Since I don't drive a car except when absolutely necessary (once or twice a year for me), I really was highly unlikely to lock my infant in a car on a hot day. But I did make a similar mistake which was no where near the same league as losing a child, but did serve to remind me of how easy it is to forget things. I set out for the hardware store on a warm (100 F) day with my child in a backpack and our dog on a leash. I had lost my sunscreen so we stopped at the grocery store to buy some. Several hours later, as I returned to my house, I noticed that the dog was not with me; I had left him tied up outside the grocery store. Fortunately, he was in the shade among some large plants and was no worse for the wear.

All parents are exhausted and could easily forget what they have and haven't done with their child. I guess leaving them in a car is just one more way that cars kill.

Sweden temporarily took over five banks, wiped out the shareholders (actually, since the banks were insolvent, they wiped themselves out), cleaned them up and then resold them at a profit. Since our five largest banks are clearly insolvent, we should kill these zombies, let their shareholders take a bath (unfortunately, that now includes U.S. gov as well as the Saudis), clean them up and then sell them to private investors. The only sticking point will be setting the price high enough to avoid a Russian type privatization problem.

In addition to this, we need to institute a wealth tax to recover some of the ill-gotten gains that have accrued in the accounts of the most unscrupulous gamers of the system over the past decade. It is much harder to hide wealth from the taxman than it is to shelter income.

Find an activity that intrigues you and do it. It could be edgy, like bike polo, or commonplace, like training for some annual athletic/social event like Bay to Breakers (I don't know what the Chicago equivalent is). While you are focusing on your passion you will be less needy and thus more interesting to others.

Maybe the census should stop counting mormon, catholic and evangelical marriages too.

... it was by taking impeachment off of the table.

The police department at U.C. Davis holds two auctions of "abandoned" or confiscated items each year. One year my friends and I got there too late (one of my friends usually buys the broken bikes for near nothing and remakes them). We jumped into the dumpster where they had thrown the unsold items and pulled out dozens of wallets, many with dorm keys and student IDs still in them. The wallets that had ID were fairly easy to return, but one did not contain anything but a one hundred dollar bill tucked into a fold. I guess that was our reward for returning all of the student IDs (they were probably turned into the police as lost items and they couldn't be bothered to send out emails).

Maybe we are being led into everlasting war for the same reason we have been continually at war since Truman: military-industrial profits. These parasite corporations cannot continue to exist without sniveling cowards dominating our national dialog.

He never developed any empathy. I wonder if this is a congenital condition or if he was somehow taught to not give a damn about others.

My own personal job loss story is probably somewhat common. My boss' wife (who was his secretary) was hitting on me. When I finally told her that I was most definitely not interested she told the owner that I had behaved badly towards her. Since I didn't need the job and I liked my boss, I did not make an issue of it. Five years later they are still married. It turns out that the same thing happened to my cousin a few years earlier. Just for Jim: I was both the most senior employee and the most productive. However, this business has a seasonal aspect to it so the owner had six months to find someone to replace me.

You're welcome for the insult. You are correct, I have no direct knowledge of your empathy; I just inferred your lack of empathy from your post. Regarding my own relative productivity: in the business I was operating in, productivity is quantifiable. The owner makes the data readily available so everyone knows where they stand. I am well aware of the tendency of people to overvalue their own efforts and undervalue other people's contributions, but the numbers don't lie.

I would have liked to see a bailout of GM contingent on it retooling to rebuild the trolley lines it took out 60 years ago. It just seems so senseless to go on pretending we can drive our way to a sustainable future.

When Obama selected his Treasury Secretary and economic advisers, the jury lost all doubt; he is with the fascists. Hopefully, he will use his massive intellect to see the error of his advisers' ways and change course (in spite of current circumstances, it is comforting to have an intelligent individual in the White House).

Legally defining CO2 as not a pollutant does not change reality. In fact, it is one of the few air pollutants that has the potential to end humanity's stay on Earth if we don't rein in our emissions.

While we're at it can we legally prohibit body fat from being a risk factor for cancer, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and dementia? America's inability to grasp what is necessary to deal with global warming is enough to make me wish for a very long recession/depression. At least we drive more slowly towards the abyss when we're broke.