There are no pure, pure climber's stages, no 10-mile, 14-percent brutes. And there are no bone-flat sprinters' stages, either.

Exterminate all brutes

When we are flat on our back, there is no way to look but up.

Primates feel pure, flat immobility as boredom. But dogs feel it as peace.

The thorniest issue of late is that Merkel's shadow finance minister wants a 25 percent flat tax and no loopholes as a way to stimulate the economy. The left says it will mainly benefit the rich, and some among Merkel's ranks object too.

Forty percent of [shoppers] come from outside a 150-mile radius, ... If they have a long layover at the airport they can pop on over to the mall and take a nap and sort of escape it all.