QuickLinx 11.4.09

 

Why is America the affluent world's most murderous society? (New Yorker, Nov. 9)

 

A man, a zoo, a penguin: All Nuremberg's talking about a bizarre love affair. (Der Spiegel, Nov. 3)

Europe must grow a spine, stop "fetishising" U.S. (Der Spiegel, Nov. 2)

Meet Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende, likely to be Europe's first president. (NRC Handelsblad, Nov. 3)

Al Gore, soon the first "green billionaire," profits from his climate-change agenda. (Daily Telegraph, Nov. 3)

Being grumpy is good for you. Really. (BBC News, Nov. 3)

Canadian metal band emerges from 25-year obscurity in hilarious documentary. (Japan Times, Oct. 30)

It's suddenly hip to make a fashion statement with tracksuit bottoms. (UK Guardian, Nov. 4)

Cheryl Cole wears slashed tracksuit bottoms on X Factor. Photo: Ken McKay, Rex Features.

In cockpits of future, pilots won't be distracted by laptops. (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 29)

Sarkozy's controversial new "What it means to be French" campaign. (Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 2)

Astounding half of all secondary-school girls contemplate cosmetic surgery. (London Times, Nov. 3)

Why more women are pushing for Caesareans. (London Times, Nov. 2)

India's men-free "Ladies Special" train cars, where there's no harassment. (Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 3)

Women wait to board a train at the Nizamuddin station in New Delhi. Photo: Mary Knox Merrill, CSM.

Spotting Internet addiction, and curing it. (Boston Globe, Nov. 2)

How Marlon Brando seduced journalists. (La Stampa, Nov. 4)

Lonely Planet's top 10 destinations for 2010. (Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 4)

New Zealand offers rainforests, glaciers, volcanic plains, geothermal springs. Michael Gebicki, Lonely Planet.

X-ray voted top science achievement, ahead of Apollo mission and DNA (Straits Times, Nov. 4)

Obama's half-brother on the U.S. president's father-from-hell. (Washington Post, Nov. 4)

Joe Queenan asks: Why does Hollywood keep making the same films? (UK Guardian, Nov. 3)

Michael Moore in Capitalism: A Love Story. Haven't we seen this picture before?

QuickNews, Wednesday, Nov. 4.

G.O.P. ELECTORAL SURGE A REBUKE TO OBAMA? NOT REALLY.

G.O.P. RECLAIMS GOVERNORS' MANSIONS IN RED VIRGINIA AND BLUE NEW JERSEY.

BUT ULTRA-CONSERVATIVES LOSE KEY NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL RACE.

 

FLEETING SETBACK FOR WHITE HOUSE | Reform agenda will be assailed as too radical. But combination of low voter turnout, which always favours G.O.P.; continued strong popularity of Obama in both Virginia and New Jersey according to exit polls; and continued high U.S. public approval of both Obama and health-care reforms in national polling suggest yesterday's results hold less meaning than punditocracy will claim. A truism asserts itself: In rotten economy, no president has coattails. Then again, WH help in closely watched NY 23rd did force defeat of Limbaugh-Palin-Gingrich-backed candidate in solidly red Congressional district bordering Ontario, padding Dem majority in House. Dowd rips "narcissist" Rush.

STRONACH'S DREAM DIES | In reversal, GM will keep Opel-Vauxhall rather than sell to Magna. This was a deal I didn't think would get done, as you know, or was in Magna's best interests. Stronach-led consortium was erstwhile tool-and-die maker's bid to be first auto-parts maker to "graduate" to full-fledged automaker. GM has relied on Opel-engineered platforms for its bestselling Chevrolet Malibu and its Buick LaCrosse, and the forthcoming Chev Cruze compact on which its small-car progress is pinned. Aborted deal is likely a blessing for Stronach, 76, who was thankful to have lost earlier bid for future bankruptcy candidate Chrysler. GM Europe has lost more than $6 billion (U.S.) since 2000, $1.6 billion (U.S.) last year alone. Magna, with no expertise marketing cars, can now focus on cherry-picking rival auto-parts firms driven to the wall in epic global auto downturn. Opel's pro-Magna workers are angry at GM's volte face. So is Berlin, which heavily backed Magna in months'-long negotiations. 

BUFFETT'S BIG BET ON RAIL | Pays $26 billion (U.S.) for BNSF, U.S.'s largest railroad. Deal, Buffett's biggest ever, seen as vote of confidence in U.S. economy. It's certainly a vote on coal, of which BNSF is a leading shipper. Which says Warren thinks soaring demand by electric cars for coal-generated power - now accounting for half of U.S. electricity - will trump efforts to displace the prime climate-change culprit with alternative energy sources at least in medium term. Given Herculean task of that conversion, he's probably right. Still, 18% premium for Old Economy firm is, by Buffett's admission, rather exuberant. “I stretched on this one," Buffett said yesterday. “I went to the last nickel.” Recall that a rueful Buffett overpaid for his second-largest acquistion, General Re. NYT panel debates merits of deal here.

Latest addition to Berkshire Hathaway portfolio of 80-odd companies, running the gamut from See's Candies and the Buffalo News to Fruit of the Loom and Benjamin Moore paints, is Burlington Northern Santa Fe, largest of the four railroads that dominate the U.S. industry. Photo by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images.
 

AUDITOR GENERAL TEARS STRIP OFF HARPER | Ottawa ill-prepared for pandemics and other national emergencies, Sheila Fraser says in latest annual report. But A-G gives passing grades to federal eHealth initiative, which has fallen under suspicion after Ontario eHealth debacle.

OBITUARY | Claude Levi-Strauss, acclaimed anthopologist, dies at 100. His studies of indigenous-people's culture in Western Hemisphere redefined academics' methodology worldwide, and The Naked Man and other seminal books first popularized the study of man's origins and evolution. “People realize he is one of the great intellectual heroes of the 20th century,” Philippe Descola, chairman of anthropology at Collège de France, told NYT on centenary of Levi-Strauss' birth earlier this year, which was celebrated in at least 25 countries.

