WASHINGTON -- In the 12 months we have to steel ourselves for the next State of the Union spectacle, let us count the ways that this spawn of democratic Caesarism -- presidency-worship -- has become grotesque.

Did you know Carole Crist has two children by her ex-husband, Blue Star Jets CEO Todd Rome? Probably not. How would you? Neither she nor her husband Charlie are ever seen with them.

And that's the problem now. Carole apparently has "mommy issues" -- as in "I don't want to be one."

As in, "I'm a deadbeat mom."

All of a sudden, people are beginning to notice there are people in her life conspicuous by their absence.

For the third year in a row, a bill has been introduced into the Legislature that, if passed, would alter Floridas nearly century-old standards for admitting expert testimony in civil and criminal trials. The measure has sharply divided the legal community.

The Florida House Civil Justice Subcommittee approved PCB CJS 13-02 ("Expert Testimony") along a 9-4 party-line vote Wednesday evening. The bill is the brainchild of subcommittee chairman Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, who is himself an attorney.

North Korea has just pulled off an impressive dual feat -- the successful test both of an intercontinental ballistic missile and an atom bomb in the 6-kiloton range.