Harshness of red marks has students seeing purple: "A mix of red and blue, the color purple embodies red's sense of authority but also blue's association with serenity, making it a less negative and more constructive color for correcting student papers, color psychologists said. Purple calls attention to itself without being too aggressive. And because the color is linked to creativity and royalty, it is also more encouraging to students.

"'The concept of purple as a replacement for red is a pretty good idea,' said Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Color Institute in Carlstadt, N.J, and author of five books on color. 'You soften the blow of red. Red is a bit over-the-top in its aggression.'"

Me thinks the meaning is getting lost along the way. Red is for mistakes. Blue is for annotations. Purple blurs the distinction, making the mistakes seem less wrong somehow. This doesn't make corrections made in purple any less valid, but sometimes you really want a color that screams out WRONG!

A new 'Bushism': We're gonna get us: "'Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we,' Bush said. 'They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.'"

Truth. Things don't have to be A or B, they can be both. This was a mistake. That doesn't make it false.

Quad-City Times Newspaper Online - the Quad-Cities Home Page: "Three armed robbers sought a presidential-sized distraction Wednesday morning, hitting three Davenport banks during downtown campaign stops by President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

"Police said the robbers might have believed traffic and crowd control at the visits would leave police shorthanded elsewhere, police said."

Tonight on "When Candidates Attack!": See Bush dis Kerry. See Kerry ask Bush to come and talk. See Bush challenge Kerry to talk, then leave town. See Kerry's bus convoy drive right past Bush's event. Meanwhile, watch robbers knock over three banks while everyone's distracted.

I don't see how this is good for our country.

US terror alert becomes political football: "If anyone is wondering why terrorism, and especially attacks at home, should have been so fully hyped on such thin evidence, it's useful to consider the news cycle.

"Last week, John Kerry did a surprisingly good job of introducing himself to the nation as a plausible replacement for Bush. Last week, a devastating car bomb claimed the lives of 68 Iraqis, just as US Secretary of State Colin Powell was in country to deliver several absurdly optimistic speeches. Christian churches in Iraq have for the first time become the targets of terrorist attacks, in which eleven lives have so far been claimed. And the infamous Abu Ghraib Military Police unit has just returned Stateside to answer charges of torture.

"Not to put too fine a point on it, last week sucked for the Bush Administration. It's no wonder, then, that a multi-city security rain dance should be choreographed - no wonder that police in paramilitary jumpsuits and helmets and boots should appear on the streets and in the subways with fully automatic weapons. It's no wonder that streets should be closed to traffic and cars stopped at random. The rest of the news is just too depressing."

Or, as Jon Stewart put it on The Daily Show, "On the subject of the convention, most observers agreed last week that it brought a newly energized Democratic party, one focused on a common goal. With the Democratic party now in the spotlight, many people are wondering, ..., yes, ..., oh, this just in, TERROR WARNING! I guess we'll have to stop talking about the Democrats."