I guess every era is convinced they live in the best/worst of times, but when I read stories like this one in the LA Times (h/t Digby) I feel that our claim on America's nadir is more than narcissism:

In May 2007, Victoria Arellano, a 23-year-old transgender immigrant from Mexico, was sent to a detention center in San Pedro after being arrested on a traffic charge.

Arellano, who was born a male and had come to the United States illegally as a child, had AIDS at the time of her arrest but exhibited no symptoms of the disease because of the medication she took daily. But once detained, her health began to deteriorate.She lost weight and became sick. She repeatedly pleaded with staff members at the detention center to see a doctor to get the antibiotics she needed to stay alive, according to immigrant detainees with whom Arellano shared a dormitory-style cell. But her requests were routinely ignored.

from the NYT's coverage of California's Supreme Court lifting the state's ban on gay marriage:

The Supreme Court was the first state high court to strike down a law barring interracial marriage, in a 1948 decision called Perez v. Sharp. The vote in Perez, like the one in Thursday’s decision, was 4-to-3. The United States Supreme Court did not follow suit until 1967.

At present, six of the seven justices on the California court, including all of the dissenters, were appointed by Republican governors.

Thursday’s decision was rooted in two rationales, and both drew on the Perez decision.

Dock Ellis, talks to Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel about pitching a no-hitter on LSD:

We flew into San Diego and I asked the manager could I go home, because we had an off day. And he said, "Yeah."

She said, "I don't know but you better get to that airport."

for some reason I find usage of "no homo" offensive and inane, but, always get a chuckle out of people using "PAUSE."

It's sad, really.