YouTube now hosts a video of prison guards stuck outside a Massachusetts maximum security prison cell as inmate John Druse murdered pedophile priest John Geoghan. Druse jammed the cell door closed with a paperback book. Cell not designed well? Guards not really trying their hardest to enter (Father Geoghan probably not winning any popularity contests with guards or inmates)? As Good As News suspects the paperback in question was a real page turner, the guard leading the charge just couldn't put it down.
Universal Music Group (a subdivision of a subunit of conglomerate Vivendi) and Apple are in a stand-off on terms for Apple's license of music released by Universal. Universal a music giant (one-third of US new releases) but Apple is already third largest distributor. iMagine, Apple is already hot on Walmart's heels at the top of the music distribution business and the iPhone has just begun. My favorite story here is Vivendi - twenty years ago a French utility with a boring water business, but now the Vivendi execs are living large. Sure, water is today's hottest commodity and music is a nightmare business as artists get paid while customers download for free, but that is the shareholder's problem. Vivendi execs roll down limo window and shout, "you chase Walmart, Mr. Jobs, we're late for the party with Shakira".
Sixth Circuit panel dismisses no warrant wire-tap challenge on grounds that plaintiffs did not have standing- not allowed to pursue their claims because they could not show they were harmed in any specific way by NSA taps without warrants. Standing argument generally makes sense here, but in a secret wiretap case you may never know you lost a job, a chance to get a new job, a security clearance - all because of something NSA misunderstood when you were calling your great uncle Babaganoush in Lebanon. (Kudos to anyone who remembered Danny Thomas show.) How can you sue for damages caused by a secret wiretap when you never find out about the secret wiretap? Cheney-Rove-W regime will probably not be able to hide behind standing Catch 22 forever as a wiretap case is being heard in a different circuit. The CRW crew will be long gone by the time this reaches the Supreme Court. The conservative coalition CRW will leave behind on the high court may not warm to no warrant taps. Civil liberties, this Court says ho hum, but Executive branch slighting the Judiciary by going warrantless - might draw a rap on the knuckles from J. Scalia and company.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Soprano offspring seeks second career
Minnesota Twins reliever and blogger Pat Nesheck just missed the all star team despite get out the vote campaign on his popular blog. As Good As News will expect more from you if I ever run for anything.
Adult college for a day may be a hit, but you can avoid the fees, for a price. Seeing the beautiful campuses, palatial dorms, great gyms -I too felt the urge to revisit college when doing the preadmission tours with my twins. After my daughter started Skidmore I got my wish. The regular parent's weekend program includes an entertaining slate of classes with professors who come prepared to teach and entertain, seem to enjoy the change of pace. Hint - take the math classes if you want to avoid the crowds. Skidmore program is all fun and no fees - all you have to do is pay the regular tuition for your offspring.
Cheney-Rove-W led EPA takes a narrow approach to jurisdiction over wetlands - this is no surprise. Actually a significant step in the right direction. This crew originally took no responsibility at all for wetlands, the ones located in New Orleans following Katrina.
State beauty pageant winner receives blackmail threats designed to compel resignation from Miss America contest. Guess which state. Only in New Jersey. Did not realize Meadow was trying to gain entree into this field. Fact that the current Miss New Jersey is a Polumbo could make life exciting for the tabloids - Polumbo and Soprano, beauty queens from five families go to the mattresses?
Adult college for a day may be a hit, but you can avoid the fees, for a price. Seeing the beautiful campuses, palatial dorms, great gyms -I too felt the urge to revisit college when doing the preadmission tours with my twins. After my daughter started Skidmore I got my wish. The regular parent's weekend program includes an entertaining slate of classes with professors who come prepared to teach and entertain, seem to enjoy the change of pace. Hint - take the math classes if you want to avoid the crowds. Skidmore program is all fun and no fees - all you have to do is pay the regular tuition for your offspring.
Cheney-Rove-W led EPA takes a narrow approach to jurisdiction over wetlands - this is no surprise. Actually a significant step in the right direction. This crew originally took no responsibility at all for wetlands, the ones located in New Orleans following Katrina.
State beauty pageant winner receives blackmail threats designed to compel resignation from Miss America contest. Guess which state. Only in New Jersey. Did not realize Meadow was trying to gain entree into this field. Fact that the current Miss New Jersey is a Polumbo could make life exciting for the tabloids - Polumbo and Soprano, beauty queens from five families go to the mattresses?
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Always Lede with the Pirate Joke
What a day, Turkmenistan redux and a Clam War between NY and NJ featuring a pirate joke, sometimes As Good As News just writes itself.
Clam wars - exit strategy wanted. Dateline 2007 - New York Department of Conservation officers use "military grade speedboats" (I have a military grade pocket knife) in crackdown on New Jersey clammers who drift across invisible line into New York waters. Dateline 1862 - "four New Jersey men were accused of piracy after they seized a New York clamming vessel on the Raritan Bay. Their defense, The New York Times reported (sorry - no additional link here, this report was in the 1862 NY Times - no limit to how hard we will look for a good pirate joke) , was that “the sloop was engaged in an unlawful infraction of the piscatorial and bivalvular rights of New Jersey."" As Good As News always on the side of Pirates and who can resist a good bivalvularrr (matey) rights argument - so back off NY... and return Liberty Island to New Jersey while you're at it.
Kudos to over 4,000 new citizens sworn in yesterday. I would like to see the Disney World ceremony some year. And to Univision, for its successful radio and TV campaign promoting naturalization - Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!
Clam wars - exit strategy wanted. Dateline 2007 - New York Department of Conservation officers use "military grade speedboats" (I have a military grade pocket knife) in crackdown on New Jersey clammers who drift across invisible line into New York waters. Dateline 1862 - "four New Jersey men were accused of piracy after they seized a New York clamming vessel on the Raritan Bay. Their defense, The New York Times reported (sorry - no additional link here, this report was in the 1862 NY Times - no limit to how hard we will look for a good pirate joke) , was that “the sloop was engaged in an unlawful infraction of the piscatorial and bivalvular rights of New Jersey."" As Good As News always on the side of Pirates and who can resist a good bivalvularrr (matey) rights argument - so back off NY... and return Liberty Island to New Jersey while you're at it.
NY Times story of June 21, 2007 led with characterization of Turkmenistan as "reclusive and authoritarian". As Good As News questioned this (see post of June 21, also sent to NY Times as letter to the editor)- objective reporting or a misunderstood recluse created by the media itself, a media afraid to mention Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov because they are intimidated by the mere prospect of spelling his name. Today's "Murky Isolation" headline was more of the same. For those using the electronic link, please note that the headline in the hard copy of today's NY Times uses "Murky Isolation", but bias so obvious that it has already been edited out of the Times on-line. The voice of As Good As News is not just powerful but extremely fast working. Copy under the headline tells a different story. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov (pronounced gur-BAHN-goo-lee bair-dee-mukh-ha-MAY-doff, well that certainly made life easier) is hanging his own portrait all over town (recluse? - no way, the man is a publicity fiend). He's letting the internet into Turkmenistan and telling police to be nicer at the many security checkpoints (scenic security check points apparently a quaint local custom). So Turkmenistan President not reclusive at all and less authoritarian than his predecessor - wake up Times - do not judge a book by its title just because you can't pronounce it.
Kudos to MIT for studies that shed necessary light on hidden facts -witness today's story on airline stats that don't show real time lost in missed connections and yesterday's piece on Associate Prof. Amy Finkelstein's work demonstrating that toll rates soar once an automatic toll payment mechanism, like my beloved EZ Pass, has been in place for a few years. I will donate to MIT again this year even though my children are no longer possible admissions candidates.
As Good As News Announcement - Posts may be irregular over the next few days, will be back on schedule by Monday at latest.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Summertime
The fourth of July is the Independence Day holiday in the USA. Bet the English are wishing Tony Blair had declared Independence from Cheney-Rove-W Administration, but enough politics. It's a holiday so As Good As News will just go for the easy laugh.
Sturgeon are jumping uncontrollably in Florida's Suwannee River. Sounds like nature at its most beautiful, unless you are doing 30 miles per hour on a power boat or a jet ski and suddenly find one of these 200 pound monsters in your face - WHAP. A real safety issue, but still, I wish we had the video, with soundtrack:
Summertime and the livin is easy
Fish are WHAP jumpin WHAP WHAP
and the cotton WHAP WHAP is WHAP high
The sturgeon have a "pressing, mysterious urge to jump all summer long" but no one knows why. Marine biologists - consider doing interviews at any hoops court. Ballers might be able to explain sturgeon based on comparable experience.
