Wednesday's notes & links

During the Watergate investigation the question "What did the president know and when did he know it?" was in vogue. Richard Miniter has an insightful column today in the Wall Street Journal that plays on that theme regarding Bill Clinton's attempt to rewrite history.

What Clinton Didn't Do . . .
. . . .and when he didn't do it.

As I read article after article address Clinton's outburst from this past weekend I'm more and more convinced that he misjudged how it would play politically. His actions coupled with his underlings overreaction to the TV mini-series created more interest in assigning political blame for our lax security prior to 9/11.

I don't normally put a lot of stock in the various "scientific" studies mainly because there are so many of them and because you can usually find one with contradictory findings to match each one. Having said that, I have to like the results of this study.

Are you a forty-something grouch who's first to shout invectives in a slow-moving checkout lane? A youngster who mocks your dad's counsel? A graduate student known for driving your professor crazy with sardonic verbiage? Take hope: Today, you might be dismissed as a smart-aleck. In your old age, you might be viewed as smarter than average.

Or at least that's what Jacqueline Bichsel suggests.

Bichsel, a psychology professor at Morgan State in Baltimore, recently co-authored a study that invites the conclusion that upon reaching 60, disagreeable people maintain a higher level of intelligence than more easy-going seniors. "These individuals have a higher vocabulary," she said. "They have a better use of words, a better knowledge of facts."

There hasn't been a lot of media interest in Kosovo lately. Being rather cynical I'd assume that is because the situation can't be blamed on the current president. Here is an article examining how unstable the region is seven years after we entered the conflict (without asking the UN for permission by the way).

The woman who World War Two GI's referred to as Tokyo Rose died yesterday? For some reason I thought she had died years ago.

As sports fans it is easy to grow envious of the life we think the professional athletes live. We see the reports of million dollar contracts and the adulation heaped upon them and mistakenly think everything is fine in their life. What we don't see is how the stress of trying to be the best can take a toll on the athlete and their family. Today's news provides a stark reminder that like the rest of us they have problems and can struggle to make sense of their lives. Often for athletes who come from poor families the riches create additional difficulties in balancing being generous with being careful with your financial future.

According to a Dallas police report, Dallas Cowboys star receiver Terrell Owens attempted suicide Tuesday night. He remained hospitalized on Wednesday morning.

I have no way of knowing what personal demons drove Owens to believe death was preferable to living, but just hope his family and friends help him realize that he has much to live for even if he never plays another game.