Good morning, All.  The sun I reported yesterday morning went away by the early afternoon.  It is gloomy with areas of fog this morning.  The temperature is just below 40F.

I have already turned of the TV news.  God what a bunch of repetitive nonsense.  I find that I don't have much tolerance for it anymore.  I did not want to hear about Buffet's secretary who has become the poster child for unfair taxation yet again.  But I did and learned nothing more from the interview.  I am sorry Demi Moore is in the hospital and I DO NOT care if it is simple stress and exhaustion or was part of an addiction gone bad.  And I DON'T want to hear about it yet again--for the fourth day.  And I have to wonder why the rape accusation against the son of the New York City police chief is worthy of national coverage.  But then I switched over to CNN and they had (OMG) an interview with a friend of John Kennedy, Jr., wife who regretted advising her to get on the plane her husband piloted on their fatal flight.  It has been how long?  I turned off the set at that point.

This is the reason why I hope that the new mortgage fraud investigation unit is more than window dressing to ease through a blanket amnesty for the big banks.  I hope JPMorgan's CEO has a lot to worry about.

I agree with your assessment, Kay, of Mitch Daniels.  Unfortunately, the 'Ditch Mitch' campaign last go round failed and the idiot was re-elected.  Thankfully, he can't run again because of term limits.  But he is doing as much damage as possible.  The Repthuglican controlled legislature looks poised to do a Walker on our workers.  I did not listen to his rebuttal to the SOTU.  But then I was so disgusted with the commentary after that we turned off the crud and went to bed.  I noticed the stone faced Repthuglicans who sat on their hands for the most part and gave tepid applause to the other parts.  I figure the only things that will get done will be through executive order.  God, what crap.  You were a better person than I was at that younger age.  I slapped the little brat who tormented me--publicly.  And then watched with satisfaction as our principal took him off by his ear.

An interesting juxtaposition: yesterday Ben Bernanke evidently set a 2% target for inflation and last night on the Nightly Business report they noted that the food commodities the restaurant trade depends on (meat, flour, etc.) have all risen by double digits last year.  Oh, I forgot!!--foods, medical care, and fuel aren't considered in the inflation measure Bernanke was talking about.  I guess the Fed Governors don't have to eat or fill their gas tanks.

I hope this (expletive, expletive) gets the full 15 years in prison.  What gets me is that we have a national organization to supposedly monitor the professional behavior and qualifications of dentists but they have evidently been asleep at the switch.  Dental licenses are, like medical licenses, granted through the state professional association which is affiliated with the national group.  What would be so hard about keeping a record of those whose malpractice or other unprofessional behavior has led to suspension of licenses?

I remember a couple of years ago reading about the spider silk shawl which was currently making the rounds as part of a traveling exhibition.  It was gorgeous.  Well, the creators of the shawl have upped their game with a cape.  Take a look at it here.  My mind boggles at what went into its creation.