I often think how all of us teeter on that knife edge, and how just one little lapse - one moment's inattention - with children, in the kitchen, at the wheel - and a child is lost, a loved one hurt, a stranger killed. Who can ever be as vigilant as we all need to be in this life?

For this poor woman, prison would not be the worst thing; the worst thing has already happened to her.

And there is no guarantee that it won't happen to us as well: the briefest moment of inattention - on our own part, the part of someone we love, or even a complete stranger - can make it all go away.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman