Oil Leak Watch

I'm putting this in the side column, but it's hard to read there.

LATER: And now it's paused, since the cap seems to be working.

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Required Reading

Carrie sent this disturbing article that explains why truth doesn't trump ignorance.

In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.

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Creatures Indoors

I'm used to the occasional ant or moth, but last night I went to turn off a light in the living room, and this fellow (not really, but one just like him) swooped up from the floor. He perched on a picture frame for a while and then sat on the chandelier for about an hour and a half. I was able to stroke him gently with a fishing rod and finally coax him into sitting on a net, which allowed me to get him into a closed bedroom with open windows and from there outside. I got to bed around midnight. I saw him (or one just like him), little the worse for wear, on the feeder this morning.

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Required Reading

I like Gail Collins more and more. Here she is on the LeBronifying of everything and the fact that your next representative is more than likely to make a sh*tload more money than you do--or than the also-ran candidates do.

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Heat Wave

My office, on the west side of the house, is fine in the mornings, but I've had to abandon it by 2:30 PM the past few days and retire to the basement, where it's 20 degrees cooler. We're supposed to be mid-80s tomorrow, and it's sounding like an incredible relief.

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Gabe's Visit

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Best. Headline. Ever.

The IJ on the investigation into a missing-person's case. Tompkins Police Press Probe Into Human Remains. Classic.

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