I can't speak for anyone else, but I know why I didn't go into medicine. Aside from disliking blood and needles, the thought of going through 4 years of college (and being required to get an exemplary grade to get into a good domestic medical school), followed by medical school, followed by an internship, followed by a residency. When I was, oh, 20, it wasn't the cost that bothered me so much (although it did concern me); it was the fact that I was staring at another decade or so of training before I could start being anyone's doctor. And as someone who is just old enough to remember a family doctor--with a rolltop desk no less--that was the type of doctor I wanted to be.

Now don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting making the requirements to being a doctor less stringent, necessarily. All I'm saying is, the tales of internship and residency 12-16 hour days are well-known, and another 10 years to a 20 year-old is half your life. That puts it in the same category as "priest" or "musician". And when you can pop out of school after 4 years with a C.S. degree and start programming right away? Well, it's not much of a contest, is it?

I loved that, Steve.

The press was all over Obama for accepting public financing, even though he didn't really promise anything, just implied it. (Yes, yes; it's a change of position, but he only promise to "sit down with the McCain campaign and talk about it.") McCain pulls possibly-illegal shenanigans with public and private financing reversals, and the press shrugs.

The press is all over Wesley Clark's comment about McCain passing the "Commander in Chief" threshold, in high dudgeon but having a hard time using the usual talking points about Democrats ("Traitor!" "Hates America!") because it's tough to do so against 4-star generals. But McCain's multiple flip-flops on multiple issues, including this one? Crickets.

By any reasonable measure, Obama should crush McCain this fall. But with this kind of help from the press, it's probably going to be close.

Well said, Joan.

Can we now dispense with the fiction that Karl Rove is not working for the Republican machinery during this election cycle? It was a thin facade to begin with; now it is completely tattered.

If he weren't such a jerk who had done so much damage to the country, I would feel sorry for Rove. Look at him: overweight, bald, glasses, smart mouth--this is a guy who almost certainly got beaten up a lot in High School.

Let this be a warning: tell your sons not to beat up that guy; he might turn into an evil Svengali.

Someone tell the BSG humans that all the people are deep under the Earth, in Zion, where it's still warm. It may be true that humans scorched the skies, but The Machines did the rest.

They should keep an eye open for hovercraft, and make sure their fingers are on an EMP device. But start digging, Adama; they're down there somewhere.

Actually, this kind of dissembling on taxes has been true since at least the Reagan administration. When Republicans do it, it's "revenue enhancement," even if it is a tax increase; when Democrats do it, it's a "tax increase" even if it isn't. That's just the way they play the game. The sad thing is that Democrats still don't have a consistent answer for it (that doesn't sound defensive) even after nearly 30 years. Will Rogers was right, wasn't he?

Alex writes, "[Ausman] had actually been thinking of endorsing Obama until he got a call from Clinton herself on Tuesday morning, and that his endorsement is meant as a message to Obama's campaign. "This is not about personal animosty, it's about bringing the country together," Ausman said."

This is baffling. How does saying you were going to endorse Obama, but switched to Clinton after getting a phone call from her "bring the country together?" How is it anything other than, "Clinton called me and Obama didn't, so neener neener!"? In what conceivable way does it bring the country together for him to pledge his support against the all-but-certain nominee?

I can't see this as having anything to do with anything other than pique. But maybe I'm too dense to see Ausman's brilliant strategy.

Hey, if we had 6 fingers on each hand, the milestone would be 480 (400 base 12); if we had 4 fingers on each hand, it would *also* be 480 (600, base 8).

We have 10 digits; what can ya do?

And yes, Jimmie Foxx. 544, if memory serves.

Screen resolution is only half the story. If you're going to watch videos on a hand device, the size of the screen is critical. At 480x320 and 3.5", the iPhone is just barely big enough, in my view. Given the over-all proportions quoted in this article, Farhad, I'm guessing that the BlackBerry Bold is quite a bit smaller.

So, how big is the screen?

Every time I read about or hear a Clinton surrogate quote this new "needed delegate total," I can't help but think of Tom Lehrer:

Hooray for New Math!

New hoo hoo Math!

It won't do you a bit of good to review Math.

It's so simple.

So very simple,

That only a child can do it!

Substitute "politicians" for "a child," and there ya go.

And so after today, who will benefit from the extended primary season? Just wonderin'.