Debate afterthought

Oratory seeks to sway people with the allure of magical thinking.

If Dr. Paul had the gift of oratory he would be the man to beat. But then he wouldn't be Ron Paul, would he?

Political short take

Barack Obama returned from the Mysterious East and chose his 2012 opponent. Mitt Romney. Why should his loyal opposition trouble itself with all that complicated primary stuff?

The president will blanket Iowa with Charlie McCarthy's reading Obama talking points. The mouthpiece du jour is R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis. He likes light rail, high-end bike trails, and about anything else that can't be operated without massive tax subsidies.

He's also a former neighborhood organizer who early put his nose under the Obama coat tail and was rewarded with vice-chairmanship of the Democratic National Commitee.

We consider ourselves lucky to have the counsel of such a man, but I think we'll go ahead and hold our caucuses anyway. A matter of form, don't you know.

Domestica

I've let the fire go out because it's time to haul ashes. Propane is keeping the place warm enough, but it is just not right.

Like the air on a 747. You can breathe it, but  it cloys. The odor is wrong. The feel is wrong. It's making me cranky. It's making me think all this modern surliness results from the demise of the oaken fire.

EDIT: Ashes hauled. Propane off. Blaze kindled. The world is a lovely place.

Water is not wet enough to prevent dehydration, and after an arduous three-year study the European Union has written a law to clamp you in gaol if you claim otherwise.

Joel has the details of this particular idiocy.