The young Claude Levi-Strauss during a Brazilian research project. Photo: Apic, Getty Images.
 

PENDING AUTO BOOM? | Most automakers post U.S. sales gains in October. This despite end of "cash for clunkers" federal rebate scheme in August; a near-12% drop in automaker incentives from September; and 15 million Americans unemployed. Ridiculed in some quarters, Obama's "cash for clunkers" program not only jolted sales over the summer, but has got Americans back into buying mood or at least visiting showrooms. Yet the more robust October sales translate into annualized rate of a mere 10.5 million units, almost half the record level earlier this decade. Which suggests a huge upside potential in sales over next two to three years as pent-up demand grows. October results for all automakers here. 

Sergio Marchionne, Toronto-trained accountant who now heads both Fiat SpA and Chrysler, aims to dazzle industry analysts today at Chrysler's Auburn Hills, Mich. headquarters with long-awaited details of Chrysler turnaround plan. But there's no disguising fact that Fiat, which invested $0 to acquire its Chrysler stake and pledges not to inject a single euro in the crippled Chrysler, is using the #3 U.S.-based automaker as a mere sales agent for an ailing Fiat's second crack at the N.A. market for its own line-up, with little interest in (or available cash for) the costly task of rejuvenating Chrysler's models. 

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT | Fiat unveils five-year plan for Chrysler in Detroit today. Will replace slow-selling Chrysler models with more fuel-efficient Fiats. Also plans reintroducing Alfa Romeo to N.A. I still think real solution to Chrysler is to shoot it. This deal seems no less looney to me than it did in April (here and here) or May. Chrysler's 2009 volume will be half previous year's. Its market share has dived to 7.9% in October from 11.3% the year previous. In flat October for most makers, Chrysler sales plummeted 30%. As new operator, Fiat vows not to put a dime of its own into Chrysler - just as well, since "saviour" Fiat itself is losing a tonne of money. Crux for Chrysler is stale product line. Only newly engineered cars incorporate latest fuel efficiency and other must-have features - and a new model takes about four years to develop. Under Daimler ownership, Chrysler's engineering and R&D were gutted. When Chrysler next hits the wall, there won't be an encore to Canada/U.S. $12.5-billion (U.S.) bailout. The Fiats that Turin will sell in N.A. will be made in Europe or assembled in Mexico, so there are few American jobs being saved, much less created in this deal. The arrangment basically transforms Chrysler into a glorified distribution arm for Fiat's second effort to crack N.A. with Fiat-badged cars. And Fiat's models today are just as pug-ugly and breakdown-prone as the ones Americans rejected when Fiat was chased out of the N.A. market in the 1980s.

AND WE LOVED HER | Queen Mum loved Canada, author of new official bio says. Love affair began with first Canadian tour by a sitting monarch, King George VI, in 1939. That visit prompted Ontario officials to name country's first controlled-access road for the royal consort - and the Queen Elizabeth Way has been fondly known as the QEW ever since. (An impressive obelisk near foot of Humber River marks QEW's western terminus, and the first of about 15 visits to Toronto by the Queen Mother.) "Canada became her favourite country in the world after Britain," says William Shawcross, author of 1,120-page Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The Official Biography. For me, the Queen Mum is unforgettable for her response when asked if she would be sending her children to safe haven abroad at the dawn of the world war that came just months after she unveiled that obelisk. She said, in effect: I must be wherever the children are, and I cannot leave my husband. And the King is not leaving Great Britain under any circumstances. So we shall all be staying here no matter what comes.

Queen Elizabeth and King George VI at Toronto's Woodbine Race Course in May 1939. Courtesy Library and Archives Canada.

ODD CHOICE FOR OSCAR HOSTS | Steve Martin, 64, and Alec Baldwin, 51, get the nod. Yet Academy has been striving for younger TV audience for annual gala. LA Times speculates deciding factor was both men's starring roles in It's Complicated, in which they're dueling love interests for Meryl Streep. If either is touched by Oscar, it would be the first time since 1987 that an Oscar host has also been a nominee.

YUK | "Metrotextuals" new term for men who sign off text messages with a kiss (x). Practice of "bromantic" affection most prevalent among 18-24 year old males (75% in a T-Mobile survey), though 10% of men over 55 also have become metrotextuals. Strength of sentiment is expressed by multiple and upper-case "x"s. The mate girding to tap you for a quick 70 quid to cover a poker bet is apt to sign off with "XXX." Insurance worker Nick Kirkham, 25, says: "Apart from my boss or a work client, there's no one I wouldn't send a kiss on text to."

CELL USERS HUGELY DISTRACTED | Even a unicycling clown doesn't catch cell users' notice. "That cell phone really disrupts things," says Ira Hyman, psychology prof at Western Washington University, who wanted to chart distraction outside a laboratory setting. A student volunteer dressed in a clown suit unicycled for an hour across the campus's main square. In a report on passerby reaction, to be published in December in Applied Cognitive Psychology but already on the journal's website, only 25% of cellphone users reported noticing the unicycling clown, compared with 71% of cell-less people walking in pairs.

NOW THAT'S A ROOM WITH A VIEW | Space resort hotel on schedule to open in 2012. Galatic Suite Ltd. (www.galacticsuite.com), based in Barcelona, will charge $4.4 million (U.S.) for a three-night stay, including an 8-week training course on a tropical island. Guests will circle the Earth every 80 minutes. Nascent space tourism industry already includes Spaceport America of New Mexico and Richard Branson's space tours firm, Virgin Galactic, which charges a more modest $200,000 (U.S.) for an extra-terrestial ride.  

QUOTE OF THE DAY | "I've been married to one Marxist and one fascist, and neither would take the garbage out." -Lee Grant, U.S. actress.

