Yay Harry Potter! This one's much better than the first, although the final scene made no sense. It's also pretty intense for those younger types, I don't know that I'd take my 8 year-old to see it. Although there was a toddler in the theater with us that was left to roam around he aisles during the film, for his parents seemed blithely unconcerned for his whereabouts. I was fairly put off by that.

So the enlightened legislators of our state have decided that Patriotism should be mandatory, and have therefore decreed that all children in the state school system shall be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, regardless of personal or religious beliefs. This strikes me as an exercize of power for it's own sake, with no real benefit to the citizenry.

Also, I ask why any person with a brain would think it necessary to make something like a tax cut permanent. Everyone, particularly law makers, should understand that economic conditions change as swiftly and as constantly as the weather, and what sounds like a good measure one year may have drastically different consequences for the next. Again, it seems that the Administration is merely flexing it's political muscle, quite apart from the fact that this tax cut package was a disaster to begin with. It's a way of saying, "Look how powerful we are! Whee!"