From The Three Rivers Post (www.threeriverspost.com): "I've been following the case so far, and as best I can tell [former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril] Wecht appears pretty ... guilty of what he's accused. The defense appears to have the following as its rebuttal:

"1) So he bilked a few grand here and there? What's the big deal?

"2) Isn't all this a bit petty for the big guys at the feds to be chasing?

"3) This is local jurisdiction stuff, not federal -- it must be political!

"4) His clients don't seem to care they got bills padded with more than the actual costs, why should the feds?

"5) Why don't you all just shut up and be grateful that Dr. Wecht graced your silly county with his presence?"

Ethan Gilsdorf reports at Featurewell.com that Bennington College psychology professor David Anderegg's new book, "Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them," argues that bias against geeks may be the next civil rights struggle. According to Mr. Anderegg's official list of prejudices, a.k.a. the "Five Foundations of Nerdiness," nerds are "(a) unsexy, (b) interested in technology, (c) uninterested in their personal appearance, (d) enthusiastic about stuff that bores everyone else and (e) persecuted by nonnerds who are sometimes known as jocks."

2 Political Junkies (2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com) notes the likely local effect of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's 7-to-1 year-end advantage over its Republican counterpart:

"... Congressman Jason Altmire has raised about $1.1 million for his re-election campaign. He's spent about $275,000 and has $911,000 on hand. His opponent, the lovely and talented Melissa Hart [who used to hold Mr. Altmire's 4th District seat] has raised $386,000 and spent about $62,000, leaving her about $332,000 on hand ...

"If she needs a boost from the NRCC, where's that money going to come from? With House Republicans retiring in droves, that money is going to be stretched very very thin."

Also from 2 Political Junkies:

"Pittsburgh Councilman Ricky Burgess introduced legislation today to create a trust fund to hold the $43,100 in restitution expected from former Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle in relation to her sentencing ...

"Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola ordered the money to be spent to help Council District 9, formerly represented by Ms. Carlisle, now by Mr. Burgess.

"At her sentencing, Carlisle said she was elected to change the fortunes of Council District 9 in the city's northeast, and tried to do right. Looks like she'll actually have to now."

At TomPaine.com, Sara Robinson, a Canadian-American, details the myths that circulate in the United States about Canada's health-care system. A few examples:

• Canada has "socialized medicine." No. Doctors run private practices. The system is "single-payer," like having Medicare for everyone. People choose their own doctors.

• Canadians wait longer for care. True and false, depending on the service and where you live. Waits are longer in rural areas, as in the United States, and for MRIs. Otherwise, waits usually aren't longer in Canada and often are shorter.

• Canadian drugs are inferior. Preposterous. Government oversight of drugs is tighter than in the United States.

Correction: In last week's Cutting Edge we quoted Pittsblog asking why "presidential candidates touting their concern for the economy pose with factory workers rather than with ballet troupes" when there are more choreographers than metal-casters, we neglected to note that pittsblog was quoting an article in The New York Times.