The Chamber of Commerce of Mauritania managed to plant an article on page 1 of the New York Times. The story appears to deal with efforts by the government and the women of Mauritania to change the culture - produce thinner, healthier women. The real motive jumps out on even a casual reading: "To men here, fat is sexy", see also - description of crash feeding programs designed to achieve the ideal of obesity. This is not really a story about a cultural change to address a serious health problem - Mauritania is stealthily trolling for immigrants. And it is working. Just hours after this story appeared the Air Dubai counter at JFK Airport was swarmed with a gleeful throng of new Weight Watchers dropouts, force feeding Hershey Bars and begging to get standby seating on the next flight to Mauritania.
Prius is the best selling hybrid because every Prius is a hybrid. The buyer can make a statement that everyone else will understand. Buy a Honda Civic hybrid and you will do just as much for the environment, but your neighbors might not realize it. My former employer makes a catalyst that converts ozone to environmentally safe oxygen. Among other applications it is sold as a radiator coating on regular automobiles. It doesn't help (or hurt) the car's performance and no one knows it's there, it just improves the environment as you drive along. My former employer also makes pigments for paints and can design any shade with any feature (even a color shift depending on angle of view). The hybrid story encourages me to revive an old suggestion. Why not develop a unique color, "BASF Green" -trademark it and and license it for use only on cars equipped with BASF ozone abating catalyst. As the story on hybrids shows, environmentalists may be better than the rest of us, but they are not saints, they want that E for environmental extra credit. A do gooder product that no one knows about is a tough sell.
Sturgeon are jumping uncontrollably in Florida's Suwannee River. Sounds like nature at its most beautiful, unless you are doing 30 miles per hour on a power boat or a jet ski and suddenly find one of these 200 pound monsters in your face - WHAP. A real safety issue, but still, I wish we had the video, with soundtrack:
Summertime and the livin is easy
Fish are WHAP jumpin WHAP WHAP
and the cotton WHAP WHAP is WHAP high
The sturgeon have a "pressing, mysterious urge to jump all summer long" but no one knows why. Marine biologists - consider doing interviews at any hoops court. Ballers might be able to explain sturgeon based on comparable experience.
The Chamber of Commerce of Mauritania managed to plant an article on page 1 of the New York Times. The story appears to deal with efforts by the government and the women of Mauritania to change the culture - produce thinner, healthier women. The real motive jumps out on even a casual reading: "To men here, fat is sexy", see also - description of crash feeding programs designed to achieve the ideal of obesity. This is not really a story about a cultural change to address a serious health problem - Mauritania is stealthily trolling for immigrants. And it is working. Just hours after this story appeared the Air Dubai counter at JFK Airport was swarmed with a gleeful throng of new Weight Watchers dropouts, force feeding Hershey Bars and begging to get standby seating on the next flight to Mauritania.
Prius is the best selling hybrid because every Prius is a hybrid. The buyer can make a statement that everyone else will understand. Buy a Honda Civic hybrid and you will do just as much for the environment, but your neighbors might not realize it. My former employer makes a catalyst that converts ozone to environmentally safe oxygen. Among other applications it is sold as a radiator coating on regular automobiles. It doesn't help (or hurt) the car's performance and no one knows it's there, it just improves the environment as you drive along. My former employer also makes pigments for paints and can design any shade with any feature (even a color shift depending on angle of view). The hybrid story encourages me to revive an old suggestion. Why not develop a unique color, "BASF Green" -trademark it and and license it for use only on cars equipped with BASF ozone abating catalyst. As the story on hybrids shows, environmentalists may be better than the rest of us, but they are not saints, they want that E for environmental extra credit. A do gooder product that no one knows about is a tough sell.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Scooter Unchained as Cory beset by Gnats
Terrorist MDs snared in London bomb plot - finally, now we understand why bombs left in Mercedes not Yugos.
W commutes Scooter sentence and As Good As News cheers. Those up in arms need to look at the big picture. First, commutation formally announces the death of the Cheney-Rove-W administration. Immigration loss and polls below sea level were death knell, but with the commutation even W concedes there will be no comeback. Unfortunately W's sole remaining effort to build a legacy seems to be friendship with Vlad Putin - Hitler not available? Second, commutation is no panacea for Scooter. He gets to keep his felony conviction, his quarter million dollar fine, his two year probation, his lost reputation and his lost license to practice law - just no end to the perks when you swear an oath of fealty to Darth Cheney. This might leave enough incentive for Scooter to line up a deal for a tell-all book if he loses his appeal. Third, Scooter devoted his life to public service, most of it before going to the dark side. He did not out Valerie Plame, he said "I don't remember" under oath to protect his boss and colleagues. Sentencing judge pointed to high office as justification for severe sentence. High office giveth prison term, high office taketh away prison term - Scooter is paying a big price here even without time in stir.
