President Obama and several Republican senators went out to dinner together at a nice Washington restaurant to talk about breaking the budget impasse. Everything went great until the check arrived. They're still there arguing about who picks it up.
The College of Cardinals set up shop in Rome to pick the next pope. Word is that they're in the market for a young man in his 60s with new ideas that will drag the church all the way up to, say, the 18th century. Hey, you take what you can get.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-A Different Universe) launched a filibuster late this week to protest the Obama administration's refusal to rule out drone strikes in America against Americans suspected of terrorism. Something about the constitution and due process of law, etc. I found myself agreeing with Rand Paul. Rand Paul! Please kill me with a drone strike right now!
At the local level, Dr. Jennifer Cheatham came to an agreement with the Madison school board to become the district's new superintendent, starting next month. It's a two-part contract that calls for an initial three-year period during which Cheatham will be endlessly criticized and hounded, followed by an automatic renewal for a period when she is expected to become jaded and defensive. Good luck, Dr. Cheatham!
And in the San Francisco Bay area, the long-overlooked Bay Bridge was lit up with strings of millions of LED lights to create The Bay Lights, which is intended to turn the bridge into a tourist-attracting light sculpture. "Russ, we checked every bulb, didn't we?"
That's all I've got for now. Have a nice weekend, kids.