I've been thinking today about one of the many ways our pre-election (primary, caucus, whatever) system sucks. As a Michigan voter, I have more than the nationwide average share of things to complain about, but this is what was getting me today:

Wouldn't it be a lot smarter to hold primaries from, say, May through August, with a convention in September, so that the momentum from the primary season would have some chance of carrying straight through to early November? (Or even: primaries June through September, convention in early October, just four weeks before the election!)

As it is, just imagine: if by any chance Obama or Clinton can clinch the nomination tomorrow -- February 5! -- the voters will have a full NINE MONTHS to cool off and cease to care before November rolls around. And the dirty ops people will have the same nine months to dig up and/or make up all sorts of dirt about whoever the nominee is. Why give them so long?

Likely explanation: Nobody took Huckabee seriously when the other candidates got their caricatures drawn. No doubt there are very good cartoons of Giuliani and Fred Thompson sitting in a circular file somewhere.

Gut feeling: Huckabee is his own caricature. He doesn't need a cartoon.

"Napolitano drew criticism in 2007 when she signed into law a bill sanctioning employers who hire illegal immigrants.... Napolitano drew criticism in 2007 when she signed into law a bill sanctioning employers who hire illegal immigrants."

Echo?

And: "...nearly three in voters undecided..."

A link to a real strip, Kukuburi ...

http://www.kukuburi.com/

And Harold's remix of KOF, which turns this vapid mess into something watchable and even enjoyable ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjvuVHpk10

I don't care if Tom and Toni or whatever there names are stop or keep going, so long as the KOF letter writers keep up the good work!

Am I imagining things, or is this an homage to what I remember as the funniest thing I ever saw on TV -- Albert Brooks' pseudo-documentary (or was it a pseudo-infomercial?), "Famous Comedians School"? It has been more than thirty years since I saw it, and it remains the single funniest human artifact ever. Super-Fun-Pak Comix is starting to run a close second!

I'm a big mariachi fan -- and I'm leaning heavily towards Obama -- but... I gotta say, the so-called corrida kinda... sucks.... I mean, it doesn't even rhyme! Can anyone point to any corrido in the whole history of Mexican music that doesn't rhyme? The rhythm is all off, too. And that line -- "hasta con plan de salud" -- what the...?!?! Like a committee decided to stick it in there. "It's part of his platform!" "They'll all know that Hillary's got a health plan -- we have to mention that Obama has one, too!" "Latinos will go for it!" Gimme a break.... The reggaeton song, on the other hand, truly rocks. Even though I don't care much for the genre.

...I assume, because my experiences have been very different from those described above.

(1) Bulb life: the very first CFL that I bought, about a dozen years ago (when they cost $20 each and weighed about a pound) lasted until last summer. That's eleven years. Maybe the cheaper, lighter, smaller CFLs of today last proportionately less time, but I've never had one burn out in less than 4-5 years.

(2) Color: I know lots of people who claim to be very sensitive to the "blue, flickering" light of flourescents. Solution: I don't tell them that all the lights in my house are CFLs, and they don't notice the difference. As one commenter suggests, buy the "soft white" kind, replace the lights one at a time (as your incandescents burn out), and odds are you will never notice the difference, either. (Maybe you should get a friend to change them and promise not to tell you.)

(2a) Flickering is not, repeat, NOT an issue with CFLs, at least not any that I've ever used.

(3) That freezing porch: I replaced the outdoor porch light with a CFL the last time it burned out, and it works fine. In Michigan. In the winter. For five years and counting.

My own gripes about CFLs (and, let's be honest, there are some):

1) They take 1-2 minutes to get up to full speed. During those seemingly endless 100 seconds or so, you (or your sensitive SO) will curse the darkness. I've read that some newer bulbs are "instant-on." I'll believe it when I see it.

2) Though they don't burn out for years, the light output does slowly and steadily degrade. A "75-watt-equivalent" CFL will put out more light than a 75-watt incandescent at first, but after 5 years it will be putting more like 50 watts' worth of light. (Solution: if it is in a critical light area, like the kitchen, I rotate it out to a lesser-used hallway, and put a fresh, new CFL in the kitchen.)

Finally, a suggestion: if your house, like ours, has a lot of recessed/enclosed light fixtures, be sure to check the CFL package to make sure the bulb you buy is certified for enclosed fixtures. Not all are.