We're confused enough about time in Indiana. This will probably drive us right around the bend:
Leap seconds are not without controversy, however. They can affect communications, navigation and air traffic control systems and computer systems that have to be updated.
Look through this list of the 50 greatest gadgets of the past 50 years and try to guess which is the very best gadget of all. Give up? The next one, of course.
People who don't think the Iraqis' fight for liberty is worthy probably won't appreciate the larger story, either -- but 2005 has been a good year for freedom. And the best news:
You can have limited sympathy for this doctor who was apparently growing marijuana to treat his wife -- if you break the law, you accept the consequences -- and still doubt the wisdom of coming down hard on him. The drug warriors do not enlist much support for their cause by treating all drugs the same. I presume most people would consider a meth lab in the garage next door much more dangerous than the doctor's enterprise to the neighborhood and the well-being of society.
And you thought those of us who said the anti-everything crowd would soon be coming into our homes were just being paranoid:
Ministers have told councils, health boards and social work departments that they should compile a "smokers' map" of Scotland, focusing on those who regularly receive visits from officials and carers. This would identify individual households where a smoker is resident.
I really hate to spend a lot of time thinking about Hillary Clinton, but since she's likely to be the Democratic candidate for president, it has to be done. This guy has her pegged, I think. When a politician we think of as candid and forthright suddenly turns nakedly opportunistic, it disappoints us. When Ms. Clinton does it, we just think, oh, well, that's Hillary being Hillary. And it's not even interesting to watch, as it at least was occasionally with Bill:
If you feel like getting away from it all, too bad. There's no place where they can't find you:
Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.
Come on admit it, there's not nearly enough cuteness in your life. Even if you're a big, burly heterosexual male, you long to go "awwwww" at least once a day.
A fascinating look at why things are the way they are, politically speaking. Big cities tend to be more liberal than rural areas because they require lots of government services (which explains a lot of Red State-Blue State stuff). Cities are more suited for newspapers, and the big ones tend to echo the local, liberal, culture. And . . .
This sounds like a very reasonable right of self-protection:
"You don't have to put yourself at risk. You don't have to say, 'Oh, by the way, I'm here,' and give (the burglar) the first shot."
You don't want drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? You think that will preserve the wilderness, protect the environment? Actually, you'll just denying some Alaskan Natives the things you take for granted, like running water:
You think you're getting gouged at the gas pump? Nobody can fix prices and cost you more than the federal government:
There are hundreds of statutory minimum prices, including gasoline in some states. There are numerous agricultural import restrictions and production quotas. All of these government-sanction market manipulations represent seller collusions against consumers.
Stalin wasn't just evil, he was also sublimely nutty:
THE Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes, according to recently uncovered secret documents.
Early in my marriage, my wife and I invited my parents in Fort Wayne to visit us in the small house we rented in Wabash. We cleaned and straightened for a week, shopped and cooked. All during the day, my mother dropped small words of praise here and there, as mothers will. My father was silent. When the visit was over, and they were leaving, I finally just asked him: "Well, how was it?" He thought for a long moment and finally said, "The coffee could have been stronger." I am my father's son, so I make coffee so strong that most of my family won't drink it.
OK, enough; the "Christmas wars" are getting tiresome. I like this take that strikes a "plague on both their houses" attitude:
So, do you really want smart growth? This New York nightmare is but one of the things that can happen to you when so many people are packed into such a tight space. Le's hear it for ugly suburban sprawl and all those clogged highways on the way to lovely suburban enclaves. I don't happen to live in one, but I'm glad they're there.
Intelligent design has lost big-time in the Dover, Pa., case. Federal Judge John said in his ruling that “We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom." A key point, I think, is Jones' rejection of the notion that evolution is somehow anti-religious:
When I heard about this on the radio, I was prepared to be outraged on behalf of my Appalachian relatives, because the announcer flubbed it a little and said Iran had banned "country and western" music. Turns out that nation's president has banned all Western music, which would include the Eagles, Aaron Copeland and everything in between. See what we're fighting against, all you faint-hearted terrorism appeasers?
Some people will, of course, oppose the death penalty as a matter of principle. But as long as we have it, decisions have to be made about who should face it and who should not. If a case can be made to impose it on anybody, Simon Rios certainly qualifies. Charged with killing his wife and three children, and now the suspect in the abduction and killing of 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez, Rios is not exactly a sympathetic figure.