Cory Booker is the right person in the right place at the wrong time. Newark has all the ingredients to rebuild a vibrant city - highway, air, water and rail access second to none, a location minutes away from NYC, a cluster of college campuses, a new ball park and arts center, and developers foaming at the mouth. Mayor Booker is smart, dedicated, charismatic and has some credentials. Sadly for Booker, Mayors Gibson and James ran Newark as a patronage cookie jar for so long the grass roots pols don't even know anything else is possible. Ridiculous rumor campaign smacks of desperation, but seems to work anyway. Wake up Newark voters. Government is supposed to provide services, not feather bed jobs for every political hack. Newark government has taken a city with the assets to be Utopia and turned it into a poverty and homicide stricken Inferno. Why listen to rumors from the sore losers who created the mess Booker is trying to fix. Unfortunately for Cory Booker, the top priority of the old guard is recapturing a spot on the payroll, and the payroll needs to shrink before Newark can grow. Sorry Cory, looks like it may be the mayor after the mayor after James who gets to preside over Newark renaissance, but good luck anyway.
W commutes Scooter sentence and As Good As News cheers. Those up in arms need to look at the big picture. First, commutation formally announces the death of the Cheney-Rove-W administration. Immigration loss and polls below sea level were death knell, but with the commutation even W concedes there will be no comeback. Unfortunately W's sole remaining effort to build a legacy seems to be friendship with Vlad Putin - Hitler not available? Second, commutation is no panacea for Scooter. He gets to keep his felony conviction, his quarter million dollar fine, his two year probation, his lost reputation and his lost license to practice law - just no end to the perks when you swear an oath of fealty to Darth Cheney. This might leave enough incentive for Scooter to line up a deal for a tell-all book if he loses his appeal. Third, Scooter devoted his life to public service, most of it before going to the dark side. He did not out Valerie Plame, he said "I don't remember" under oath to protect his boss and colleagues. Sentencing judge pointed to high office as justification for severe sentence. High office giveth prison term, high office taketh away prison term - Scooter is paying a big price here even without time in stir.
Cory Booker is the right person in the right place at the wrong time. Newark has all the ingredients to rebuild a vibrant city - highway, air, water and rail access second to none, a location minutes away from NYC, a cluster of college campuses, a new ball park and arts center, and developers foaming at the mouth. Mayor Booker is smart, dedicated, charismatic and has some credentials. Sadly for Booker, Mayors Gibson and James ran Newark as a patronage cookie jar for so long the grass roots pols don't even know anything else is possible. Ridiculous rumor campaign smacks of desperation, but seems to work anyway. Wake up Newark voters. Government is supposed to provide services, not feather bed jobs for every political hack. Newark government has taken a city with the assets to be Utopia and turned it into a poverty and homicide stricken Inferno. Why listen to rumors from the sore losers who created the mess Booker is trying to fix. Unfortunately for Cory Booker, the top priority of the old guard is recapturing a spot on the payroll, and the payroll needs to shrink before Newark can grow. Sorry Cory, looks like it may be the mayor after the mayor after James who gets to preside over Newark renaissance, but good luck anyway.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Closet NIMBY Emerges
It's Monday and I'm moving backwards, slowly backwards, but we will get to that front page headline reference as always - patience!
Transformers - can a toy change itself into a high tech summer blockbuster movie? Batteries, plot and dialogue not included, but Michael Bay thinks its child's play. As Good As News is sceptical - there's a refreshing change - but then As Good As News kept saying "it's a theme park ride, not a movie" then loved Pirates of the Caribbean (original only - Pirates sequels not recommended here). Today's Time's review generally negative, but "big cars, big guns..big breasts", maybe we will see for ourselves. What we really need is a T class of Mercedes sedans that will - all things come to ye who wait- transform into robocop, disarm any bomb planted inside and apprehend terrorist.
NYU is seeking to engage Greenwich Village neighbors in its expansion plans. Columbia President Bollinger sent a broadcast e-mail detailing the extensive community relations efforts Columbia undertook before finalizing and announcing its plan to expand to the North - a plan which met with immediate resistance anyway. Conflicts disclaimer - I have degrees from both these schools and want to see them thrive - but - for today I am defending the opposite side - quote from NYU President Sexton an ugly reminder of institutional view of neighbors standing in the way of "progress", so As Good As News will play NIMBY apologist.
