Columnists

Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz characterizes the Spanish bank bailout as “voodoo economics” that is certain “to “fail.” New York Times economic analyst Andrew Ross Sorkin agrees: “By now it should be apparent that the bailout has failed—or at least on its way to failing.” And columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman bemoans that Europe (and the U.S.) “are repeating ancient mistakes” and asks, “why does no one learn from them?” -more-

A fog of doom and gloom has descended over the Left Coast. I was out of the country for a couple of weeks and returned to find dispirited Lefties huddled in small groups, clutching their Chai Lattes, and muttering, “Mitt Romney is coming! Mitt Romney is coming!” Many of my homies believe it is inevitable that Barack Obama will not be reelected. Fear not Liberalles, Obama can still win. -more-

In February this year, Indiana became the 23rd state to enact a right-to-work law (RTW), the only RTW law passed in the last decade. Republicans generally favor RTW laws while unions and Democrats do not. RTW laws are geographical too. RTW states are clustered in the Southeast, covering every state from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas, and then north through the Great Plains to the Dakotas and into the Rockies. The West Coast and Midwest-to-Northeast Rust Belt, both traditional union strongholds, have remained non-RTW states. RTW states generally vote Republican while non-RTW states generally vote Democrat. -more-

People with mental illness are often more subject to aging than others. The average lifespan of persons with mental illness is sometimes ten to thirty years shorter than for others, and this is for a number of reasons. People with mental illness often receive a lower quality of medical care and at the same time take less care of physical health. Mortality comes sooner and often for preventable reasons. -more-

"It's a B-O-R-E when you find you've begun to rot." Katharine Houghton Hepburn (1907-2003), Bryn Mawr College alumna and actor who carried on until age ninety-six, said that. “First I smashed this ankle in an auto accident in '82, and after that I walked in a funny position. Threw out my back. I'll live forever, but I may not be able to move." And she opined, “There is a certain melancholy in seeing oneself rot. Life is hard. After all, it kills you. Isn't it fun getting older? is really a terrible fallacy. Like saying I prefer driving an old car with a flat tire.” -more-

The buzzard never says it is to blame. -more-