Columnists

Who will capture American women’s hearts and help President Obama or Governor Romney win the Presidency next November? -more-

What was that Turkish F-4 Phantom II up to when the Syrians shot it down?

Ankara said the plane strayed into Syrian airspace, but quickly left and was over international waters when it was attacked, a simple case of carelessness on the part of the Turkish pilot that Syrian paranoia turned deadly.

But the Phantom—eyewitnesses told Turkish television that there were two aircraft, but there is no official confirmation of that observation—was hardly on a Sunday outing. According to the Financial Times, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told the newspaper “the jet was on a test and training mission focused on Turkey’s radar defense, rather than Syria.”

Translation: the F-4 was “lighting up” a radar net. It is a common—if dangerous and illegal—tactic that allows one to probe an opponent’s radar system. Most combat radar is kept in a passive mode to prevent a potential enemy from mapping out weaknesses or blind spots that can be useful in the advent of an attack. The probes also give you valuable information on how to neutralize anti-aircraft guns and ground to air missiles. -more-

Here’s another breakthrough in avian cognitive studies: two European teams purport to show that crows and pigeons can tell individual humans apart—the crows by voice, the pigeons by face. -more-

In winning the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama won about 67 percent of the Hispanic vote. He probably will need to win at least that percentage to win reelection. There are about 21.5 million Hispanic voters -- 4.4 million potential voters in California -- now eligible to vote in the November 2012 presidential election, with about 60 percent registered to vote. If registration drives are successful between now and the election, the number of eligible Hispanic voters will increase.

Hispanic voters have a chance to influence the outcome for president in at least 24 states. The top ten states with high concentrations of potential Hispanic voters are California, Texas, New York, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, New Mexico, Virginia, and Nevada. In 2008, Democrats won California, New York, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia.

Two recent events may increase Obama's chances of gathering a large percentage of the Hispanic vote. -more-

After days of graphic testimony, the conviction of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky on 45 counts of sexual assault came as no surprise. But it had been a surprise when Sandusky was arrested in November after 15 years of egregious behavior that many in the Penn State community had been aware of. Sadly, Americans often turn a blind eye when the powerful abuse the weak. -more-

Persons with mental illness sometimes have more difficulty than others coping with the losses that occur periodically in everyone's lives. Losses can include a death, the end of a relationship, or even the end of a good job. Feelings of loss can occur from a relationship that never happened but that the person with mental illness hoped would happen. Everyone has a right to their feelings so long as it doesn't result in harm to others or to oneself. -more-

Cover that gray! Dye, color, tint, whatever-it, but cover the gray hair!

Why am I, at age eighty-six, still fixated on disguising my gray hair? In classical psychoanalysis, my libido must have been arrested at an early stage of psychosexual development. Or something. -more-