First the quote - "Once you get past the ..minority who as a matter of conviction are against any growth at all"...and the people opposing NYU for their own political gain, "then you just have to ask people to have a genuine dialogue and not just say, "Not in my backyard"." Sounds civil, but Pres Sexon's unstated assumption shines through - NYU must expand, the only issue is how best to do so. Anyone who disagrees before dialogue is a no- growther, beneath contempt. Anyone who might disagree after dialogue is a NIMBY until proven otherwise. Is there anything so morally or logically wrong with the proposition that NYU is already big enough that it is outside the bounds of civil discussion. Maybe NYU can figure out how to use its existing buildings more efficiently if it wants to grow? If Pres. Sexon was losing a townhouse view of Washington Square Park to an important twenty story low income housing project NYC badly needed he would understand the point, and he might not be too happy if the political debate was limited to whether the housing project should be 18, 19 or 20 stories. The dialogue can include "Do Not Grow" as well as a discussion of how and where to grow, the people that feel this way are trying to preserve an environment that has been part of their lives, they are not necessarily evil curmudgeons.
I own a home in a quiet, leafy, melting pot suburb. When the FAA restructured East coast air lanes it turned my patio into a jet fuel dump. My once peaceful suppers on the back porch suddenly featured the soundtrack from a volcano epic. I did not really care that NY area airports wanted to handle more traffic, I wanted to go back to the old routes. I went to meetings and signed petitions. I had my twin three year-olds explain why they could not sleep into an FAA answering machine at 3AM with a low flying jet on takeoff providing the background noise. Anyone with a home, a home in a suburb, in the Village, in Harlem, has expectations based on a lifetime of experiences. I hope NYU and Columbia find a way to grow, but if they begin a community dialogue believing that their desire for growth is an aspiration shared by a large segment of the neighboring community then the dialogue will produce more heat than light.
Pennsylvania allows sale of fireworks, but not to Pennsylvania residents without permit? New Jersey announces special admissions policy on bars, strip clubs, gun shops - You must be 21 years old to enter, but 14 close enough with Pennsylvania ID.
Transformers - can a toy change itself into a high tech summer blockbuster movie? Batteries, plot and dialogue not included, but Michael Bay thinks its child's play. As Good As News is sceptical - there's a refreshing change - but then As Good As News kept saying "it's a theme park ride, not a movie" then loved Pirates of the Caribbean (original only - Pirates sequels not recommended here). Today's Time's review generally negative, but "big cars, big guns..big breasts", maybe we will see for ourselves. What we really need is a T class of Mercedes sedans that will - all things come to ye who wait- transform into robocop, disarm any bomb planted inside and apprehend terrorist.
NYU is seeking to engage Greenwich Village neighbors in its expansion plans. Columbia President Bollinger sent a broadcast e-mail detailing the extensive community relations efforts Columbia undertook before finalizing and announcing its plan to expand to the North - a plan which met with immediate resistance anyway. Conflicts disclaimer - I have degrees from both these schools and want to see them thrive - but - for today I am defending the opposite side - quote from NYU President Sexton an ugly reminder of institutional view of neighbors standing in the way of "progress", so As Good As News will play NIMBY apologist.
First the quote - "Once you get past the ..minority who as a matter of conviction are against any growth at all"...and the people opposing NYU for their own political gain, "then you just have to ask people to have a genuine dialogue and not just say, "Not in my backyard"." Sounds civil, but Pres Sexon's unstated assumption shines through - NYU must expand, the only issue is how best to do so. Anyone who disagrees before dialogue is a no- growther, beneath contempt. Anyone who might disagree after dialogue is a NIMBY until proven otherwise. Is there anything so morally or logically wrong with the proposition that NYU is already big enough that it is outside the bounds of civil discussion. Maybe NYU can figure out how to use its existing buildings more efficiently if it wants to grow? If Pres. Sexon was losing a townhouse view of Washington Square Park to an important twenty story low income housing project NYC badly needed he would understand the point, and he might not be too happy if the political debate was limited to whether the housing project should be 18, 19 or 20 stories. The dialogue can include "Do Not Grow" as well as a discussion of how and where to grow, the people that feel this way are trying to preserve an environment that has been part of their lives, they are not necessarily evil curmudgeons.
