Not sure if there ever was any grounds for supposing that you'd be safe pulling over along a highway and getting out of your car to watch cars race at blistering speeds. But now that these accidents-waiting-to-happen have happened, there are no grounds whatsoever.

I'll be surprised if the New York Times hasn't shut up the American Medical Association, tort-reformers, and all the others out there who squawk about the problem that lawsuits pose for healt-care costs. The front-pager in today's edition is just a game-changing article, about a long series of medical mistakes in a Philadelphia hospital. The findings are that one unit in this VA hospital bungled 92 of 116 cancer treatments over six years. And that's not even the news. The news is that neither the hospital nor regulators nor other doctors did squat to stop the reign of error. Here's a snippet of about the fallout:

One patient was the Rev. Ricardo Flippin, a 21-year veteran of the Air Force. “I couldn’t walk and I couldn’t stand,” he said, citing rectal pain so severe that he had to remain in bed for six months, losing his church job and his income.

Pastor Flippin first learned of what his doctors called a radiation injury not from the V.A., but from an Ohio hospital where he underwent rectal surgery in 2006 to treat the damage. “There are times when I don’t have control over my bowels,” he said one recent Sunday, after excusing himself during a service at a church in West Virginia where he now preaches.

Post Ombudsman rehashes the story of Bill Turque and Michelle Rhee. Rehashes, you say? Yes, because it's been told before. The D.C. schools chancellor's policy of not speaking to the Post's education beat reporter tells you a lot about this woman---how she's petty, resistant to accountability, stubborn even when she's dead wrong, and needy for attention. Turque is a fine reporter who's never done a damn thing to deserve this treatment. The Post is right to keep him on the beat, and Rhee, in the end, will suffer for this, as she should.

The catchy lede, on why Rhee appeared on the cover of Time mag holding a broom---a cliched pose for a reformer of any institution. Here's the Post's Bill Turque, reporting Rhee's account to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray of why she allowed this photo to go get shot:

Rhee explained that most of the shoot for the Dec. 8 issue involved images of her with children. The idea for the broom, which she gripped while standing stern-faced in front of a blackboard, came up near the end, she said, according to Gray's version of their meeting. She told Gray that it wasn't her first choice for the cover but that the decision wasn't hers. Gray wasn't satisfied.

"Why did you let the picture be taken in the first place?"

Then comes the nut graph!

Other key points:

*There are pockets of success in a context of continued failure;

*She has confidence in about a third of her principals;

*She has some perspective on herself: "We weren't doing a good job of communicating," she said regarding her too-fast push for change;

*She must kiss the asses of D.C. councilmembers to get the funding she needs;

*Good observation skills by Turque: "Rhee now sits at hearings for hours at a time waiting to speak, per the council tradition that has members of the public appear first. She can be seen fiddling with her BlackBerry, conferring with aides and idly cracking her knuckles, one hand at a time."

The skinny on this Rhee front-pager is that it's a great way for people to catch up on all things Rhee. It's comprehensive and there's fun stuff about the politics of Rheeism. But for dweebs who've been following the twists and turns of the chancellor's reform efforts, not a lot of smashing-new content here.

And now for the official Weekend in Review retrocast: Amazing weekend on the weather front, in all respects. Low humidity, dry after a long wet spell---perfect for just about any kind of outdoor activity. Sun a bit intense during those peak afternoon hours, but hey, this is D.C.

Check out the analysis of ubiquitous sports analyst Dave McKenna on the latest woes of Six Flags. And to think that just after Snyder took that company over, I was seriously considering buying stock. After the way he was so successfully fleecing Redskins fans, I figured, Hey, how can I lose? Good thing I never pulled the trigger on that one.

And speaking of more financial woes, LaVar's restaurant didn't work out so well.

Wouldn't be a weekend roundup without visiting the Washington Times, and this weekend, the editorial staff is really on a hot new topic: tasteless video games!

Rant of the weekend: Yes, the Francis has long been something of a scene, a cruising spot, and so on. But if you're going to take it to the next level and make out and roll around on the concrete and really kinda get into it, you should bring some more padding than just a towel. It can't be that comfortable to mash around like that on that hard concrete surface. Try multiple towels, an inflatable raft, or the grass on the field just outside. Those are more comfy options.