Gail Collins writes about Michelle Bachmann, inevitably spending some time making comparisons to Sarah Palin. How can one not compare the two -- in their own ways, they're both bat-crazy. I love this description by Gail: "If Palin and Bachmann were your co-workers, Palin would be the one sneaking out early to go bowling, while Bachmann would stay late to reorganize the office seating chart to reflect her own personal opinion of who most deserves to be near the water cooler."

Speaking of Palin, an interesting article on narcissism. Doesn't this sound like Sarah? "A narcissist is someone who has an unrealistic sense of self-importance, a lack of empathy, and a 'conviction of being different and special and entitled that is so profound that they feel it’s only natural people will admire them'."

A graphic depicting the $3 trillion (with a "T") Iraq War. Funny how the Tea Baggers never mention GW/Cheney's war when they complain about our worsening deficit. Most telling. Oh, and one reason Obama's deficit figures look worse than GW's is not just because of the Great Recession, but also because Obama decided to finally put both this war and the Afghanistan war on the books. GW made things look better thanks to accounting tricks; Obama said enough.

Top-brass business executives have had their feelings hurt and dislike liberals so much they are more than willing to punish the country by stock-piling cash, avoiding much-needed hiring. Really? Apparently this is what David Gergen would have us believe.

This is long overdue, "As the rates of learning disabilities, autism and related conditions rise, the Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to release a roster of the pollutants likely to contribute to these or other neurological disorders." Theodore Slotkin, a pharmacology professor at Duke University Medical Center: "What we've been doing the past 30 years is a failure. They [industry] can produce these chemicals faster than we can test them." And a truly shocking reality: "[U]nder current law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the EPA permits companies to put many chemicals on the market without first proving they are safe. Then, if evidence mounts that a particular chemical, such as bisphenol A, or metal, such as lead, could harm people who are exposed to the substances in varying situations, the agency has to play catch-up." Incredible. The EPA acts only after the fact. And what about the many chemicals that could be doing harm but are much more subtle when inflicting their damage, thus staying under-the-radar and escaping the attention of regulators...?

A group of organic food giants surrender to Monsanto. Sadly, why does this seem like it was inevitable?

A conservation group may sink a very promising renewable energy project. Look, at some point choices have to be made -- in this case, the future of the planet versus question marks surrounding migrating birds. If we don't look to replace coal plants with cleaner burning alternatives, and fast, then the risk to turtles and cacti will be the least of our problems!