Bits & Pieces
Bits and pieces from this reporter's notebook.
Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Reports of victories for our team in Afghanistan. Those we've christened the guys in the white hats, 'cause they're willing to fight and die against the Taliban. After we've dropped everything but the kitchen sink without much evidence that we've hit a lot. Remember, the Taliban had been controlling the country without our intervention; ya gotta think the bombing would be effective enough to turn the tables. And we've apparently scored enough to get the Northern Alliance jazzed. They've been going up against the Taliban tanks on horseback. Probably not entirely by choice, but apparently with enough success to claim significant territorial gains. We live in such crazy times. Doncha jus' gotta think that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are gonna come out against our allies.
Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Marge Roukema is retiring. The 11-term was the longest-serving woman in the House of Representatives. A Republican from New Jersey, but not conservative enough for the House leadership, she was snubbed for a committee chair, although that's not the reason she gave. A woman of integrity and purpose, she was pro-choice, and favored gun control and campaign finance reform. She also had dignity. In announcing her decision to leave, she said, "There is a time and a place for everything, and my husband and I agree that this is the time to conclude this portion of my service to New Jersey."
Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....At the other end of the esteem spectrum, Slick Willie Clinton has taken his name off of the Supreme Court legal roster. It was quit or be fired. The Court said that The Boy from Hope had been less than lawyerly in the Paula Jones case, and he didn't rise to the standards required to practice in the nation's highest court.
Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Speaking of cheats and liars, the FBI has arrested another dozen participants in the expanding McDonald's game scandal. They had already arrested 21 others, claiming that winning game pieces were sold privately by the person running the games for the fast-food giant. One of those named was listed from Eclectic, Alabama. I never would have associated the word "eclectic" with the state Alabama. A town of 5,465 people, you'll find it on the map by another Alabama town called Equality.
Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....And finally, in case you missed it, a federal appeals court ruled recently that a prisoner has a right to mail his sperm to his wife, even though the prisoner is in for life and isn't "entitled" to conjugal visits. Apparently, two of the three judges, in overturning a lower court derision said, "We conclude that the right to procreate survives incarceration." Yeah? Conclude this! you turkeys. At least one of the court had some sense, arguing that Sneezy and Dopey were granting prisoners a "Constitutional right to procreate from prison via FedEx." He went on to say, snicker-snee, "This is a seminal case in more ways than one," and he decried the ruling as "unprecedented and ill-conceived." Quotheth the dissenter, "The majority simply does not accept the fact that there are certain downsides to being confined in prison, and that interference with a normal family life is one of them."
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.
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