As a former speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates was fond of saying, “fat possums travel at night.” That translated roughly to “watch out for legislation trying to sneak through in the waning …

For years Russian was the only foreign language taught at the high school I eventually attended. To my knowledge, no one during that era grew up and defected to the Soviet Union.
I took three years …

It’s based on a couple of laughably wrong assumptions, but at least paranoid bloggers have support in  their “everyone is out to get us” theory.
The “evidence,” flimsy though it is, is in a new Harvard …

Calm down, folks. Uncle Sam isn’t going to bang in your door and confiscate your salt shaker. Though it’s really not a bad idea.
According to a very poorly phrased Rasmussen poll, 55 percent of the …

It’s kind of ironic, given that John McCain was the subject of the original birther lawsuit, that Arizona is like a pit bull after a steak when the citizenship at issue is Barack Obama’s.
Or not …

How nice it must be to have all the answers – even if the answers keep changing when the question is whether to extend unemployment benefits.
At least unemployed workers are no longer lazy – apparently …

California sent out tens of thousands of layoff notices to teachers last year, and by the time this spring’s are tallied the total will be similar.
The state’s scores on a national test were higher than …

Life was so much simpler when I was in school. History texts focused on presenting facts – and back then, a fact was a fact was a fact.
Today, though, there are some who think the …

Two contradictory tidbits from a CNet story this morning about an Federal Communications Commission report on expanding broadband Internet access to more parts of the country:

A third of adults who don’t have broadband at home …

We have a raging health-care crisis that we cannot solve.
Unemployment has “dropped” to 9.7 percent, but that’s a trick. The real number is much higher because we no longer count people who are so discouraged …

I get that some parents are a total pain in the rear. I’m sure I am at times, though I try hard not to be.
And I know that a sarcastic diatribe can be cathartic.
Unless, of …

It’s amusing, in a “fiddling while Rome burns” sort of way, to see how public officials flock to the freebies like hogs to slop – and then fail to report the corporate largess that’s showered …

Here’s how it works at Wal-Mart: A security guard spots someone she suspects of shop-lifting. She stops the person, calls the police and an investigation takes place.
Here’s how it would work if Wal-Mart were the …

Pity the poor ginormous telecom that’s forced to scrape for every nickel and dime it can find in order to stay afloat. Eventually, those costs have to be passed along to the consumer, you know.
I’m …

Merry Susan Hyatt is a 61-year-old substitute teacher in Redding, Calif., who’s also taught in Southern California. In all those years she seldom encountered students who weren’t Christian. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a …

It’s the type of meaningless legislation that usually draws scant attention beyond the members of the team being honored or the local luminary being recognized.
Except this time, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II’s resolution backing the designation …

I understand Republicans a little less every day.
Government-funded public health insurance: Bad. It’ll blow up the budget.
The stimulus bill and its middle-class tax cuts: Evil.  No need to fritter away money unless we’re throwing it …

Recent studies show that texting behind the wheel is more dangerous than driving drunk. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia already ban texting while driving. Federal employees can’t do it, and there already was …

You have a nasty habit of speeding. You know your break-neck tendencies put others’ lives in danger, but you do it anyway.
But then along comes a proposal that would pay you to not speed. Sounds …

Give Massachusetts Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein credit for persistence.
For three years now, she’s been a staunch defender of fluff – Marshmallow Fluff, that is. Apparently, it’s no joking matter in Massachusetts.
She led the opposition back in …

I’m not going to pick on Joe Wilson.
The South Carolina congressman  earned the honors of poster boy of the week for Foot in Mouth Disease after his impolitc political outburst Wednesday during the president’s health …

It must be tough these days in paradise, what with the economy being what it is and the hit that’s caused in Hawaii’s tourism industry.
And the natural human reaction when things are spinning out of …

Remember the big toy recall of two summers ago,when everything from Thomas trains to Dora campers disappeared from retailers’ shelves as plaything after plaything was recalled for violating lead standards?
Remember Congress’ uncharacteristic haste in the …

Note to Tennessee Rep. Steven Cohen: Kobe Bryant comes along only once in a generation. Except when LeBron James comes along seven years later. But by and large, the average teen-ager  isn’t ready to leap …

In this era of texting-happy teens, it was only a matter of when, not if, someone would take a tumble while messaging on a walk – apparently there are no laws against that yet.
So it’s …

It’s the most obvious promotion on Earth for business in a capital city, so of course Sacramento businesses quickly decided to offer state workers discounts on their “furlough Fridays” – their mandatory unpaid time off …

It’s probably a stretch to call pizza dancing an art form, though at least one national chain holds a competition to recognize the company’s best at twirling the board.
It’s also a stretch to call people …

Good news for conspiracy theorists: The government might not need its fleet of black helicopters for much longer. Isn’t it nice to see possibilities for economizing in this budget climate?
If a study under way at …