I own a home in a quiet, leafy, melting pot suburb. When the FAA restructured East coast air lanes it turned my patio into a jet fuel dump. My once peaceful suppers on the back porch suddenly featured the soundtrack from a volcano epic. I did not really care that NY area airports wanted to handle more traffic, I wanted to go back to the old routes. I went to meetings and signed petitions. I had my twin three year-olds explain why they could not sleep into an FAA answering machine at 3AM with a low flying jet on takeoff providing the background noise. Anyone with a home, a home in a suburb, in the Village, in Harlem, has expectations based on a lifetime of experiences. I hope NYU and Columbia find a way to grow, but if they begin a community dialogue believing that their desire for growth is an aspiration shared by a large segment of the neighboring community then the dialogue will produce more heat than light.
Pennsylvania allows sale of fireworks, but not to Pennsylvania residents without permit? New Jersey announces special admissions policy on bars, strip clubs, gun shops - You must be 21 years old to enter, but 14 close enough with Pennsylvania ID.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Batting Cage Dreams
The most popular item in today's NY Times Week in Review is a follow-up story on the relationship between birth order and IQ, including sidebar quiz on celebrity birth order. As Good As News could say - "ho-hum, we did this a week ago, and today's Time's story doesn't even cover confused birth order of Cheney as triplet child (with Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia) of Darth Vader" - but this is not our way. Instead - Thank you NY Times for letting us know Cheney is the eldest, and thank you again for including Sacha Baron Cohen in the quiz as a youngest. Sacha seems like the kind of guy who had to go to extremes to get attention at home, older siblings brain surgeon, concert pianist and tortured but brilliant poet so Sacha took what was left?
Massive kudos to Elizabeth Edwards for belated counterattack on Ann Coulter. Coulter one of many blowhards, not all conservative, who bray incessantly with complete disregard for the facts. Question is why does any serious media outlet give them a platform. Coulter a special case because she discovered that vicious, unprovoked and tasteless personal attacks would generate publicity and sell books and rode a cycle of attack and counterattack to a special place all her own in the dark world of punditry. Now Elizabeth Edwards calls Coulter out with a simple, dignified challenge based on the facts, and Coulter is helpless. Even Coulter understands she can't win by slinging mud at target with inoperable cancer, but take away mud slinging and Coulter has no game left. I do not wish inoperable cancer on anyone- period- but maybe Keith Olbermann could just pretend to be a cancer victim. Olbermann's combination of sarcasm and damning facts is already making Bill O'Reilly's life miserable, cancer would put Olbermann over the top.
The story on life in a batting cage brought back a great memory of taking my daughter to the batting cages. As a twelve year old she waited on line for the fast pitch machine, a line that was otherwise populated with adult males eager to hit and annoyed that this girl was wasting their time. The line moved slowly, my daughter finally got her turn. Soon she was ripping line drive after line drive right back at the pitching machine as her sceptical line mates broke the line and surrounded the cage, jaws sagging. Note to Times - please run a story on batting cages at least once a year.
Massive kudos to Elizabeth Edwards for belated counterattack on Ann Coulter. Coulter one of many blowhards, not all conservative, who bray incessantly with complete disregard for the facts. Question is why does any serious media outlet give them a platform. Coulter a special case because she discovered that vicious, unprovoked and tasteless personal attacks would generate publicity and sell books and rode a cycle of attack and counterattack to a special place all her own in the dark world of punditry. Now Elizabeth Edwards calls Coulter out with a simple, dignified challenge based on the facts, and Coulter is helpless. Even Coulter understands she can't win by slinging mud at target with inoperable cancer, but take away mud slinging and Coulter has no game left. I do not wish inoperable cancer on anyone- period- but maybe Keith Olbermann could just pretend to be a cancer victim. Olbermann's combination of sarcasm and damning facts is already making Bill O'Reilly's life miserable, cancer would put Olbermann over the top.
The story on life in a batting cage brought back a great memory of taking my daughter to the batting cages. As a twelve year old she waited on line for the fast pitch machine, a line that was otherwise populated with adult males eager to hit and annoyed that this girl was wasting their time. The line moved slowly, my daughter finally got her turn. Soon she was ripping line drive after line drive right back at the pitching machine as her sceptical line mates broke the line and surrounded the cage, jaws sagging. Note to Times - please run a story on batting cages at least once a year.
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