun laws and pretty evenly balanced in presenting the views of both gun supports and gun-control advocates. But it veers into wishful thinking at the end:
A lot of people are getting exercised over the latest twist in the "Survivor" TV series, apparently believing it will set back efforts at "racial harmony through diversity" 100 years:
LOS ANGELES - Get ready for a segregated "Survivor." Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups.
As we do occasionally, my sister and I decided to try a restaurant we'd never been to before. Indianapolis Monthly raved about it, it had "bistro" in the name; what could possibly go wrong? We were both underwhelmed. It turned out to be one of those self-consciously trendy places that put the haughty in haute cuisine. Elaborate presentations, painfully ostentatious decor, waiters and waitresses dressed better than we were. The portions were tiny, the vegetables exotic and the sauces adventurous.
Stories come and go, and you might never put them together without your friendly neighborhood blogger to provide the juxtaposition. First is this story that John McCain, were he to be elected, would be the oldest person ever to take the office of president. This might be problematical, because:
The elderly face a greater risk of developing problems in the years ahead, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, infection, Alzheimer's or even death.
I haven't linked to any dramatic new studies in the last few days, so I thought I'd give you two. First up is some bad news for fatties:
"People who are overweight have a moderately increased risk of premature death, and people who are obese have a greatly increased risk of premature death," said lead researcher Dr. Michael Leitzmann, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute.
Poor Pluto. After all these years, its status killed, kicked off the list of planets.
People keep talking about "the end of print" as everything moves online. Probably the last things printed on paper to go will be those for which there is a captive audience and a required reading list:
The 11,000-plus students at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne are paying on average 50 percent more for textbooks than they were three years ago.
“Those (book prices) have skyrocketed,” said Joel Wenger, director of financial aid at IPFW.
This is a fascinating post on the differences between men and women. Her central premise -- that men have difficult lives than women today -- is certainly open to debate. Some might say a better statement of the situation is that men get less respect from the media and the popular culture.
In the year 2006, some people are still finding proof in the Bible that those uppity women should just keep their place:
LaBouf and the church board fired Mary Lambert, 81, earlier this month in a letter that cited the scriptural qualifications for Sunday School teachers, Lambert said.
You know the old saying -- he who walks in middle of the road is in danger of getting hit by cars going in both directions. Indiana Rep. Mike Pence is trying to walk that very fine line on immigration and, surprise, surprise, is getting frustrated at having to dodge all the traffic:
