Writing Roundup

These titles tickled my funny bone when I encountered them recently...

From The Campaign Spot: Ah Yes, That Dainty, Sensitive, Dovish Dick Cheney We've Heard So Much About -- never thought I'd see those adjectives in a discussion about our former Vice President!

Also from The Campaign Spot: Americans Begin to Learn 'Change' is Not a Synonym for 'Improvement' -- better late than never...

From Neptunus Lex: Smearing Jocks -- It wasn't until I re-encountered that title a day after I read it that I realized Lex was being clever. What can I say? I'm neither male nor an athlete, so that initially went right over my head. What else can I say? "Gross!!!"

From New Scientist: Sex and Shopping -- It's a Guy Thing -- The article is actually broader than that, covering both male and female activities and preferences when in a dating/mating frame of mind. Very interesting to see the differences between the sexes in display behaviors... and more proof that despite feminist ideals, there are certain things that seem to be hard-wired in most of us.

These didn't tickle my funny bone, but I thought you might appreciate them...

Proof that Anything Can be Deep-fried -- Have your cholesterol meds handy while you read drool.

The Top 10 Conservative Movies of the Last Decade -- I don't watch enough movies to give my opinion on the list, but I've seen a couple of similar lists recently, and have been struck by the realization that one thing sets these lists apart from the critics' more general lists of best movies of the decade/year: almost every one of the conservative movies was extremely well-received by the movie-going public. My quick and casual explanation is that conservative movies tend to feature themes that speak to the heart and dreams of humanity: triumph over adversity, success amid challenge, courage/heroism/sacrifice, self-sufficiency, redemption, and good versus evil. I probably haven't thought it through enough, but it seemed interesting...

Lessons of a Weekend of Free Health Care -- A fascinating and heart-rending article. Fascinating because it's an AP story that actually gets into the real reasons these people either don't receive adequate health care (none of which the recent congressional actions address), or why they are sick in the first place. The stories of the 5% of people who truly have no other options are both tear-jerking and inspiring, as are the good hearts trying to help them.