Brian Gongol
The death of Gerald Ford naturally reminds us of the most significant act of his Presidency, the pardon of Richard Nixon. The pardon was a mix of good and bad -- by pardoning Nixon, Ford essentially guaranteed that future presidents would be bulletproof, in a way, against future charges of corruption. But Ford did make a politically unpopular decision that he believed in for the good of the country, so he may have helped keep the impeachment process from being abused for political reasons. Unfortunately, though, the decision also kept the victims of Watergate from getting due process.
The most popular baby names for 2006 are a far cry from the most popular ones in 1976 -- which is significant, since it's probably a 30-year-old, on average, who's coming up with today's baby's name. The Social Security Administration lets you look up the most popular baby names for any year. What's probably most surprising is that not one of the top five girls' names in 1976 (Jennifer, Amy, Melissa, Heather, and Angela) even shows up in today's top 100. Most of the top boys' names are still around, but they've all fallen quite a ways down the list.