Wandering among issues currently in the news . . .

• The unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent in September—the 21st consecutive month of job losses. Since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, the U.S. has erased about 7.2 million jobs, including 4.1 million lost since the beginning of this year. Those jobs may have evaporated permanently. So it’s difficult to imagine the U.S. knowing a robust economy any time soon.

Queries on curiosities in the news . . .

• In enthusiastically supporting the kooky health care measure approved by Madame Pelosi’s House Democrats, how can the gargantuan AARP—so often cited blandly as an advocate for senior citizens—be anything but a hard-left lobby?

• Which does contemporary American culture value more—merit or celebrity?

Additional stops on a random walk through a garden of issues currently in the news . . .

• A study of student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test (NAEP) since the early 1970s reaches dismal conclusions. On a scale of 500, test scores by today’s high schoolers average a pitiful one point higher in reading and just two points higher in math.