Courtesy The New Yorker, Nov. 2 edition.

   

QuickNews, Tues., Nov. 3.

 

ANOTHER FRUGAL CHRISTMAS | U.S. holiday sales expected to slip further 1% this season. Christmas season begins this week, and retailers can expect no improvement from last year's worst showing in nearly four decades. Online sales, registering double-digit increases most of this decade, will be up 8% this year, from just 5% last year. But online accounts for only $1 of every $10 spent in holiday season.

COMEBACK I | Ford Motor surprises Street with near-$1-billion (U.S.) 3Q profit. Turns first profit in key N.A. market since 2005. Helped by "cash for clunkers" much more than GM and Chrysler, hobbled by their bankruptcy stigma. But Ford has used cost-cutting and new models, not discounting, to gain market share on Detroit rivals. Full recovery still awaits end to N.A. economic slump, but Ford is in best shape to emerge as U.S.'s best all-around automaker - tops in profitability, volume, fuel-efficiency standards.

Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Co. chief executive, at a headquarters rally in Dearborn, Mich., June 23, 2009.

COMEBACK II | Global recovery in manufacturing is underway. Not accompanied by hiring surge, alas, but turnaround in order books is precondition to re-hiring. And it's made the layoffs subside.

KEEP THE BUBBLY CORKED | Obama and Page warn of only gradual return to economic buoyancy. U.S. president and Parliamentary budget officer forecast stubbornly slow pickup in job creation. Obama exhorts exporters to keep up the pace, one of few bright lights amid lifting gloom. Also a likely topic for G20 finance ministers meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland this Friday. Big obstacle in global trade is, of course, currency exchange rates. Stakes for N.A. in getting China to stop artificially depressing its yuan are described here.

MAKING THE BEST OF IT | Harper and Obama call Karzai with congratulatory messages. The corrupt Mr. K. hit the jackpot, acceeding late in the day to a do-over of the stolen election, only days later to have his rival quit the race because Karzai failed to provide assurances it would be any less dishonest than the first one - and ends up winning a second term by acclamation. Obama sternly instructs Karzai - as sternly as one can down a long-distance phone line - to rid his government of corruption. In that spirit, I'll be bathing my leopard until the spots to come off.

RIMMED | Negative Citigroup analyst report sends RIM shares down. Analyst rightly notes RIM, currently trying to expand into consumer market, facing new competition in its core enterprise business, where margins are fatter. Big problem is that key BlackBerry carrier Verizon has adopted Motorola's new Droid as its "hero" phone - the one on which the #2 U.S. telecom will lavish most ad spending.

THE CITI NEVER SLEEPS | Old ad slogan apt for bank that also never sheds its foolhardy ways. After fourth U.S. government rescue of Citi in past 80 years, doubts continue about Citi's risk exposure - this time to credit-card users. Fed and Treasury kept sleepless over ability of the crippled bank to right itself one more time. Common sense dictates euthanasia. But Citi still deemed "too big to fail." 

 
 
WORKSHOP MERGER | Venerable U.S. toolmakers Stanley and Black & Decker finally tie the knot. The $3.5-billion merger follows 28-year courtship between household names. Looks like a good deal: all stock, no debt; surprisingly little product overlap; more heft with retailers; and estimated $350 million savings in eliminating cost-duplication.

ETHNIC CRACKDOWN | Beijing unveils plan to suppress nationalist violence in Xinjiang district. Far-west, resource-rich region has long been claimed as native homeland of Turkic ethnic group. Tibet gets most of the Western attention, but China is coping with nationalist unrest in many regions. 

ENDANGERED LIST GROWS | More than one-third of species in annual global study face extinction. Authoritative Red List of Threatened Species finds that 17,291 of 47,677 species studied are at risk due to loss of habitat, global heating and other factors. (See photo below.)

At what point will society truly respond to this growing crisis? Professor Jonathan Baillie, Zoological Society of London In pictures: Threatened species

MONEY 101 |  Ontario schools to teach financial literacy. Beginning in 2011 school year, students grades four to 12 will have personal money management integrated into overall curriculum. Hope it includes how money disagreements loom large in marital breakdown. Also that Rule #1 is preserve capital. Rule #2 is to remember Rule #1.

TEXTING CRACKDOWN | British court sentences texter in auto accident to prison term. Never mind that errant driver wasn't texting at the time. The many messages she sent over previous hour show she was in a distracted state of mind, and thus as dangerous as an inebriated driver. That's how the get-tough British law is written. Meanwhile, poll shows growing number of Americans want texting crackdown.

YOUTH OBESITY TREND CRESTING? | Britain latest to report plateau in childhood obesity. But docs warn rate is still growing and is way too high. Recession has hurt, driving families to processed food from more costly fresh produce and other nutritious food. Turning corner on childhood obesity - if latest reports aren't just a blip - results from greater public awareness, and steps like removing soft-drink vending machines from schools.

MOST SECRETIVE FINANCIAL CENTRE | Switzerland? Caymans? Try Delaware. Tiny U.S. state, legal domicile of the Fortune 500 (and Conrad Black, in better days), took in $2.6 trillion (U.S.) in funds from non-resident firms and individuals in 2007, says watchdog group Tax Justice Network.

NOW THEY TELL US | Take aspirin only as "secondary prevention," not to ward off initial heart and stroke risk. Research has long shown aspirin helps prevent a second heart attack. But it not does not prevent cardiac problems from developing in the first place, and poses an internal-bleeding risk.

HUMANS' BEST FRIEND | If you don't like dogs, you will after reading how ably they save lives. Trained service dogs becoming ever more sophisticated, now widely in use as psychiatric service dogs increasingly assigned by U.S. military to veterans suffering PTSD. By monitoring body language and noting slight change in smell, dogs can detect oncoming panic attack, will collapse in front of patient to cushion blow from a blackout-induced fall, intervene in suicide attempts, drop a toy in your lap to remind you to take medication. Border collies rank highest in intelligence.

