—Donald Trump wants Romney to ask birther questions at the debate Wednesday. I guess that means the Mittster still has to close the sale with the right wing conspiracy theorist vote.

–On a related note, Romney is apparently practicing “zingers” for the debate. The video below should explain why any strategy that hinges on Mitt Romney’s gift for splitting sides suffers flaws both fundamental and fatal.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEA_0YRdi1c&w=560&h=315]
–I asked the reading several to review Dismantle the Sun the other day. Before proceeding, reviewers should check out TNR’s post on the five types of Amazon critic.

–Good on California for banning “gay conversion therapy”. I had a student whose parents had put him through this nonsense. He was trying avenge himself upon them by tanking his grades in private school, which was why I was hired to work with him. On hearing his story, I advised him to quit flunking his classes because it was a shortsighted way of getting even, because the kid who blows school grows up to be the adult who needs to beg his parents for rent money; and why should he wish to give his parents that kind of veto power over his adult life.

The best way to deal with his parents, I told him, was to get through his final years at home, get good grades, go to a good college far away, major in something lucrative, land a job that would allow him to be independent, and put himself in a position where he could tell his parents to either accept his sexuality or not. Whether they chose to be in or out of his life, his bills would be paid.

I’m not sure what he’s doing these days. I hope he took my advice, and I’m glad that California is taking this step to help reduce the damage narrow-minded parents can do to their LGBT kids.

A Q&A with Sherman Alexie.

300 prisoners have now been exonerated thanks to DNA evidence. What do you say to a guy that you sentenced to death and tossed into prison for 15 years based on a coerced confession? I doubt Hallmark makes a card for that.

The song in my head:

Later.