Current events

Four-star lifestyle:

Then-defense sercretary Robert M. Gates may have been the civilian leader of the world’s largest military, but his position did not come with household staff. So, he often joked, he disposed of his leaves by blowing them onto the chairman’s lawn.

Our ancestors crossed oceans and prairies.  They climbed mountains and carved homes out of the wilderness. They fought wild animals and wicked weather. And this is what their descendants have come to:

The Indiana Department of Labor is encouraging retailers to take precautions to ensure employees and shoppers are safe during "Black Friday" sales and other major shopping days.

From Ron Paul's farewell speech (full transcript here):

During part one of his farewell speech to Congress, Rep. Ron Paul insisted that the internet remain free, as it is an important alternative to the “government media complex.”

I really hope he's wrong, but history says he's right: "Get ready for higher taxes and no spending reform."

The Obama tax hikes would both be too much and too little--too much not to dampen already weak economic growth, too little to stop the rapid accumulation of debt.

The New York Times says editors and biographers alike are loath to condemn the new Petraeus biography even though the writer and subject were having an affiar, because "the rules in this area are so hazy." This highly irritates Walter Russell Mead, who observes:

A brave stand for human dignity in San Francisco!

Reuters) - Two dozen pro-nudity activists wearing little but their righteous indignation assembled on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday to protest a proposed municipal ban on public nakedness.

Guess they've got that pesky old murder-gang-drug thing solved in Chicago so that Mayor Rahm Emanuel can now concetrate on the really important stuff:

Time for Chicago's vending machines to chip up or chip out.

This ought to give Republicans pause:

President Barack Obama won a second term by taking the majority of swing states. But a closer look at exit polling data shows Obama lost the independent vote in most of those states over the last four years. Independents, who do not align with one political party or another, make up a fast-growing and coveted voting bloc.

Hey, how about this for a novelty -- a general in the middle of a scandal that doesn't involve sex:

Gen. William “Kip” Ward, the one-time head of the U.S. Africa Command, was demoted Tuesday and ordered to repay $82,000 he blew on extravagant trips and other unauthorized expenses.

Sure hope we find out how innocent or "inappropriate" the emails between General John Allen and Jill Kelley were, so I can sleep at night again: