I love that metaphor for irresponsibility. Let me point out that the reason teenagers have new credit cards also has a lot to do with reckless way the Bushies have treated Americans.

Let's not forget that Bush and the Fed have pursued a monetary policy that has made credit cheap and available to anyone who wants it. Or that His Hypocrisyness has worked long and hard to keep interest rates so low that every 15 year old can have 5 Mastercards and 6 Visa's to his name. Or that Bush's policy of allowing banks to issue credit without having to worry about banking regulations being enforced might also have something to do with this credit card debt.

Or that His Snottiness signed a strict bankruptcy bill into law that will prevent that misguided kid from getting out from under crushing debt once he realizes his situation.

Or that the teenager might be using the credit card to pay his medical bills, since Bush does not want him to have SCHIP insurance.

Or that, while the teenager will be left to hang on his debt, Bush will rush to help out his pals on Wall Street who are going under because they issued all that bad credit, all because banking is important to the American economy and treating a teenager with decency is not.

I could go on, but I'm getting nauseated.

Remember after Hurricane Katrina when so many people asked about New Orleans, "Why build a city below sea level?" Well let me tell you why. BECAUSE THERE IS WATER THERE.

Back in the ancient times people looked for water sources before they built a town. The more water the better. Fresh water meant good farming, plenty of drinking water, a harbor, and rivers for inland transportation. That was the old math.

The new math is different. You want a city on a large, flat plain that can be developed in every direction (re: Atlanta, Houston, Denver, Orlando), one near major highways or railways, or geographic hubs, and one in an area safe from natural disasters. In the days of air conditioning and heating, climate is not much of a consideration. In the days of rapid transit and international trade, access to food and farmland is also not needed.

Times are changing, and the old math may be coming back. High oil prices and transportation costs could bring rivers back, and local "green" farming means those who live near fertile soils will once again eat the best, or at least the cheapest. Water is another element that, long ignored, has begun to matter again.

Atlanta is not near a major river or lake. It is a new math city that has outgrown its natural resources. It won't be the last. I don't know the answer to the problems it faces, but I do know step one: Burn the new math textbooks.

I read "Beowulf" in college, and its images have haunted me ever since. Kamiya didn't mention one of the finest "echoes of the echo" among modern rehashings of "Beowulf" -- John Gardner's "Grendel." Perhaps if the movie had used "Grendel" as a template it would have worked better. "Grendel" is "Beowulf" told from the point of view of the monster. It gives a modern twist to the tale, and more importantly, "Grendel" has a dramatic tension (since Grendel has to die in the end) that "Beowulf" could never achieve.

This essay was a fine analysis of "Beowulf" dressed up as a movie review. An essay within an essay. Perhaps Kamiya would have done better to dispense with the review and simply discuss "Beowulf." I would have preferred that.

Back in the days of dinosaurs (you know, print) editors did something called fact-checking before putting anything out. I noticed quite some time ago that modern TV reporters will say whatever goes in their ear, even if they do not know if it is true. Hell, even if they don't understand what they are saying.

This is a major sea change in journalism. There was once a time when even TV personalities considered themselves journalists and would never report anything on TV without confirmation.

Those days are long gone.

The thing about fans that follow losing teams is that they keep coming back. If they keep coming back, it means they must be getting something out of the experience, even in losing.

If your team loses on Sunday after a missed 28 yard field goal, you have something to complain about for the next week. That is part of the experience, just as walking out of a movie and saying, "God, that sucked!" is part of the moviegoer's experience.

Every once in a while I like to see a bad movie or read a bad book. If all you do is see great stuff, after awhile it all seems the same, like the chore of a college reading list. Michael Crichton looks pretty awesome when you have 5 Shakespearian plays to slog through.

So yes, I can see it. Perfection is no fun, and never has been.