BATHE TOGETHER, STAY TOGETHER | Malaysian state has solution for spicing up marriages.

COUNTRY SINGING THE BLUES | George Jones bemoans new lack of C&W authenticity. Crossover tunes and artists have made country more popular than ever - and it already was the biggest U.S. music genre - but the downside is dilution of genuine "hurtin' music" by R&B, rock, pop and other influences.

QUOTE OF THE DAY | "If you want to keep the beer real cold, put it next to my ex-girlfriend's heart." -Anon., country lyric.

The Giant Jewel, one of 17,291 endangered species identified yesterday in the annual Red Line report, can be found in southeast Nigeria and southwest Cameroon. It is believed to be threatened by loss of habitat from logging and agricultural expansion. Photo by Kai Schuette.

 

Courtesy The New Yorker, Nov. 2 edition.

 

QuickLinx 01.11.09

IT'S GOD'S FAULT

Bad driver? Blame your genes. (Reuters)

House or workplace are cluttered? Blame your genes. (Reuters)

Ransom note's in here somewhere.
 

BOOM TO BUST

Bereaving Las Vegas, arguably N.A. hardest hit by housing-boom implosion. (Der Spiegel)

In slumping Dubai these days, one of four cheques bounces in real-estate collapse. (Times of London)

In glittering Dubai, $166 billion (U.S.) in planned real-estate development has been scrapped as property values plunged 41% in 1Q alone. Boom was built on debt and nosebleed oil prices. Global financial crisis and slumping wellhead prices put the brakes to that.

UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Why it makes no sense to lay off older workers. (Newsweek) 

It's not fun being king. Being boss is hard on your health. (Reuters)

Why helicopters are so crash-prone. Hint: they do things we don't ask of planes. (Slate)

Why websites are so confusing. Notes on navigating cyberspace. (Harvard Business Review)

Fox News isn't just bad. It's un-American. (Jacob Weisberg, Slate/Newsweek)

Why Canada's falling behind in clean-tech R&D. (Financial Post)

How MSM get sucked into believing political rumours that spread like wildfire on the Web. (New Yorker)

Newspapers just look dead. (Canadian Journalism Report)

Why it's sane for Kim Jong-il to be crazy. (Reuters)

Write your own caption. Remember that Gordon Brown, whom I'd also rather not see in the buff, has nukes too.
 

DEBATES

A Catholic balks at a thoroughly anti-woman Church of Rome. (Maureen Dowd, New York Times)

Charles Lewis responds to Maureen Dowd's "Nazi slur" on Pope Benedict, et al. (National Post)

Will California become America's first "failed state"? (U.K. Guardian)

California is thriving, despite setbacks. (Time)

California: Failed state. (John Judis, New Republic, Sept. 5, 2005)

End state: Is California finished? (John Judis, New Republic, Oct. 26, 2009)

BETTER LIVING CENTRE

Are you getting enough dopamine? An update on the motivator molecule. (New York Times)

Smile, already. You're depressing the economy. (Slate)

Seven tips if you're chronically late. (Slate)

Best-buy vehicles of latest model year, in 13 categories, starting at $21,000. (Toronto Star)

Review of the latest wave of smartphones, including BlackBerry Storm 2.0. (New York Times)

In defense of fast food: One man's unapologetic love affair with Burger King, Taco Bell, et al. (Newsweek)

In defense of candy: Meet a man who lives almost entirely on sweets. (New York Times)

Paul Rudner of New York's West Village: no veggies allowed.

PROGRESS

USDA push to get farmers markets' fresh groceries closer to you. (National Public Radio)

How new high-speed trains are making China smaller. (Newsweek)

Climate-change progress: Toshiba's new mini-nuclear reactors. (Reuters)

Electric cars are a step closer. (Euronews)

Put your dog on a diet, save the planet. (Toronto Star)

Deal with it: Biotech foods might be a cure world hunger. (New York Times)

The recession killed off grandiose "celebrity architecture." Good. (New York Times)

Centennial of Burnham's "Chicago Plan" - every city should all have been so lucky. (New Yorker)

The Magnificent Mile, the "front lawn" on Lake Michigan, these things don't happen by accident. It's called urban planning and Chicago's Daniel Burnham was one of history's best.
 

GETAWAYS, NEAR AND FAR

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, New York, Nov. 10 only. (Carnegie Hall)

Montreal's Oliver Jones, consummate jazz pianist, at Glenn Gould Studio, Nov. 14 only. (GGS)

Gordon Lightfoot, Massey Hall, Toronto, Nov. 18, 19, 20.

"The Magic Flute," Opera de Montreal, Place des Arts de Montreal, Nov. 19 only.

Marvellous "Paul Gaugin, Paris 1889" show at Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 4-Jan. 18. (CMA)

Paul Gaugin, "Breton Girls Dancing, Pont Aven," 1888. On loan from National Gallery of Art, Washington.

 

MADE YOU LAUGH

Who knew the oboes have it in for the violas? (Shouts & Murmurs, New Yorker)

The man with but a surname takes a mate with no name at all. (Shouts & Murmers, New Yorker) 

TV critic Matthew Gilbert's 14 most-annoying TV characters of all time. (Boston Globe)

She tops one reviewers' list of most annoying TV characters of all time.

 

QuickNews, Friday, Oct. 30.

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE

BREAKTHROUGH | Europe on brink of superpower status. EU leaders agreed yesterday to holdout Czech Republic's remaining demands, opening way for ratification of sweeping reform Lisbon Treaty that would create post of EU presidency and more integrated foreign policy. Implications are enormous as a still more unified Europe - the ultimate realization of Jean Monnet's vision - will vie more effectively with U.S., China, India, Russia as a global powerhouse. As first pan-Europe president, Reuters analyst puts his money on Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, "a centre-right Harry Potter look-alike devoid of charisma." Mr. B.'s advantage over fading frontrunner Tony Blair is that he has no enemies, while Blair is unfondly remembered as Bush's lap dog in an Iraq invasion deeply unpopular in Europe, especially with leading powers France and Germany.

