In the Washington Post, George Will points out that Ford is not asking the government for money and should not be pilloried like GM. Will writes about Ford CEO Alan Mulally pruning almost half the company's nameplates including; Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover and probably Volvo, but says the company will most likely survive the auto industry shakedown.
Gawker says it's time to retire the word "douchebag." We don't agree. Truly useful words do not get "played out." Besides, the e-mailer who suggested the banishment seems to think "douchebag" only applies to persons in New York City. Au contraire! The douchebag is a national, nay, a global phenomenon.
Nicholas Kristof supports New York Governor David Patterson's 18 percent sales tax on soft drinks. It's a reasonable position to raise money in a budget crises. But Kristof likes the soda tax for all the wrong reasons. He spends his hundreds of words railing against the Evils of Demon Sugar; decrying how high fructose corn syrup makes us all fat and sick, and the national soda tax will make it all better. Coming soon, we're sure, is a tax on hamburgers and French fries, followed by taxes on anything else that Kristof and the rest of the Health Police don't like.
Jeremy Piven is reportedly bailing on the Broadway play 'Speed the Plow' because of a "high mercury count." Playwright David Mamet isn't buying the excuse. Mamet took a shot at Piven in Variety, saying the actor was apparently "leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.” Life & Style had earlier reported that Piven was leaving the play because of the ever-popular "exhaustion."
