I May Not Be A Great Driver....

But I'm not this bad:
Italian Scooter Rider Loses 144 License Points In 15 Minutes

From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You ‘Axis of Evil’

From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You ‘Axis of Evil’ - New York Times: "“Before long, Congress will be leaving on its summer vacation,” Bob Schieffer of CBS News said two weeks ago. “My question is, how will we know they are gone?” By the calculation of USA Today, the current Congress is on track to spend fewer days in session than the “do-nothing Congress” Harry Truman gave hell to in 1948. No wonder its approval rating, for Republicans and Democrats together, is even lower than the president’s. It’s not only cowboy diplomacy that’s dead at this point in the Bush era, but also functioning democracy as we used to know it."

Frank Rich finds the real problem. We don't have democracy here anymore. We have a Congress whose members are held accountable to various special interest groups, not their constituents. We have a President (who never should have had a first term, let alone a second) that insists on not seeing reality and sticking to failed ideological policies - both domestic and foreign.

And it happens all with marketing. One thing the US does exceptionally well - convincing people to buy what they logically wouldn't and shouldn't.

Perhaps we should dub the current administration 'The Death of Reason'

WholesomeWear home

The Wash Post had an article on this line of summer swimwear (WholesomeWear home). My main thought: doesn't that make swimming rather difficult? It reminds me of the upper level swim class I had to take where - to simulate going overboard at sea - we had to swim/tread for 10 minutes wearing shoes, jeans and a T-shirt. So much more difficult than regular swimming.

There's a reason why competitive swimwear is also reasonably revealing - that's what works. Same in other sports. I don't see many sprinters wearing warmups or other long pants during the race, although I have seen them wearing lycra tights if its cold out. But again, form fitting. These loose fitting, bulky clothing seems to just go against the idea of swimming.