U.S. RECESSION OFFICIALLY OVER | Reports 3.5% GDP growth in 3Q. Ends longest U.S. recession in 70 years. But end of downturn that began December 2007 is no relief for 15 million unemployed Americans, meaning a brace of new U.S. stimulus measures are in the offing ahead of next year's "off-year" elections. NA. recovery remains fragile: Canada today will post expected anemic GDP growth of just 0.3%.

CANADIAN MEDICAL ADVANCE | Docs pioneer gene therapy for lung transplants. Therapy developed by team at Toronto's University Health Network repairs lungs available for transplant, making more donor lungs available, and improves outcome prospects for transplant patients. Currently more than 80% of donor lungs are discarded because they aren't healthy enough for transplant use. (Photo: Dr. Marcelo Cypel, a surgical lung transplant fellow (left) and Dr. Shef Keshavjee, senior scientist in the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University Health Network. -CP.)

H1N1 PANDEMIC | U.S. says as many as 5.7 million Americans infected with swine flu virus. Number based on computer modelling. Officially, 1,000 U.S. deaths attributed to virus since outbreak began in April, but computer estimates put number of virus-related deaths closer to 1,600. About 6% of those hospitalized with the virus have died. Canadian officials warn Thursday of vaccine shortages. Ontario officials plea for patience.

AFGHAN QUAGMIRE | Obama to reject McChrystal 40,000-troop request, opt for "McChrystal Light." This either is stalling for time or a disaster. A viable counter-insurgency, a la Petraeus' handbook, requires 600,000 troops for a country the size of Afghanistan, compared with only about 100,000 ISAF troops there now. McChrystal's ask was already pitifully small by that standard, doomed to fail. (Not M's fault; he knows that's as much as could hope for, given unpopularity of war in U.S., plus additional troops Obama has already deployed early this year.) My guess is Obama wants out, will give McChrystal a fraction of the 40,000 to retreat to and protect major cities, surrendering rest of country to Taliban. Obama will try in short term to protect cities - although, good luck, as we've seen from killings of U.N. officials in Kabul this week - while establishing contacts with Taliban to strike a negotiated settlement.

WHO KNEW? | In "painful" memoir, Anne Murray deals with drugs, divorce and retirement. As with Lucy Maud Montgomery, the private-life Murray has not been the charmed existence of her public persona. (Photo: Murray in 1975 in Cambridge, Mass.)

THE INTERNET AT 40 | Pentagon-sponsored project, born Oct. 29, 1969 at 10:30 p.m.  Pacific Time, crashed on first try. And Net historians have been chuckling about that ever since. But then, the first photocopiers routinely caught fire as toner overheated. Amazing thing is that after four decades, cyberspace still seems bright, shiny and new - and only recently a threat to traditional mass media. A reminder about the slow pace of widespread adoption of new technologies. The internal combustion engine and television are other examples of innovations that took half a century to become pervasive. For practical purposes, the Net wasn't invented until 1990, when Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, assigning addresses to each of thousands, now billions of pages on the Net, making them easily retrievable. 

WE PREFER THE HUGELY FLAWED STATUS QUO | Obama's sweeping financial-market reforms get an initial thumbs-down in Congress. The remarkable scope of audacious proposed reforms was outlined here on Wednesday.

PREVIEW | B.C. Interior's real-estate bust chronicled in Globe's Report on Business Mag today.

MARS BECKONS | Russian space chief exhorts Kremlin to OK manned flights to red planet. You're thinking, don't the impoverished Russians have better things to spend limited funds on? But this could be our collective Plan B if efforts to curb global heating fail.

U.S. HEALTHCARE DRAMA | Pelosi (left) unveils ambitious House bill that includes "public option." Popular support for government insurer as alternative is high because the likes of Aetna, UnitedHealth and Wellpoint have so powerfully alienated Americans with skyhigh premiums and chronic reneging on claims obligations. And in epic P.R. blunder, they're now jacking up premiums at last minute to cash in before reform passes, further weakening their fierce lobbying effort to block the reforms. Reuters mocks heft of 1,990-page House bill, bigger than War and Peace (just shy of 1,500 pages.) You hear this all the time of supposedly overly detailed legislation. Well, guess what? The most trifling piece of proposed legislation clocks in at 200 to 400 pages. A a great deal of the contents are loopholes secured by lobbyists for special pleaders - among the first to complain the resulting bill is hopelessly complex - and in this case the legislation covers nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy. Yesterday's Tory data dump on Ottawa's stimulus spending is 4,476 pages. Deal with it.

CLIMATE CHANGE DRAMA | U.S. big business rejects own Chamber of Commerce's anti-reform stance. China, once leading denialist, now trying to take lead in progressive climate-change initiatives and global diplomacy. Scientific report out of Canadian North shows multiyear Arctic ice is now effectively gone. Solar power entrepreneurs upbeat about their profit prospects beyond 2010. Globe's Jeffrey Simpson nails it on the impractical climate-change goals Canada will present at Copenhagen summit. Actually, as Mr. S. says, the goals aren't impractical, it's Ottawa's do-nothing approach that ensures failure - and world leaders know it. Which means we'll be wallflowers in the Danish capital, as usual for these events. Meanwhile, Prentice (pictured) rips climate-change report by David Suzuki Foundation as "irresponsible." Can't imagine he's even read it yet. You see what I mean.

MSM'S ONE BRIGHT SPOT | It's cable. Cogeco Cable reports another strong quarter yesterday, following good numbers from Rogers earlier this week. More evidence that N.A. cable alone is thriving during post-Depression record ad drought. Why? Cable derives revenue not from advertisers but subscribers and the fees it charges networks to carry their signals.

