Serious News and Pithy Comments

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. By the thundering silence inspired by The Common Man's absence, he assumes you were all struck mute (or the typing equivalent) by his refusal to show up on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. Cowboy up, readers.

The Common Man was conspicuously absent because, frankly, he didn't feel very well for a few days there. He was not sick, mind you, for The Common Man does not get sick. But he had the stuffy nose, cough, and general achiness that mere mortals would associate with the flu or a cold, but which, in him were not signs of any kind of illness. Just so you're clear.

In the meantime, here's what's happened while The Common Man has convalesced:

If you think the U.S. has problems with it's border security, you should check out the border between Egypt and Israel, where upwards of 50,000 Palestinians poured through a hole they had just blown through the security wall to go shopping in Egypt. The Common Man cannot imagine what kind of sale must have been going on at the Egyptian malls for this kind of Exodus. It's not even the day after Thanksgiving.

Presidential candidates thankfully keep bowing out, meaning that debates become less crowded and candidates have the chance to talk more. Dennis Kucinich bowed out just today, far earlier than he did in 2004. He joins Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo among candidates The Common Man knows about. Thompson, of course, withdrew two days ago after taking forever to decide to get in the race, skipping fundraisers, and speaking very, very slowly for several months. The Common Man wonders if Thompson didn't really drop out after Iowa, but that it took a month, between his reluctance to hold events and his slow talking, for him to get around to telling everyone. Anyway, fear not, you can still have a Ron Paul/Mike Gravel November crazy-off to look forward to.

Heath Ledger's death is sad, of course, because he was young and he leaves behind a daughter. The most profound impact this will have on The Common Man, however, will be making The Dark Knight even creepier.

Finally, in news that should have happened a long time ago, truly messed up singer Amy Winehouse has decided to go back to rehab. Winehouse was filmed smoking a glass pipe commonly associated with smoking crack, the other day, perhaps signalling that she is in some kind of distress. As for The Boy, when asked if he wanted to go to rehab, he still shook his head "no, no, no." (bonus points if you get that joke. by the way, will Winehouse ever be able to sing her one hit again, now that she actually has gone back to rehab? Is it now invalid? Thoughts?)