| Brown mark II
They also know that Brown faces accusations of indecision after refusing to act straightaway when Hain admitted to serious oversights in his declarations. But senior figures believe this criticism is a price worth paying, according to one minister, who explained the simple calculations that dictated Number 10's conduct over the last two weeks. 'Peter was politically dead the moment he admitted failing to declare so many donations,' the minister said. 'But Number 10 couldn't do anything until he was reprimanded by an independent authority or the police were called in. If they had moved before that had happened, then Harriet [Harman, the deputy Labour leader] and Wendy [Alexander, Labour's leader in Scotland who also made funding mistakes] would have been in difficulty. Now that Peter is facing a police investigation, there is a lot less pressure on them.' Such claims will be dismissed by the Tories as at best a preposterous attempt by Labour to spin itself out of a messy corner, or at worst a sign that Brown is still a 'machine politician' who calculates his moves in the manner of an obsessive chess player.
Blob NewHeart
(For discussions of the latest topics, check out the Human Nature Fray.) Binge-drinking women are rupturing their bladders. British doctors report three cases and urge their colleagues to look out for more. Symptoms: "free pelvic fluid," "suprapubic pain," and "re-absorption of urine through the peritoneum." How it happens: 1) You overload your bladder with urine from booze. 2) The alcohol "dulls the senses," leaving you with "a reduced urge to void despite the increased bladder volume." 3) You fall down, causing your swollen bladder to burst. Old assumption: "Women, because of the short length of the urethra and the less pronounced sphincter mechanism, would have a tendency to leak rather than rupture." New view: Women are binge drinking like men, so they're bursting their bladders like men.
Extra! UIdaho Student Found Shot to Death
In other words, you can get a message to me that way, if you see something on the blog that seems over the top. Or if you have a question. I check my e-mail a coupla times a day or night when I'm home. I've set out several things below to get you started this weekend, including a comment by Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander re: the LCDC. I can't imagine anything that's left to say on the subject. But I've been wrong before. It has a tinfoil feeling to it. Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend and get rested up for another fun-filled Huckleberries Online week, beginning Monday. Now, for your Saturday Wild Card ... .
Annie’s Mailbox: Husband should consider self
Dear Annie: My wife and I recently celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary. It was not a happy occasion for me.My wife was an alcoholic for years. She left our children and me on three different occasions, and I took her back each time because I wanted to keep my family together. Once, she went with co-workers to a bar after work and was brought home five hours later by two men who had gone through her purse to find her address. My wife finally got treatment and has been sober for 20 years. Things in our marriage became OK, but not great.Ten years ago, I found out she'd had an affair when she told me I needed to be tested for a venereal disease. The guy was a co-worker and someone I'd known for years. Since that time, things have gone downhill. It doesn't help that she gets mad at me for just about everything.
Love Letters: If you can't say something nice ... wait, he did
And it was only Part I of a Three-Part Trilogy of columns I was intending -- Part I to contrast Cooperstown and the Barry Bonds* Watch (and as such, to point out that while there is plenty of deserved hostility toward Bonds, it isn't as if others are perfect, either); Part II essentially chronicled how classy both Gwynn and Ripken are; and Part III, written the day of the induction, set the scene of what a great tribute the weekend turned out to be -- especially the crowd of 75,000 -- to two true Hall of Famers. Last thing I meant to do was a cheap shot on either. As you read through the weekend, the three pieces should have combined to provide perspective on Gwynn and Ripken, Bonds and Cooperstown. I think those of you who were patient and didn't jump to knee-jerk conclusions got it.
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