NATIONAL POST R.I.P.? | Bankrupt CanWest threatens to close Post immediately if it can't transfer the loss-making paper to its healthier big-city papers division. Post has lost money in each of the 11 years since its founding in 1998 by Conrad Black. Observers expect bankruptcy court today to approve transfer, since creditors have already approved the request. CanWest argues Post is integral to operations of Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun and its other papers - a specious ploy given that in 2005 reorg CanWest removed struggling national daily from its newly formed newspaper division. 

PROFITS BAROMETER | Winners: Cogeco Inc., Cogeco Cable, Cott, Motorola. Losers: Barrick Gold (stunning $5.7 billion writedown), Imperial Oil, Sprint Nextel.

THEY NEVER LEARN | Accounting "irregularities" rise among small and big businesses. A coping mechanism during recession. This is the principal counter-argument to opponents of government-mandated reforms. Left to its own devices, business can't be trusted to do that right thing, just as Adam Smith said. Gresham's Law comes into play (bad money drives out good): Honest businesspeople are forced to adopt methods of unscruplous operators or risk being put out of business by them.

RISKY TRICK-OR-TREATING | Candy collectors in Churchill, Man. on guard against polar bears. Hallowe'en coincides with predatory bears' season of restless wandering until ice floes freeze into solid plain they migrate to. Children in "polar bear capital of the world" taught not to follow bear tracks and not to dress as polar bears or any white blob that could be mistaken for one.

QUOTE OF THE DAY | "Those exertions of the natural liberty of a few individuals which might endanger the security of the whole society are, and ought to be, restrained by the laws of all governments." -Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).

Courtesy The New Yorker, Nov. 2 edition. 

QuickNews, Thursday, Oct. 22.

TAKEOFF | Windows 7 launches today, hoping to erase memories of glitch-prone Vista. Windows 7 reviews by NYT and Globe and Mail. Warning: Windows 7 is winning raves, but so did Vista when it launched.

 

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, in Toronto yesterday talking up Windows 7. Photo: Mark Blinch, Reuters.

POPULIST PAYBACK  | Obama to slash pay 50% to 90% at bailout recipients. Pay-cuts plans, leaked yesterday, rumoured to affect top 25 executives at each of Citigroup, Bank of America, General Motors, Chrysler, American International Group (AIG) and financing arms of GM and Chrysler.

BANK PAY FURORE IN U.K. | Government enraged over persistent lavish bank pay. Alistair Darling, finance minister, angry with Goldman Sachs payouts: "I've spoken to all our banks and none of them would be standing here today if the taxpayer hadn't put their hand into their pocket."

 

REVELATION | Alice Munro reveals at Toronto authors festival last night that she has battled cancer. Author did not say when. Earlier this year, Munro, 78, received Man Booker International Prize honouring her life's work.

NEW CHAPTER FOR JOHN RALSTON SAUL | Voted president of International PEN yesterday. Novelist is first Canadian in PEN's 88-year history to head organization fighting for freedom of repressed and imprisoned writers worldwide.

CBC MAKEOVER | Management claims program shakeup biggest in CBC history. CBC Newsworld becomes CBC News Network, "The National" goes to 7 days a week, head honcho Stursberg claims all shows and hosts will change. Rumours have CBC trimming world coverage to tell more stories from Canadian regions. I can hear you yawning.

MODIFY CROPS OR STARVE | U.K. science academy says GM foods needed to cope with hunger. Warns global food shortages loom if genetically modified crops aren't more widely accepted.

MORAL ARGUMENT AGAINST TAKEOVER | Cadbury says hostile bidder Kraft would upend its values. Company whose "values" are selling candy and soft drinks (Schweppes) that figure prominently in obesity crisis says it was founded with a humanitarian ethic that cheesemaker launched by Canadian J.L. Kraft would somehow disturb. A novel way of demanding a higher takeover price, if a little galling.

WHAT RECESSION? | Chinese GDP accelerates to stunning 8.9%. Could have something to do with Beijing's monster stimulus jolts since last year - first off the mark among major economies. Chinese consumer spending is strong, while Bernanke and Harper warn North American recovery will be gradual at best.

U.S. and EU have long called on China to nurture an internal consumer economy. Emergence of Chinese shopaholics is beginning to augment export-driven prosperity.  

OH, JUST FOLD ALREADY | Playboy plans "Women of Wall Street" pictorial. “When the news gets bad, then maybe that's a chance to make people smile by coming up with something that puts a different twist on it,” says Gary Cole, Playboy's photo editor. No, when the news gets bad - meaning mass layoffs - jobless women become available to be exploited in their hope of catching the attention of a reality-show talent scout. Thus "The Women of Enron," etc. etc. C'mon Hef, your 15 years were up 41 years ago.

QUOTE OF THE DAY | "Eleven - a banker's dozen." -George Fetherling, Toronto poet and author, in 1996.

 

 

 

 

Courtesy The New Yorker, Oct. 19 edition.
 
