Sunday news orgy

Slate has an article on the congressional intelligence committees' 900-page report on 9/11. The main point of the article is that many of the recommendations on how to 'fix' things are tangential or irrelevent to the actual problem - which was that counterterrorism wasn't a high priority for the FBI, NSA or CIA.

A Times article on the importance of good business writing reminds me of many things I learned by trial & error - and why my boss used to have me edit certain reports to upper management...

The business section also has a story on the folks who are putting out the Home Economiser newsletter, which positions itself as the successor to The Tightwad Gazette.

The sunday magazine fronts the Tango skinny-car.

The NYT runs a sampling of business courses about Wal-Mart. This and the accompanying article remind me that yes, business is interesting - and no, I don't think business school would be interesting.

Another NYT business piece is on who pays for college when parents are divorced, and how divorced parents can be legally required to pay for college - unlike married parents. Considering how many of my friends, acquaintences and cousins completely *wasted* the money their parents paid for room, board, and tuition, I don't see why any parent should *have* to write checks for college. (As a side note, it was interesting how many of those same students got much better grades when *they* were paying for their own schooling...)

Also in college notes, some prestigious colleges will no longer treat house equity as a liquid asset...

The Personal Shopper column (with slide show) hits on cooling techniques. Mister Fan, from Brookstone, sprays water as well as creating a wind; a 'desktop air conditioner'; a desktop tower fan; ceiling fan; and, of course, an ice crusher & iced tea maker.

Europe is considering legislation to outlaw sexual discrimination in areas like television programming, advertising, insurance premiums, taxation, newspaper content and education.

The US is deploying troops to the Liberian Coast. Afghanistan, Iraq, now Liberia ... whatever happened to Candidate Bush's contention that the US should bring its troops home and stop with trying to run the rest of the world?

Jesse wants to go out for dinner, so I'm stopping for a while...

More of the reading orgy....

NYT covers 50th Anniversary of Korean War Armistice.

They also discuss the cost of spam. ( Read more... )

Skipping over to the "The Week In Review" section, an article on the decision to release photographs of the bloodied corpses of Uday and Qusay Hussein quote an Iraqi shopkeeper's opinion of the recent shoot-out:

"In reality, it's like a passport for Uday and Qusay to leave the country," said Mr. Hazim, 37. "There is a general understanding that there is a secret agreement between the U.S. and Saddam's family." He cited not only the American withdrawal in 1991, but also the aid the United States provided Mr. Hussein's government during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's. ( Read more... )

[D]istrust of Americans is a lesson many Iraqis learned the hard way. On Feb. 15, 1991, during the Persian Gulf war, President George H. W. Bush publicly encouraged "the Iraqi military and the Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands, to force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside." ( Read more... )

the Americans suspended offensive operations and offered Iraq a cease-fire. Days later, they stood by as Mr. Hussein sent his helicopters to quash uprisings, or intifadas, that were spreading quickly from Basra across southern Iraq. Mr. Hussein's forces also lashed out furiously at rebellious Kurds in the north.

Oh, and Dave Barry's column today sez: "Fortunately, I live in the United States of America, where we are gradually coming to understand that nothing we do is ever our fault, especially if it is really stupid."

The Ethicist is asked what to do with two car-owners who conspire to save parking spots for each other, instead of letting "another parking-deprived New Yorker" have a space. The Ethicist's reply, in part: "Why should the non-car-owning majority allow the car-owning minority to store their private property, i.e. cars, on public property at no charge? Why should my every walk to the store be akin to a stroll through a parking lot?" He concludes: "I'm sorry: could you repeat the question?"

The article on a memory researcher notes that "It is not considered good judgment to wade into the issue of recovered memories without skin as thick as permafrost and caller ID on the phone."

A Cantonese student quotes his teacher, Mr. Wen, on living well: "Sing Song Drink Tea". He explains why he likes doing his homework in Chinatown restaurants: "Gifts of food are one of the happy byproducts of daring to speak Cantonese in Chinatown. Sometimes I think my motto should be - pace Mr. Wen - "Study Cantonese Gain Weight."

A nutrition headline caught my eye: "The Gorge-Yourself Environment"

The local paper tackles school boards: There he was, a school-board member, laying out the logic for sex education. And there she was, a skeptical parent, tilting her head and nodding. Then suddenly her face went pale. "And she said, 'Mr. Hughes, you are possessed by the devil,' " recalled Hughes, a member of the Lake Washington School Board. "Then she walked away."

quiz

Not exactly a surprise. ( Read more... )