Nobody Asked Me, But...

I've gotten enough feedback on this regular feature of Simply Left Behind that tells me I ought to make it even more regular...presumably without forcefeeding it a bran muffin.

And it's true, I've viewed NAM,B as a fallback option when I really have nothing to say, but don't want to spend a day not saying it.

So without further ado...

1) New York state politics is heating up, as the GOP finds itself on the ropes of irrelevancy. State Senate leader Joseph Bruno is the last Republican in New York with any stroke, and he's under several clouds of suspicion. This has national implications, particularly if Giuliani, Clinton, and Bloomberg all end up Presidential nominees after the dust settles next summer.

2) It pays to check your doctor's credentials. Always.

3) Fendi will hold a fashion show on the Great Wall of China. What shoes go with "brick"?

4) NASA is having problems landing the shuttle. Again. it seems to me that more money is spent getting this puppy down from space than getting a mission launched. Maybe the Space Center needs to be moved someplace with friendlier weather? The Mojave Desert springs to mind.

5) Who cares? Seriously?

6) Poor George Clooney. Maybe this is payback for Oceans 13?

7) The US is predicting that Robert Mugabe, the tyrant-president of Zimbabwe, will be deposed shortly because of hyperinflation, rampant unemployment, and more and more people in dire need of food, clothing, and shelter, struggling with poverty. The good news for Zimbabwe is, he's still a better president than we have. On a related note, it seems as though much of Africa is reaching a flash point, in tandem with much of the Middle East.

8) Iwo Jima is no more.

9) If you thought our trade deficit was bad enough, get ready for real trouble. European governments are now free to bolster industries within their borders. This bodes ill for the high tech sector in America, particularly Apple and Microsoft, which hold dominant positions in their sectors in Europe. Who led this fight in Europe? The "conservative" Nicolas Sarkozy. This is the guy our economic royalists were touting as bringing American capitalism to Europe, and they were right, but boy is it about to backfire!

10) Every man ought to own at least one Hawaiian shirt. Every man. And most women, while we're at it.

11) I'm more and more amazed that the Mets have managed to cling to first place. They haven't won back to back game this entire month, something they hadn't done since the early 60s. When Ricky Ledee is your sparkplug, you have serious troubles.

12) At first glance, it looks like the Dems turned their backs on a core constituency. I think in this case, however, the union screwed up, and misjudged how serious Congress needs to get about CAFE standards. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and so while Nissan Motors backed the tougher mileage standards, GM, Ford, and Chrysler stood solidly behind...their unions???

13) Rudy claims he didn't want to politicize the Iraq Study Group. So why did he sign on in the first place?

14) Another nail in the coffin for the average American.