THE SECRET OF BELLY-BUTTON FLUFF

I am sure that we are all grateful to Britain's "Daily Telegraph" for reporting the results of this highly significant Austrian research.  Read it here.  February 28, 2009.

WHO'S ALLEN STANFORD?

The Texas banking billionaire who's accused of what has been described as "massive fraud", and is currently missing, is a much bigger deal outside the U.S. than he is here.  The story is all over the front pages of the British papers.  This is because outside the U.S. he's not known as a banker but as a "cricket tycoon" - not a phrase you hear very often - and is referred to as Sir Allen Stanford rather than plain Mister.  (Cricket, you know, is the second most popular sport in the world, with almost as many fans as soccer.  See the things you learn on this web site?)  February 19, 2009.

WILL IT BE VULTURES NEXT?

Usually, the only big birds we see around here are pelicans and the occasional feral parrot, but this weekend there was a squadron of hawks swooping and hovering over the neighborhood.  What suddenly made the beach area attractive to them?  Is it a sign of a deepening recession?  Not enough food being thrown out in all those gated retirement ghettos inland?  Are our dogs looking undernourished?  Do desperate Madoff victims seem like targets of opportunity?  Is this the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it?  February 9, 2009.

NEAR MISS?

A fishing vessel and a cargo ship come dangerously close to each other outside Los Angeles harbor and the press describes the incident as a "near miss".  Say what?  Did they make contact?  No.  So would that not be a "near hit" rather than a "near miss"?  February 6, 2009.