OPINION

When you can't get an actual human to endorse your candidacy, the next best thing is to get Simone to do it. Remember Simone, from the Al Pacino movie? She's a virtual robot who will pretty much say anything you type into her mouth. So Jerry Ray Hall, who is seeking to replace Rep. Ralph Hall in District 4 using an odd truth-be-damned campaign strategy, went to oddcast.com and, voila! Instant endorsement.

It's weird beyond weird. I think even the Tea Party that he claims to represent would be appalled if they were organized enough to know that he's out there claiming to represent them.

I tried to embed Hall's video here, but it doesn't embed properly. So go to Jerry Hall's campaign Web site and enjoy the new world of virtual endorsements, which meshes nicely with Hall's "virtual truth" description of his academic, business and charitable accomplishments.

(By the way, oddcast.com also allows you to be endorsed by that little baby boy who appears on those E-Trade commercials. Or you can have Flo from Progressive Insurance endorse you. I think you can even get someone from Avatar to endorse you from an entirely different planet. The sky galaxy's the limit! Go Jerry!

He also apparently believes in virtual identities and credentials (law degree, doctorate). Hall wrote me two emails this week under his own name, using his jerryhallforcongress.org email address. But the IP address on the email was exactly the same as a posting we received earlier this week from a commenter named "Bill" who used the fictitious email address texdt@gmail.com.

Re: "Bataille's surprise exit forces UNT to pay big -- Deal gives president $723,000 for contract, option to work in Denton," Saturday news story.

University of North Texas President Gretchen Bataille resigns because she apparently can't get along with the administration, but receives $723,000 for the remainder of her contract and has the opportunity to collect $289,000 more in the 2010-11 school year for research and teaching.

No wonder UNT needs to raise tuition.

I'm a little nonplussed about the newest version of Alice in Wonderland; Tim Burton is not known for kiddy fare. Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter looks like Ronald McDonald on acid.

The problem is that Mad Hatter's disease was a real workplace safety issue during the 19th century. While miners got black lung disease from prolonged exposure to coal dust and millers got white lung disease from flour, hat makers got Mad Hatters from prolonged exposure to mercury, used to turn fur into felt. This heavy metal would build up in their systems, causing trembling, loss of coordination, slurred speech, loosening of teeth, memory loss, depression, irritability and anxiety.

What will kiddy fantasy stories use next: characters with PTSD?

Texas has traffic laws ranging from prohibitions for driving while intoxicated to driving without automobile insurance, and these laws should be obeyed. If they were, no one would face fines and surcharges for infractions.

However, people do violate the law, often causing serious accidents that harm innocent people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hospitals receive the injured and strive to not only save lives, but restore health to injured people.

Since 2003, when the Legislature created the Driver Responsibility Program to provide funds to offset uncompensated trauma care, some 60 Texas hospitals have become designated trauma centers. The program collects about $125 million per year, while designated trauma facilities reported $200 million in uncompensated trauma care in 2008.

If everyone who owes fines and surcharges paid, and if the Legislature appropriated the total amount collected in the Trauma and EMS accounts, trauma capacity would increase to keep pace with the growing population, and prevention efforts could increase.

Eliminating the Driver Responsibility Program would be a mistake. If modifications to the current system are warranted, let's collaboratively implement the changes rather than scrap the Drive Responsibility Program.

Texas needs a stable source of funding to support the statewide trauma system. If not this program, then what?

The pretty and unexpected snowfall Friday turned quickly into a nightmare. Oncor makes millions of dollars from its customers but can't find a way to communicate the most basic information, leaving thousands of us in the dark, literally and figuratively. If, after hours of dialing and waiting, a human being actually took the call, that person took rudeness to a new level. We, fortunately, had friends who took us in, but I now resent the exorbitant bills from Oncor more than ever. And they have the nerve to blame homeowners who don't want their trees trimmed.

And I had an epiphany -- if we were that miserable after three days of no heat, what about all the people who are living that way because they can't afford to pay their bills? No one should have to live like that, but I'm afraid there are thousands who do.

I applaud the generosity of the American people who open their wallets time and time again for disasters in other countries, but I'm wondering if there isn't a way to take care of our own.

Re: "Down with the people -- Don't blame politicians for political, economic crises, says Jacob Weisberg," Sunday Points.

One year ago, 59 percent of the American public liked the stimulus plan, according to Gallup. A few months later, with the economy still deeply mired in recession, a majority said President Barack Obama was spending too much money on it.

The true political views of the public can't be measured with a poll. It requires more than a yes or no, fill-in-the-bubble or 30-second answer.

Much has been made of Sarah Palin's lack of understanding of world affairs and government policy. She is a genius compared to the average man on the street. Yet he is supposed to lead to correct policies based on polls of how he feels. The once-informed public read newspapers, watched the evening news, and discussed politics.

Today, they can't tell who is the secretary of defense or state. But they can name the most recent American Idol and who "danced with the stars" with ease.

Re: "Medina slips up with remark -- Campaign takes a hit when 9/11 conspiracy not instantly rejected," last Friday news story.

I can't see how Debra Medina's answer to Glenn Beck could be construed as a slipup.

Asked if the American government had any involvement in the destruction of the World Trade Center, she answered, "I think some very good questions have been raised in that regard," and, "I've not taken a position."