 

QuickLinx 10.21.09

THINK AGAIN

S.A. World Cup 2010 stadiums are beauties, but huge cost overruns, transport are worries. (UK Times)

Maybe the best argument ever for high-speed passenger rail in N.A. (Chris Nelder, Business Insider)

The Afghan war is all about local politics. Not grasping that means certain mission failure. (New Yorker)

Five technologies that could change how we generate and use energy. (Wall Street Journal)

Obama's not the enemy of free-market choice, it's the insurers and banks from whom he and Congress are demanding transparency and genuine competition. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post)

Earth's most successful species? 1. Earthworms. 2. Algae. 6. Homo sapiens. (Daily Telegraph)

Canada slips to 19th from 13th in annual free-press ranking, U.S. jumps to 20 from 40. (CP)

HIGH & LOW FINANCE

FDA to crack down on misleading "Smart Choices" labelling of nutrition-deficient foods. (USA Today)

Buffett-controlled Moody's shameful role in the epic financial crisis. (McClatchy)

U.S. health insurers thinking about premium surtaxes on obese clients. (Slate)

Don't sweat the debt. And don't use it as a rationale to cut essential social spending. (Economist)

Brand loyalty has disappeared among car buyers. Only 20% of buyers trade for same brand. (NYT)

A&E

Maurice Sendak (below) says parents who fret Wild Things will scare kids can "go to hell." (UK Guardian)

Francesca Simon's 10 literary anti-hero faves, from Scarlett O'Hara to Tom Ripley. (UK Guardian)

Harry Potter rules, but Hannah Montana beats out Cinderella and Pooh among kids' faves. (UK Guardian)

Nobel laureate writer Jose Saragamo says Bible is a "handbook of bad morals." (Agence France Presse)

Berlin concert review: Diana Krall "has ascended to summit of showbusiness mountain." (UK Times)

THE WAY WE LIVE TODAY

Avocado, ginger, pomegranate and 7 other foods to get you in the mood. (UK Family Health Guide)

If we're told it's a grand cru, it tastes like one, even if it's plonk. (Frontal Cortex)

The must-have updated Larousse Gastronomique is here, bigger than ever. (Daily Telegraph)

I have a life. There's no time in it for Facebook "friends." (Boston Globe)

Save the Deli, David Lax's tribute to the endangered Jewish deli experience. (Barnes & Noble Review)  

Jim Kenzie's 10 dumbest vehicle options, from fog lights to leather. (Toronto Star)

Recession, clean-tech, has Americans emulating Europeans as cyclist commuters. (NYT)

The real story of Monopoly's origins are murkier than Hasbro lets on. (Wall Street Journal)

 

More U.S. right-wing lunancy.

Remind me never to win an award - or do anything - of which Peggy Noonan disapproves.

The former Reagan speechwriter, who parlayed that long-ago job into a columnist post at the WSJ and a regular spot on Sunday morning talking-head TV, has gone, well, bonkers, over Obama's Nobel prize.

Bear in mind the president himself has said "I'm not sure I deserve this." He promptly announced he would donate the $1.4-million prize money, And he accepted the award "on behalf of America and its values" - not quite what the folks in Oslo had in mind, I am sure. For all that, looney right just can't get over the infamy of a fellow American deemed worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

I can't - I don't imagine anyone could - do justice to Noonan's cry for help, her completed application form for self-admission to a dry-out spa where her delusions can be gradually drawn out, possibly through leeching, and "processed," as they say in the Therapy World. Noonan, in a WSJ column headlined "A Wicked and Ignorant Award" (the overtly Catholic Noonan is a theocrat who frames public policy according to her moral worldview), seems to think the Oslo committee's selection is an attack on America, or at the very least a denigration of it:

For instance: The Peace Prize judges won't see it this way, but America has gone to Europe twice in the past century to fight for peace. This is an old concept, and has to do with killing killers so they can't kill anymore. It cost America a lot to do this, and we kept no territory, as they say, beyond the graves where our soldiers lie. America then taxed itself and gave its wealth not only to its allies but to its former adversaries, to help them rebuild. We didn't actually have to do this. We did it to make the world better. We did it to foster peace. (They should give us a prize.)

America hasn't just helped the world, it literally lit the world with its inventions, which are the product of its freedoms. The lights under which the Peace Prize judges read, and rejected, the worthy nominations? Why, those lights were invented by an American. The emails the committee members sent to each other, sharing their banal insights on leadership? They came through the Internet. Who invented the Internet? It was a Norwegian bureaucrat with a long face and hair on his nose and little plastic geometric eyeglasses? Oh wait, it was Americans. The members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee are healthy because they have been inoculated against diseases such as polio. Who invented the polio vaccine, an enfeebled old leftist academic in Oslo? Nah, it was a man named Jonas Salk. He was an American.

Well, so were Nobel recipients Pearl S. Buck, Milton Friedman and Martin Luther King. Americans have dominated the Nobel economics and science prizes the way the NYT cornered the Pulitzer since that prize's inception. Americans took both Nobel's awarded in economics this year. So from whence comes this idea that the Nobel committees have it in for Americans?

America in the mid-20th-century fought in two theatres to protect America from the terrifying encroachment of fascism. The subsequent Marshall Plan was self-interested, a humanitarian imposition of American free-market values on a continent where communism was still widely potent. And a means of creating an economically and politically stable buffer between the U.S. and the emerging new U.S. enemy, the Soviet Union. It most definitely was not charity, something we "didn't actually have to do." The postwar U.S. policy of Soviet containment, as conceived by George F. Kennan and quickly adopted as U.S. policy for two generations, required it be done to protect America's national security and corporate interests.

That's the bizarre part of the column, dashed off by an American patriot who wears her parochialism on her sleeve but is ignorant of the recent history of her own homeland. Then Noonan's rant turns into a fact-checker's nightmare.

Many innovators share credit for electricity, going back to Ben Franklin. But the alternating currrent in Noonan's household - and by which the Norwegian judges read - was developed by Nikola Tesla, a Croatian. (Edison developed direct current, more dangerous and unsuitable in most non-industrial applications.)

The Internet was indeed a U.S. creation, tracing its roots to the Darpanet, developed by the Pentagon to enable scientists to exchange information among university computers worldwide. The Internet as we know it, however, is the World Wide Web. The Web made the information superhighway, as it was once quaintly known, useful to Noonan and billions of others by assigning an address to each of millions and then billions of Web pages. Tim Berners-Lee, an Englishman working at the Swiss-based CERN labs, invented the Web.

