Last weekend I took a detour from my normal regional shopping route to get us a new hammock. I've had the old one set up in the garage (all cars are banished) and decided it was time to upgrade. This one is a fabric weave -- a bit more comfy than the rope kind I've been swinging in for 10 years. Opened it up, chained it up to the frame, and noticed all the tags.

There were no less than 11 tags sewn to the thing: warnings in English, warnings to foreigners, warnings to launderers, and the obligatory "it is unlawful to remove this tag" tag.

My favorite tag assured us that the hammock complied with the various guidelines, rules and regulations duly imposed and promulgated by the California Bureau of Home Furnishings.

Bureau of home furnishings? No wonder the state is bankrupt.

But such is the state of the world. Even Alane was appalled by today's news headlines, saying "who would want to kill Mexican midget wrestlers?" Vicious prostitutes. Not as strange as the headlines coming out of D.C. these days, naturally, where the vicious prostitutes actually control government.

I have a big rack of ribs on the grill. That makes me happy.