Columnist Justine Fields ponders the merits of earplugs and their seemingly inevitable aging quality. 

You can make fun of the French for just about anything, the protests ranging from petty to substantial. On the serious end of the spectrum, you have the occasional display of racial backwardness, the undeviating tendency to go on strike and the labyrinthine bureaucracy (try procuring a visa from the consulate; you’ll think you’re being ushered through the Château d’If).

Barry’s presidency hasn’t begun as smoothly as his faithful flock had hoped. Even before Inauguration Day, then President-elect Obama had to continually nominate and rescind nominations for his not-so-thoroughly vetted cabinet candidates (Do you know the fourth nominee for Secretary of Commerce’s name?).

From the outset of his presidency, Obama has faced a once-in-a-century economic challenge from collapsing industries integral to the American economy. This administration’s so-called bailouts of sub-prime borrowers, America’s big three automakers and the Wall Street fat cats who stole and swindled investors have faced scathing criticism across the board.