"Saudi, you're doing a heck of a job."

"At least" 345 people were trampled to death near Mecca this morning, in what has seemingly become a Hajj tradition. At what point does Saudi Arabia deduce that it's impressive-sounding public safety measures ("about 60,000 security personnel") are simply not getting the job done?

You know who I'm glad I'm not? Marion Barry.

According to this fascinating exposé,¹ taciturn Little League coach Sam Alito routinely forced his players to refer to him as "Coach Sam," as if they were four years old, or mentally disabled. Said Alito, when asked if that might have been a little callous, "Those goofy bastards are about the best thing I've got going."²

1 - Not actually an exposé.
2 - Not actually a quote.

For edification: Hotline's On Call is updating pretty regularly with Alito tidbits. "Useful shot, that."

Joe "Zell" Lieberman (D-ish-Conn.) could be in line for a lousy 2006:

After months of searching for a Democratic anti-war candidate willing to challenge Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, the political left's best hope may rest with a millionaire Greenwich businessman.

Ned Lamont, whose family tree includes a Who's Who of Wall Street and a famous student of socialism, said Monday he is leaning toward challenging Lieberman for the Democratic nomination.

I know nothing about Lamont - whose Courant picture looks like a cross between a high-school English teacher and, well, Joe Lieberman - short of what I read in this article, but the fact that he's challenging Lieberman is good enough for me. (Though without knowing what kind of challenge the Republicans will mount in November, it's hard to count on a messy primary.)

Why it's still worth it to read Dave Barry:

In disturbing medical news, a new study of 1,000 Americans finds that obesity in the United States has gotten so bad that there actually were, upon closer scrutiny, only 600 Americans involved in the study.