It’s unusual to be racked with guilt after looking at a cute-pet picture. But it can happen.

It was exactly the kind of news that a beleaguered Toyota didn't need. On Monday afternoon, a runaway Prius topped out at 94 mph on a California highway. It took the intervention of a California Highway Patrol officer speeding alongside the vehicle, shouting instructions via his patrol car's loudspeaker on how to achieve an emergency stop, before the driver was able to bring the hybrid under control.

The problem isn’t just that we elect bad people. It’s that anyone with enough character to understand how toxic the political environment is has enough character to steer clear.

Lindsay Lohan has finally gotten around to complaining about an ad for the online brokerage famous for its talking baby ads which are designed to demonstrate just how easy it is to use their service. In the latest incarnation of these ads, the baby trader refers to a "milkaholic" baby girl named Lindsay.

Dave Granlund cartoon on 2010 elections and both parties' efforts to tap voters.

Weekly financial Q&A, with items on automatic bill paying, accidental death insurance and emergency funds.

I packed the router in one of the carry-on suitcases and promptly forgot about it until we went through security. As the suitcase passed through the X-ray machine, an alarm went off and one of the security people grabbed the bag off the belt and approached me.            

Dear consumer: Welcome to your new, improved credit card bill. Even though our previous methods may have been designed to wring every possible cent out of our card members, we want to make sure you know that our top priority has always been you, the interest-paying customer.

Dave Granlund cartoon on Palestinians and Israelis returning to Mideast peace talks.

Sleep deprivation creates a stress response that induces the release of cortisol, which has been found to increase abdominal fat. It also compromises memory (so now you’ve got a lot done, but you can’t remember what you did).

Is it just me, or are other parents out there doing the happy dance 24-7 now that their kids have flown the coop? Don’t misunderstand: I love my kids, and was sad to see them go. But then the minute passed, and I was itching to get on with things.

There’s some debate these days as to whether we’re “broken” as a nation. I have more faith in us than to believe that. We will “keep” this ingenious republic. It is as close to a foolproof system as has ever been created — obviously.

The idiom that children should be seen and not heard is probably nowhere more appropriate than in an air traffic control tower. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case at John F. Kennedy Airport last month.

It's crunch time in America's too-often-forgotten war in Afghanistan. Midway through the surge of 30,000 troops championed by President Barack Obama and orchestrated by commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal, it remains unclear the extent to which the effort to dislodge the entrenched Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who threaten to restore the country to its pre-2001 status as a chaotic terrorist haven is working out.

HD radio is off the endangered-species list but still takes patience. It’s worth the effort.