Sunday, March 17, 2002

The one state that has had a Republican governor for the last 26 years? It's not in the Deep South or Wild West. It's Illinois, but maybe not for long, says David Broder:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38776-2002Mar16.html

A picture of the Chicago River dyed green for St. Patrick's Day:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-020315stpatrick-gallery....

Thursday, March 07, 2002

My favorite take on ABC's Nightline fiasco, from today's USA Today:

"Andy Rooney may weigh in on news vs. entertainment on Sunday's 60 Minutes. He says a poll he conducted revealed that Nightline and 60 Minutes viewers are 94% smarter than those who watch late-night comedy. Because they're so smart, they have more money to spend on the products that are advertised.

"Rooney says his poll also found that most who watch late-night comedy 'don't have to get up in the morning because they don't have jobs and therefore they don't have any money to pay for anything advertised in the commercials.'"

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020307/3920130s.htm

Also, a useful, though speculation-heavy, breakdown of the Leno-Letterman duel in the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1015455127365888880,00.html

Tuesday, March 05, 2002

A friend e-mails about today's NY Times article on Wal-Mart:

"My biggest problem with this article is the implicit assumption that 'productivity' equals 'good.' This became especially apparent when the writer began comparing the U.S. with Europe. Though less productive, Europe has things the U.S. couldn't dream of: magnificent downtowns, functioning city neighborhoods that aren't suburbs, cities where the main mode of transportation is Nike, followed by public transit. I desperately hope that Wal-Mart never makes inroads into Europe. Europe is great because it is a great place for an urban man to live. America is great because it is a great place for the natural man to live. Now, Europe has its natural great spots and America its urban great spots. But frankly, I don't think the suburb compares with the Parisian apartment."

Amen.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/28/business/28SCEN.html?ex=1016317863&ei=1&en=d7d3ffefa1048827
user name and password="nbiermaread"

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/28/business/28SCEN.html?ex=1016317863&ei=1&en=d7d3ffe"nbiermaread"fa10488