Saturday Roundup

Something close to all our hearts: screaming kids on a plane.

Some thoughtful op-art on slow food, and a wry cartoon for a different perspective.

Just say no to ethanol.

Kathleen Parker recommends against pandering to our inner simpleton.

This is obviously a very dumb way to try to get a bank loan, but I have equally little sympathy with this woman. There may be a method to the Post's madness--its strategy of choosing unsympathetic people for its profiles of "victims" of the recession or housing market crash, but I haven't figured it out yet. I mean, there's nothing inherently unsympathetic about that single mother of four, earning $15,000 a year--until she decided to by a nearly $700k house and then complain about losing it.

Here's a Post profile that's actually inspiring. Hint: it contains no 'wah, they took away the house I never should have bought by lying on my mortgage application.' Or 'wah, my 300k income barely covers my nanny expenses and I'm struggling to make ends meet.'

Confession: I shopped on Black Friday. Inadvertently. I went to the Freer Gallery, and stumbled upon an attic sale, where I bought a small, decorative plate. Then, I thought I'd hit Harris Teeter on the way home to get some oatmeal--surely that wouldn't count as "Black Friday" shopping--but oddly enough, they were out (yes, I am loyal to HT's store brand traditional oats). I left, disappointed, but as I was facing Bed, Bath and Beyond on the way out, it occurred to me that I needed to get a cleaning product. Again, not exactly a flat screen, but still.

Speaking of shopping that I am not doing, could someone hurry up with this? My pumpkin pudding is now pumpkin ice cream--pretty tasty, actually--and this is what my fridge does on its lowest setting. Ice cream I can deal with; fresh greens becoming frozen is much less desirable.

Anyway, from that article--two links ago, about Black Friday:

Our children, meanwhile, have been raised with a sense of entitlement: Not providing a PlayStation3 is tantamount to child abuse. We talk to our kids about nutrition, safety and the environment, but we ignore our responsibility to teach them about money and how it works.

I'm debating whether I should call SunTrust and make them reimburse me for the $10 they took from my escrow account to pay the late fee for my homeowners' insurance, even though they were the ones who made the payment late. I think I will, out of principle. Besides, it's not like I don't pay that bank enough money as it is.