That's probably as good an answer as I would have given, since I believe that every informed citizen should question everything that the government does, be it local, state or national.

Debra Medina is the only candidate who is truly informed on the issues facing us Texans, and the only one talking about those issues instead of slinging mud.

If people will just listen to what all of these candidates are saying, and compare them to their own values, Debra Medina will be the next governor.

... but rivals will vie for votes

Debra Medina's nomination chances just crashed and burned. When Glenn Beck starts distancing himself from your comments, you are really out there.

Next, Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison scramble for Medina's lost votes.

Interest rates are still incredibly low so the Fed's decision to increase interest rates isn't a complete surprise. They had to do something to avoid re-inflating the cheap money bubble any longer than necessary.

Besides, an uptick in interest rates now is hardly going to deter economic recovery. The bigger economic issue is the lack of certainty on taxes, healthcare reform, energy and financial regulation. I'm sure I missed listing another ball dangling in the air, but you get the picture. Businesses don't know what they' ll be facing and therefore are doing less, rather than more. especially on the jobs creation front.

As a student of the Great Depression, Fed chief Ben Bernanke is making the calculated risk that it is time to slowly readjust interest rates, which went real low as an emergency measure. I'm guessing the other side of the wager is that he wants to stop the "emergency" mindset and thinks moderately higher rates will not be factor as stimulus dollars flow through the economy. Builders might not like it, but let's face it, there is excess capacity in real estate markets.

The surest sign of a political campaign in trouble -- other than a candidate regularly placing his foot in his mouth -- is the defection of so-called professional staffers.

The Shami campaign, such as it is (or was), has hit that rut.. Today's story notes the departure of several staffers over "strategic differences."

In other words, too many voices, no unifying theme or idea, and a candidate who strikes me as someone who has been comfortable pursuing his way in life without taking much advice from anyone. Is a campaign meltdown the inevitable outcome when an extremely successful self-made executive attempts to transition from the autocratic style of a company chairman who can operate in his comfort zone to a political candidate who must deal with issues that he has not thought about, let alone thought through.

In some ways, that was the curse of the Perot presidential run, but at least he had ideas and a clear purpose to his run. I haven't found any of that with Shami, and I think that is yet another in growing list of reasons Shami's campaign is in shambles. Even the Tony Sanchez campaign in 2002 had a clearer reason for being than Shami's and I might even rank Clayton Williams' ugly, insulting campaign ahead of Shami..Yikes.

I went to Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Peter's here in Munich last night. And like a good German, I showed up right on time for the service. I was shocked to find standing room only - the place was packed.

It was a reminder that while Europe as a whole may be fairly Godless, there is a European Bible Belt that runs right through Bavaria and other Catholic areas, like Poland. While I wouldn't say that people are as fervent in their beliefs as they are in the American Bible Belt, religion still has a big influence on the culture here.

All over Bavaria crucifixes hang in restaurants, bars and stores. Instead of saying "Guten Tag," folks here say "Grüss Gott," which translates roughly as "greetings from God."

Then, just like in the American Bible Belt, sometimes religion gets twisted, resulting in inane rules and regs. For instance, on Halloween Bavaria has a Tanzverbot, meaning that dancing after midnight (which is when All Saints Day officially begins) is strictly verboten. So all the clubs and bars have to close early.

Sadly, church attendance is on the decline here (it's dropping much faster than in the U.S.). And church life in Bavaria - or anywhere for that matter - can't rival the vibrancy of Dallas' religious community.

However, yesterday's service was a pleasant reminder that not all of Europe's cathedrals are empty.

President Obama's selected two really good people to head his new debt-reduction commission: former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson and former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles.

Simpson comes out of the era when parties duked it out but still put together compromises, like the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration bill he passed. That was one controversial bill, but he worked it through with Reagan's support.

Bowles comes out of the centrist wing of the Democratic Party. He is a business guy more than a politician, which sometimes cost him as chief of staff. But he understands how deficits drive up interest rates and threaten the economy's growth.

Great picks by Obama. The next step is naming more members to the panel. Here are two suggestions: Former Texas Democratic Rep. Charles Stenholm and former comptroller general David Walker. Both are not shy about promoting reforms that could get us out of this hole.

Our editorial plans for tomorrow's page:

1. We are surprised by the poll results released over last weekend indicating that voters felt the least onerous way to balance the state's budget is to cut highway funding. Setting aside for a minute the false choice this question presents (much of the highway funding is essentially uncut-able by legislators due to its sourcing), we paint a picture of what Texas - particularly North Texas - would look like without highway funding. We'd like to think this indicates a preference for transit funding - a policy option we think would go a long way toward helping resolve congestion and air quality issues - but we think it more likely a reflection of voter skepticism of all transportation-related spending. Rodger writing on behalf of the board.

2. Our final two candidate recommendations for the March 2 primaries -- Democratic primary for Precinct 4 Dallas County commissioner and Republican primary for the congressional seat currently held by Pete Sessions. Colleen and Bill writing on behalf of the board.

Feel free to join the debate with comments below.

(Thanks for sharing this toon, Steve Hill. Folks, check out his blog.)

In yesterday's meeting, Mike and Colleen made the point that we should not confuse air pollution with Greenhouse gases. Mostly, the regulation of such gases is a climate change thing. I get that. One University of Michigan site describes it this way: