Thursday Hits

You know you're getting old when you get excited about the sleeping weather, but, man, that was good sleeping weather last night: 55 degrees, strong wind blowing in. I could've out-slept Rip Van Winkle.
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The Canutes suffered a setback yesterday:

A new decision from a federal appeals court in New York has tossed out a rule by the Federal Communications Commission that cracked down on "fleeting expletives" on television airwaves, and a media monitor says it's another setback in the battle for clean entertainment.

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Catholics Against Rudy. I'm inclined to climb on. I don't like this dysfunctional man, and in the most-recent debate he exuded phoniness (first, he stood up to answer a question and walked toward the questioner like he was so earnestly interested in the question that he couldn't possibly stay seated, then he began with a saccharine preliminary, "First, let me thank you and your husband for your service to this country"; I 'bout hurled). I'm leaning toward Ron Paul, maybe Fred Thompson. I have plenty of time to decide.
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I've been reading Joan Didion essays recently. Her "Fire Season" is a classic. It's about the fires that periodically smoke southern California. I looked for it on the 'net, but couldn't find it. I don't have time to key-in passages, but she noted at one point that, if things start getting bad as early as June, LA has serious problems. Based on this story, LA has serious problems.
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Well, this is comforting: Mohammed will likely become the most popular name for baby boys in Britain by the end of the year, The Times reported on Wednesday, citing government data. Maybe it's just a bunch of illiterates who have troubles spelling "Michael" or similar "M" names.