TWEEDLEBUM AND TWEEDLEVIL

“The bulk of politicians of both parties are corrupt -- if not criminally then at least intellectually -- and the parties wholly captured by a cabal of special interests. Congressional elections consistently offer us no better choice than between Tweedlebum and Tweedlevil.”


Which is why there are Tea Parties. Find one near you.

THIS IS NEWS?

Blind-sided by the obvious: safety exposes us to risk.

In the middle of the last century, an aerospace engineer working for Volvo developed the modern, three-point seat belt. Yet even today the safety device’s benefits are not clear-cut, William Ecenbarger http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Presence-of-Mind-Buckle-Up-And-Behave.html writes in Smithsonian magazine. That’s because of people’s tendency toward “risk compensation” — actively taking more risks because they feel more secure.

Good Lord, I wrote about this back in nineteen eighty-something when Texas was debating a mandatory seat-belt law. It was obvious to me back then that drivers wearing seat belts were driving faster, weaving through traffic more, tailgating, and challenging yellow lights more than their unbelted counterparts.

Does anyone (beside me) remember the “Baby on Board” signs that were so popular about that time? Coincidence? Or reaction?

Glenn Reynolds has thoughts as well.

What happened to common sense? Oh, never mind.

ON THE PROPER USE OF ENGLISH

“So far as I’m concerned, the only term [the Obama administration] have come up with that I approve of is ‘man-made disaster,’ which was invented by Janet Napolitano. Understand, I don’t sanction her using it as a euphemism for 9/11. The only reason I like it is because I think it so perfectly defines the Obama presidency.”

COMMON SENSE

Is becoming such a rare quality that it should be renamed “uncommon sense.”