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I get annoyed when people from around the world try to tell Americans how they should run their politics, so I won't get into how I think the vote on Scotland's Independence could have been avoided. I will say that if I were a Scot I'd vote no. At least in the short term the economics of setting up separate bureaucracies for all the services Scots will surely want doesn't add up. And local government doesn't insure good government. I wouldn't live in Arizona if it suddenly became an independent nation. If the vote passed and I were a Scot, I wouldn't fret, but I would be in favor of cutting ties to the monarchy, again mostly on economic grounds.
I can't say I'm enjoying the new Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts as much as I'd hoped. Maybe younger people who aren't as familiar with much of the story might find it more interesting. Even though Franklin was gone by the time I was born, we still grew up knowing the sound of his voice and hearing most of the adults we knew praising what he'd done. Eleanor was still an important living figure, when I was a kid. Teddy was in the distant past, but in our first dabbles into American History in school we learned all about his bluff personality. That was notable because no other President's personality seemed worth mentioning in school.
I saw the pilot of The Mysteries of Laura last night. It had some good points. Debra Messing plays a Columbo-like detective, a bit of a slob, but very wise and clever. Decent writing and a good mystery. But its weak points were fairly glaring. Female cop with broken marriage that keeps pulling on her time is such a cliche that we shouldn't be forced to watch it yet again. It's nice that Messing still looks fantastic in a swimsuit and in her skivvies, but showing off her body regularly probably isn't the best way to keep the show on the air. Maybe the exhibitionism will end with the pilot, but who knows. The way the show is now set up they can't push Laura's family life too far in the background. I think that's a serious mistake.
I can't say I'm enjoying the new Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts as much as I'd hoped. Maybe younger people who aren't as familiar with much of the story might find it more interesting. Even though Franklin was gone by the time I was born, we still grew up knowing the sound of his voice and hearing most of the adults we knew praising what he'd done. Eleanor was still an important living figure, when I was a kid. Teddy was in the distant past, but in our first dabbles into American History in school we learned all about his bluff personality. That was notable because no other President's personality seemed worth mentioning in school.
I saw the pilot of The Mysteries of Laura last night. It had some good points. Debra Messing plays a Columbo-like detective, a bit of a slob, but very wise and clever. Decent writing and a good mystery. But its weak points were fairly glaring. Female cop with broken marriage that keeps pulling on her time is such a cliche that we shouldn't be forced to watch it yet again. It's nice that Messing still looks fantastic in a swimsuit and in her skivvies, but showing off her body regularly probably isn't the best way to keep the show on the air. Maybe the exhibitionism will end with the pilot, but who knows. The way the show is now set up they can't push Laura's family life too far in the background. I think that's a serious mistake.