I try to stay away from becoming inflamed about politics, and in particular over politics involving petty fights, but this fight is just so asinine that I feel like I must speak out about it.  What topic am I talking about?  The topic I am talking about is the recent furor, reported at Fox News and via the Associated Press, that the White House has decided they should be the final arbiters of who may and may not be considered true "news" reporters.  But they are forgetting their roots. Read on for a deeper dive into the stupidity that is modern politics.

The Columbus Public Library system has had to cut its budget by $8.5M this year, which will mean fewer library hours, fewer media materials (back to 1988 levels!! - that sucks!), and no pay increases for its staff. This is incredibly disheartening news for anyone who uses the library system here in Columbus, Ohio. The library system is one of the few shining glimmers of culture in this city, in my opinion, and to see our state economy suffering so much that we would lose this wonderful resource is truly a devastating blow for my wife and I personally, and for many of our friends in this city.

A story on the Wall Street Journal today primarily talks about G-20 meeting highlights, but I found the last few paragraphs even more enlightening:

"The Obamas presented the queen with an iPod loaded with footage of her last visit to the U.S. and gave her a rare song book autographed by American composer Richard Rodgers. That continued a multimedia theme started this winter when the president presented Mr. Brown with a set of DVDs, a gift deemed insufficient by the British press. The queen gave the Obamas a framed photograph of herself and the Duke of Edinburgh."

George Will's recent column entitled How Congress Trumps Darwin provides an large degree of sarcasm on the subject of governmental intervention in controlling climate change, but he also displays a rather confusing lack of evidentiary support for the tenants of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. Will's lack of knowledge and support for the scientific sides of his argument therefore limit, and in some ways decidedly weaken, his arguments against governmental intervention in the protection of the environment and "endangered" species.

Americans are illiterate, over "educated," and will be paying for those two priviledges for many years to come thanks to the recent stimulus bill to use public funds to boost the private sector's economic stance. According to a recent Cato Institute article, only 31% of bachelor degree holding Americans are "proficient" readers (read: capable of perfoming complex and challenging literacy activities) based on information from the NAAL. Those Americans with only a high school diploma or GED don't even average above the "basic" literacy level.