Metro planning

I know it's been said before, but it bears repeating. What kind of moron designs a mass transit system without taking into account the normal heavy rain events that occur in Houston? MetroRail is next to useless anytime if does more than drizzle. All the weather and traffic collision issues would never have happened if the train was elevated or underground. Thanks for a saving us a buck or two by putting it at street level.

Can you spell "weltschmerz"?

That is the word the killed the hopes for the runner-up in this year's National Spelling Bee. Which leaves me asking, "If it is the National Spelling Bee, why was the runner up Canadian?" That's right, CNN.com reported that the second place finisher was a Canuck.

Runner-up was Finola Mei Hwa Hackett, a 14-year-old Canadian, a confident speller during two days of competition who stumbled on "weltschmerz," which means sadness over the evils of the world.

Don't get me wrong, I love Canada and its denizens, but why are they allowed in an event to find out who is the best speller in our country? Are they now US citizens? Should they be? Maybe the Mexican illegal immigration problem can be handled the same way. Let's just Annex Mexico. Viva la Imperialista!