For once I'm surprised by a vote in Congress, as the Senate votes to strip funding for additional F-22 fighter jets. The President and the Defense Secretary don't want them, but they provide jobs in many congressional districts, so I expected Congress to fund them. Of course, when it comes to funding pet programs, the game is never really over.

Speaking of Congress, the writer of this op-ed piece advocates changes in the congressional health plan. Since the changes would result in less service at a higher cost for the members, I will be shocked into utter stupefaction if they ever make them.

As astronomers turn their telescopes to look at the results of a big impact on Jupiter, other scientists are wondering about the lack of sunspot activity and whether or not it has any impact on our short-term climate conditions. After reading the articles I can only conclude that it's scary how much we don't know about the basic forces inside our own solar system.

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman salutes the men and women of our military who are, in his words, "The Class Too Dumb to Quit", meaning that they refused to lose in Iraq, and are applying that same stubbornness to Afghanistan. I, for one, have never doubted that our military would, after many mistakes, eventually hit on the right solutions. I have, however, often expressed doubts about the fortitude of the folks on the home front, and the politicians who represent them. So far, mostly because our casualty levels have been so relatively low (as compared to the Vietnam War, for instance, where we were losing on average 150 soldiers a week) the folks on the home front have maintained enough support to keep the troops in the field. Will it last long enough to get the job done in Afghanistan? I have my doubts.