No mention of the Taliban anywhere in her obits.

I think the American media have created a myth that the Taliban just spontaneously emerged from the bodies of the old mujahedin, like butterflies coming of a coccoon.

I'm losing confidence in this country. This is an important detail in her political resume. This was the one thing that woman did that had a real impact on our lives right now.

And we can't mention it! It's unmentionable!

The test is over and America failed.

Thank heavens I have good health insurance, but being chronically ill makes me feel extremely concerned for people who don't have what I have. She's made it clear from the start that this is her issue. Despite all these negative feelings I have about her husband, I keep circling back to her.

If Obama were a bottle of wine, I'd worry that we were opening him up a bit too soon.

But on the other hand, Bush has been a very greasy course. So maybe we need the extra tannins to wash him down.

How much longer do I have to decide?

Baseball looks really gross in HD. You can see right into their mouths.

Basketball players don't dare spit like that because they'll slip and hurt themselves. Football players wear mouthpieces, so they pretty much have to swallow, and the face guard hides whatever else goes on.

But baseball -- you can see right in there. You can see exactly what comes out and you can even see what they suck back in and save for later.

HD could be the undoing of baseball, I swear.

FDR was elected because he promised to repeal Alcohol Prohibition. That's how the New Deal happened. That's how he got the country united behind him.

In 2008, we're not even allowed to hear the drug policy platforms of the candidates.

The "electable" Democrats officially hate and despise the 20 million regular marijuana users in this country, and do everything in their power to discourage these people from even thinking about voting.

In contrast, FDR welcomed the alcohol users and actively sought their votes.

So this is not 1932 and this big upwelling of national unity and dedication you're looking for is not going to happen.

This is a country that hates its own people and does everything it possibly can to kick them when they're down.

That's how we became the most incarcerated country in the world -- an honor we had not yet earned back when FDR was around.

I hope we survive this behavior, but I have my doubts.

If I'd downloaded "Dimensions of the Present Moment" I could never have gotten it signed by Miroslav Holub.

Things like that seem trivial but that little scrawl feels oh so precious when the author is gone but the book remains.

That signature turns your book into something like archaeology. You have physical evidence of the actual human hand that wrote the book.

Besides, print books can't be hacked. Suppose some hacker somewhere doesn't like the way "Great Expectations" ends and wants to change it?

If I were still an arrogant, precocious 13 year old, I might consider doing that myself.

On the other hand, print books do have their disadvantages. They take up a lot of space, they collect dust, and they're hard to rescue in an emergency.

E-books will allow people with small apartments to keep big libraries, and that's a good thing.

that the one misguided decision Bhutto made that left a lasting impact on America is being omitted from her resume by all of the media, not just the mainstream.

How can we deal with the Taliban if we don't understand the complete story of their birth?

The Taliban's birth had a lot to do with Pakistan's attitude towards Afghanistan.

We need to be realistic about Pakistan's attitude towards Afghanistan, especially now.

When I read that article in Broadsheet on his juvenile workplace environment where his employees act like it's third grade and they're at recess bullying the class geek and teasing the girls, that was it for Bloomberg.

What a sense of privilege -- to be open about enjoying marijuana and then support the WOD.

And Bloomberg can count. He knows how to count money. He should realize the WOD is a giant money-sucking hole in our economy.

In Calfornia now the prisoners are catching some deadly fungus in the Central Valley soil. The prisoners don't grow up breathing Valley dust, so they have zero immunity and they get very, very sick and it costs the state millions of dollars to send them to decent hospitals where they can be treated.

If we have a recession -- how in the hell are we going to afford to take care of all those prisoners?

It's really expensive when a prisoner gets sick.

You'd think someone with math ability like Bloomberg could do that math.

We have too many prisoners to take care of, and the WOD is to blame for that.

When we have a recession, and governments starts getting desperate for money, choices will have to be made.

In California it's already pretty bad. The prison budget is growing, growing, growing and the state budget is shrinking, shrinking, shrinking.

You'd think someone like Bloomberg would be able to do that math.

Arnold can do the math. The column adds up to this: we're going to have to start being a lot more lenient with nonviolent offenders.