Current Affairs

I've seen a lot of romantic claptrap on TV this week about how so many miners, really, really love going down in those holes to dig out the coal despite the back-breaking work and the prospect of getting blown to pieces. Here's the reality. (Hell of a version, by the way.)

Sometimes it's comforting to live in a down-to-earth safe zone where looniness comes so much later than in other places that we have a better chance heading it off.

Remember the "I can sit naked in my own home drinking coffee if I want to" guy? Turns out he was right:

A man charged with indecent exposure after two women said they saw him naked inside his own home was acquitted Wednesday by a Virginia jury.

Erick Williamson, 29, has argued since his October arrest that he should not be punished for being naked in the privacy of his own home.

The "well, duh" research of the year, so far:

HARRISONBURG, Va., April 7 (UPI) -- Given a choice, men prefer "hooking up" to dating, while women prefer dating with the prospect of a relationship to casual sex, U.S. researchers said.

We can't just enjoy entertainment on TV anymore. We have to put up with behavior modification, too:

In just one week on NBC, the detectives on "Law and Order" investigated a cash-for-clunkers scam, a nurse on "Mercy" organized a group bike ride, Al Gore made a guest appearance on "30 Rock," and "The Office" turned Dwight Schrute into a cape-wearing superhero obsessed with recycling.

I'm a day early with this, but perhaps you'd like to start getting in the supplies to celebrate properly. Tomorrow is Tax Freedom Day, the day we start working for ourselves instead of The Man. This date is one day later than last year's TFD, but more than two weeks earlier than 2007's date. But that's only because the calculation does not include the deficit, even though deficits must eventually be financed, according to the Tax Foundation, which calculates TFD annuall:

If nuclear weapons are outlawed, only outlaws will have nuclear weapons:

Jane Fonda can't keep her mouth shut or her story straight. In 1988, she went on "20/20" and apologized for posing with the North Vietnamese and their anti-aircraft gun in 1972. She said there were times that her anti-war zeal made her "thoughtless and careless" and she was sorry she hurt our soldiers. It was years too late, but it was something.

Look at me! Look at me! Damn you, you looked at me!

PORTLAND

Deepak Chopra has made millions and millions giving navel-gazing Americans an excuse to sit around with their eyes closed and doing nothing. But I guess we should be careful about making fun of him: