This site is being temporarily [perhaps] discontinued for an experiment with a new site. Please go here

FOXNews.com - Mother Has 12-Year-Old Son Arrested for Opening Christmas Gift Early - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News: "After a mother discovered her son had unwrapped a Nintendo Game Boy Advance that was meant for him as a present from his grandmother, she called the Rock Hill Police and had the young man arrested for petty larceny, according to the police report filed this week."
--------------
I wonder how many of my generation can even relate to a story like this. It is so foreign to any common sense that I am familiar with. My mother would no more have considered calling the police than she would have gone to the moon. She would have taken care of it herself and done a right good job of it.

Of course, she had developed a history with me. My backside had been warmed many times and I had a healthy respect for what she said. She said what she meant and my father backed her up. I feared them both, although I loved them a great deal.

Calling the police? Get real. What a failure.

Panel To Urge Pressure On Iraq - washingtonpost.com: "'Very early on, the notion of achieving some sort of victory didn't take,' said Chas W. Freeman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. 'So if victory is not possible and not feasible, even if you could define it, then what you're left with is to find some way to mitigate defeat.'"
--------------

I fear for my country. No wonder Iran and the Talaban smell the blood in the water. Oh, that our resolve could match our military and economic power!

Victory is always defined away from the start to meld the opposites. So it becomes a matter of heart and faith afterall, doesn't it? "Keep thy heart will all diligence," wrote wise old Solomon, "for out of it are the issues of life."