If you have something made “on spec,” it’s likely to turn out the way you expected. However, if you invest in something “on spec,” it’s risky business.

Rather than red, white and blue, shall we celebrate purple on the Fourth of July? Specifically, the splendid royal purple of Michelle Obama's dress on the night her husband became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

I'm not bothered by those behind these laws who favor hands-free phoning. I'm much more worried about those who like to practice hands-free driving.

In the Fast Lane: Once again on Sunday, Tony Stewart managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at New Hampshire.

A great lady to whom I owe much died recently.

My mother untacked a slip of typewritten paper from the bulletin board in the kitchen at the camp – three lines of faded ink typed years ago on my father’s ancient Remington that still sits over in the corner on the floor, under stationery, sewing and various mending supplies – and brought it to me in the living room.

Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaida and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction.

Mike Nadel column for newspapers of Wednesday, July 2.

Show of hands: If you predicted before the baseball season that on July 1 the St. Louis Cardinals would be in second place, only two and a half games out of first, stick ’em up.

Hey, Bob. Thanks again for setting me up on my new computer. I love finally being “on line” and “surfing the Web.” At last I can “google” people without fear of being arrested. The thing I love most, though, is the e-mail.

Anything we can do to prevent the spread of breast cancer I’m all for. It is one of our most predominant killers and one that can attack any woman at any age, and even men.

I was sitting on a beam in the back of my cottage on the lake as I wound a heavy-duty electrical cord around my arm. Suddenly I felt something move across my foot. I leapt into the air like a high jumper trying to qualify for a trip to Beijing and came down on the grass tangled in a web of orange wire. Next to my foot sat the culprit: a frog.

One right fielder gets the media attention, the 48 million bucks and the fans chanting his name. The other is the only Chicago ballplayer ever named World Series MVP. The Cubs' Kosuke Fukudome vs. White Sox standout Jermaine Dye? It's not especially close.

It’s time to stop being politically correct. There are cases in which some people with severe mental illness cannot function as outpatients.