I break horses
Doesn't take me long
Just a few well-placed words
And their wandering hearts are gone


John Chiara, untitled, 2004

* from Harper's Index March 2008:

-- Percentage change since 2005 in the worldwide price of food, as tracked by The Economist: +77

-- Estimated amount that Ike Turner spent on cocaine during his lifetime, according to Turner: $11,000,000

-- Percentage of full-time university faculty in 1992 who taught less than four hours per week: 15

-- Percentage today: 30

-- Percentage increase since 2001 in the amount the U.S. Government has spent on paper shredding: +587

-- Number of South Koreans who work as on-call "replacement drivers" for customers too drunk to drive home: 83,000

-- Estimated number of customers they serve each day: 700,000

* Willie Nelson says Impeach Bush. excerpt:

"American icon Willie Nelson says he supports efforts to impeach President Bush and 'throw the bastards out,' adding that the administration will do anything to stay in power, including staging an event to cancel the election.

"In his second appearance this month, Nelson told The Alex Jones Show today that he supported Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach Bush, adding, 'If you break the law you have to pay for it one way or another and if these guys haven't broke the law nobody has.'

"'The deck's been stacked and we need to figure out a way to get a new fresh deck in there in the deal and I don't know how else to do it except throw the bastards out,' said Nelson."
...
"'I really believe that George Bush believes he's right, he believes what he's saying and that makes it even more pathetic because to have someone that wrong think they're right and have him be the leader of our country - that's a scary thought,' he added.

"The star also re-iterated a warning made during his last appearance on the show, that the Bush administration could potentially stage an event to postpone or cancel the presidential election.

"'It could be anything and anything will work because they have everyone scared to death, I just think there are people out there who will do anything to stay in power, anything to keep what they have, they've already proven they'll do anything to keep it,' he said."

* "My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin." -- Karl Kraus