So it's Super Tuesday...

... or Super Duper Tuesday, or whatever the heck it's called these days. I'm kind of glad that I don't have to choose between the slate of candidates, or indeed take responsibility for the direction the US has taken (although the situation in Canada is embarrassing enough). If I were an American, though, I'd probably pick Obama out of the remaining candidates (now that Dennis Kucinich, the closest thing they have to a social democrat in that country, is out of the race). Arianna Huffington, whose opinion I generally respect, seems to like him, and apparently some lady who has her own TV show likes him too. And my mum said he sounds like someone who'd be a good fit if he applied to work for a social service agency she's involved with, very big on things like grassroots democracy. Mind you, she did add, "but let's not kid ourselves, he's still a Yankee".

One thing my mum has said is that she wants the most progressive US president possible, so that Harper will be completely isolated. Myself, I hope that's irrelevant - I will be severely disappointed if Harper is still prime minister when the next American president takes office.

On a positive note, sometimes ethical behaviour comes from the oddest places:

When paparazzi have a crisis of conscience over the wellbeing of their celebrity prey, events have clearly reached a serious level. So it is with Britney Spears, the troubled pop star and America's favourite tabloid fodder, who was back under psychiatric evaluation in a Los Angeles hospital last night after the latest in a series of highly publicised meltdowns.

As the singer's family and manager bickered over the right to direct her treatment after a court-ordered commitment into mental health care, a British photographer who has quit the chasing media pack warned the hounding could kill her.

Nick Stern has resigned from Splash, a Los Angeles-based, British-owned celebrity picture agency, in protest at the "aggressive" tactics employed in pursuing Spears, and predicted tragedy.

While I happen to believe that Ms. Spears is a musician of, how shall I say it, modest abilities, the shit that she has had to put up with at the hands of folks in Mr. Stern's profession are a travesty. Good on him for recognizing that, however belatedly.