From this morning's paper . . .

• Mortgage defaults are up, which should come as no surprise. The bubble is getting closer and closer to bursting. (And, looking at the graphic, you have to wonder what happened in New Jersey.)
  
• No comment. Okay, a little one: The superintendent of my district has decided that next year, my school should enroll essentially no new ninth graders, on our way towards planning for "small learning communities." What we tried to tell him, and what he chose not to understand, is that the resulting loss of staff from such a cut would devastate the very programs that would become our small learning communities. Bye-bye, electronics, advanced placement, CNA training, International Baccaluareate . . .
  
• I still have not heard a persuasive--or even logical--argument why a constitutional amendment designed to destory this family will "protect" the marriages of anyone else. I know I have the occasional conservative reader; any of you want to give it a shot?
  
• There's a joke in here somewhere about rocket scientists from Sheboygan, but I haven't found it yet; still, it has to be better than the paper's dull "one giant leap" teaser. More seriously, any economic development plan is worth looking at, and this is certainly among the most daring.