All about me

The minute you label yourself, whether it's "conservative" or "liberal" or "libertarian" or whatever, you become judged by that label. People will study everything you say to see if it lives up to the purity of that philosophy. Much better to just say what you think and let others come up with the label for you.

Asking patients to rate their pain is not that helpful:

It may be a painful truth, but a new study suggests that attempting to measure pain on a scale of 0 to 10 may not help doctors effectively treat the suffering.

Listen up, young ladies. The life you save could be mine, and you could help the whole human race in the process:

Older men who shack up with much younger women keep the Grim Reaper at bay for the human population and extend our species' lifespan, new research claims.

I don't have any guilty pleasures, because I don't even accept the concept -- I like what I like and make no apologies for it. But if I did have any, one would me my addiction to TV game shows that are Too Frivolous To Be Taken Seriously -- "Family Feud," "Wheel of Fortune," "Card Sharks," "Hollywood Squares"; I'll put down the "Remembrance of Things Past" or  "The History of Civilization" that I'm reading in a heartbeat to get sucked into one of those diversions. Only my best friends know that "Jeopardy" -- at which I excel, naturally -- is not my only game show.

Yikes -- more information than I want to know:

The gender gap has widened when it comes to hygiene, according to the latest stakeout by the "hand washing police."

One-third of men didn't bother to wash after using the bathroom, compared with 12 percent of women, said the researchers who spy on people in public restrooms. They reported their latest findings Monday at a meeting of infectious disease scientists.

I've given it a great deal of thought, and I do not think I was put on this earth to be told by Prince Charles how to live:

He's dabbled in painting, written a children's book, worked in television and launched a range of biscuits.

With so many strings to his bow it is perhaps unsurprising that Prince Charles should graduate to starring in a Hollywood movie.

My current hero:

(CBS4) FORT LUPTON, Colo. Violaters of the city of Fort Lupton's noise ordinance were in for a big surprise this past Friday. The city's judge sentenced citizens who have been busted for being too loud to 1 hour of listening to unpopular or unusual music.

In a courtroom with mostly young adult offenders, Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" played loudly on a boombox.

What a shock:

Easy access to the beach seems to be a key factor in deciding which state people would choose to live. According to a new Harris Poll, California remains number 1 this year, followed by Florida, which moved up from number three and Hawaii, which has dropped from number two. Florida has been in the top three ever since this question was first asked in 1997.

"You cut, I choose" has been the general principle for settling disputes and potential disputes between two people forever. How startling to see such wisdom in a Jif peanut butter ad that's been running on TV for the past couple of weeks. A mom is distributing the last slice of bread, spread with Jif, to her two kids and tells one he gets to cut it in two, but the other one gets first choice of which piece to take.

Oops:

A St. Paul man on his way to anger management class demonstrated just how badly he needed to attend the class.

Justin Boudin is charged with fifth degree assault for using his anger management class papers to hit a man.

It was just before rush hour on August 29, that police say the 27-year-old Boudin was at a St. Paul bus stop when he began arguing with waiting passengers.

He was particularly upset with a 59-year-old woman and yelled at her, saying, "Why don't you show me some respect?"