Why Are Mug Shots Always So... Off?

I keep noticing that the mug shots posted from time to time in the local papers are always somehow just "off."

This is a mug shot of a guy named Charles Willis and the police in Milford, Delaware, are looking for him. I know nothing about this guy, but his mug shot matches the off-centered-ness of many I've seen in the local press lately.

Why can't these mug shots be better centered? It's off-putting to see them this way.

Oh, For The Love Of...

The following came in via e-mail today from the head of a local right-wing, anti-government, property-rights group:

Glenn Beck has announced he will be doing a series of documentaries on the history of the progressive movement. The first is this Friday.

The Glenn Beck program is on at 5 PM and 2 AM on the Fox News Channel. I have set my DVR.

I truly believe this series of documentaries will explain much of how we've gotten to where we are today.

Okay... I know this is ridiculous, but I also know that there are people who will take this seriously. And that makes me sad.

It's About "School" (Updated)

Pandora, over at DelawareLiberal has posted the text, as prepared for delivery, of the President's planned speech to students on Tuesday. I took the liberty of running it through wordle to see what the top 75 words would be.

Apparently, it's all about "School."

So much for "indoctrination."

There is an argument developing in the comments on Pandora's post that seeks to change the story about why there was an uproar. But one thing seems clear to me: It (the uproar) is pretty much just a load of crap and should be ignored. The problem I see is that uproar appears to be the preferred mode of public discourse these days.

It's a shame, really.

UPDATE: DelawareDem was kind enough to add a link to this post in another post on the subject on DelawareLiberal (turn-about=fair play?). The argument that ensued led me to try to do exactly the same wordle word cloud of a Ronald Reagan speech to students when he was president, back in 1988:


Please forgive the line on the left. I did a less accurate job with teh screen capture. It looks, from this, like Mr. Reagan's topic was a bit more political than Mr. Obama's.