One of my favorite Doonesbury's from the 1980s features several aides talking to Reagan. They tell him there's a theory going around that his ridiculous insistence that he could cut taxes and raise defense spending at the same time was actually a cunning plan to force cuts in the welfare state. Gee, asked Reagan, am I that smart? That's what we were wondering, sir; try to think back.

Bush last week actually said that the collapse of the always-fictional budget surplus is a good thing because it puts Congress in a fiscal strait-jacket. Trust Bush to find the bright side of recession.

Jamaica is thinking about legalizing marijuana. The US is threatening to impose sanctions. On another country for having its own legal system.

The Interior Department names the Fresno municipal dump a national historic landmark. Plan your vacations accordingly. But don't forget your Visa because they don't take American Express. They do, however, take AOL discs.

The 11th Circuit says that race doesn't count as diversity. So it's not ok to award points to U of Georgia applicants for being black, but it is ok to do so for children of previous students. Like, say, from the time it was all-white.

Well, if they can't get into the U of Georgia, they can get into the newly accredited Astrological Institute, with federal student loans. The accreditation people say that they're not validating astrology, just saying that the school fulfilled its promises to students.

Iranian schools are to reintroduce sex ed. The mind boggles.