Antibiotics were first identified by a Frenchman, Louis Pasteur, and the first antibiotic treatment by Alexander Fleming of Scotland, whose Adam Smith contributed mightily to the American ethic of raw capitalism. Shakespeare didn't set foot in the New World. The composition commonly known as the New World Symphony was written by a Czech. Commercial banking was perfected by Italians, investment banking by the Rothschilds. Television was invented in Russia, as was The Nutcracker and The Cherry Orchard. A Canadian invented standard time and the BlackBerry, The internal combustion engine, still in ubiquitous use worldwide, was invented in the 1880s by German's Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz independent of each other. The theory of relativity and modern psychoanalysis were pioneered by an ethnic German of Swiss nationality and an Austrian, respectively. A Spaniard gave us Don Quixote. The rocket propulsion systems behind the Apollo program orignated with the genius in rocketry of the Germans and Russians. The plastic hula hoop, an icon of 1950s America, was invented by an Australian, Alex Tolmer. One could go on.

Noonan, like Madonna, invented herself. I'll grant that.

 

QuickLinx 10.16.09

TRENDS

Apple's new Tablet will reinvent personal computing. (Newsweek)

Early reviews on BlackBerry Storm 2 are positive, worthy rival to iPhone. (Christian Science Monitor)

New LRTs are suceeding in transit-hostile Phoenix, Denver and Salt Lake. (New Republic)

Time to stop knocking suburbia. It works. (Daily Telegraph)

HEALTH, FITNESS & RELATIONSHIPS

German men are the worst lovers, Spanish best, Canadians 10th-best, survey finds. (Daily Telegraph)

Words to use in that all-important first online dating response. (OKtrends.com)

It takes longer than the advertised 21 days to exchange a good for bad habit. Try 66 days. (Slate)

People more likely to wash their hands if they're shamed into it. (National Post)

When it comes to brain damage, football's no better than dogfighting. (Malcom Gladwell, New Yorker)

101 uses for a woman. (Times of London)  #11. Their method of navigation ("No, the other left.")

101 uses for a man. (Times of London)  #89. Watering the toilet seat. What is it, a plant? (1)

WORK & MONEY

More equal societies almost always fare better. (London Review of Books)

Study finds nasty bosses aren't evil, just insecure. Like you didn't know that. (Toronto Star)

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase are meltdown's big winners. (NYT)

Calvin Trillin's argument: Wall Street, refuge for B students, crashed after the smarties arrived. (NYT)

Trillin a bit tongue-in-cheek, but some stats back him up. (Baseline Scenario)

Actually, blame falls on unorthodox "outsiders" crashing Street's old boy's club. (New Republic)

The "too big to fail" doctrine for errant banks is prohibitively costly. (UK Guardian)

The world's "crappiest" job. (Yangtze Evening Post)

A&E

Roman Polanski's art and abominable behaviour don't diminish each other. (Daily Telegraph)

Samuel Johnson was a sexist xenophobe who understood human nature. (Daily Telegraph)

In her latest novel, Atwood again revels in dystopia. (London Review of Books)

Aspiring authors had better be social-networking bloggers. (Shouts & Murmers, New Yorker)

Chinese read health and wealth self-help books - and that's about it. (Der Spiegel)

Bill Murray is world's best comic actor, says latest co-star, George Clooney (Times of London)

John Cleese on what made "Fawlty Towers" work. (Reuters)

Comic Sarah Silverman's "Sell the Vatican. Feed the world." a YouTube hit. (Globe and Mail) (video) 

Hitchcock interview with Tom Snyder from 1973's "Tomorrow" resurfaces. (metafilter.com) (video)

The 50 best (worst?) movie villians. (Times of London) (2)

 

THE WAY WE LIVE TODAY

Black is back - ack! How unoriginal. And the lint... (New York Observer)

Why I dislike Lululemon more than ever. (FiredForNow.com)

The 50 most annoying things about the Internet. (Daily Telegraph)

Can you really tell if a man is dangerous by the shape of his face? (Slate)

What poker teaches us about notables who've mastered the game. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

  
(1) I found this commenter a tad discouraging. "Karen Tips wrote: '#102. Digging in the garden. My late husband was a great hand at digging up planting beds, tilling, making big holes for shrubs, etc. That is what I miss most about him.'" I know how the English obsess over their gardens. But doesn't the time Ms. Tib's husband sang "I Remember You" when asking her hand in marriage at the Savoy trump messing about with dirt?

(2) Fewer things worse than a movie villain you can't work up a real hate for. Some of my favourites: Harry Lime (Orson Welles) in The Third Man, Dennis Hopper in Speed, and the psychos in the first Dirty Harry and in Air Force One.

QuickNews, Thursday, Oct. 8.

LUXE LIFE | Chinese luxury-goods spending defies global economic malaise. Western luxe peddlers like Gucci flocking to Shanghai, aleady are doing surprisingly well. They will reap even greater returns as China's nascent consumer economy - now a fraction of America's - begins to develop in China's huge interior cities far from coastal Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Opening day at Gucci's flagship Shanghai store in June. 
 

WELL-TIMED FOR 'RUN FOR THE CURE' | Canadian researchers report breast cancer breakthrough. Treatment soon will be more easily be "customized" to patients, improving odds of successful outcomes. "This is a watershed event in our ability to understand the causes of breast cancer and to develop personalized medicines for our patients," Dr. Samuel Aparicio, head of the breast cancer research program at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who worked on the study, said in a statement. The research was largely funded by the B.C. Cancer Foundation's annual Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk and similar events across the country. 

DESERVED GOOD HUMOUR: Researchers Sam Aparicio, right, and Marco Marra yesterday at a Vancouver presentation of their breakthrough breast cancer findings.

KUDOS FOR CANUCK ACADEME | McGill, U of T and University of Alberta gain in world rankings. McGill retains its hold on "top public campus in N.A." in Britain's Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings. If it's a "knowledge economy" that's to define prosperity in the 21st century, more proof Canada has the right stuff to thrive, with sufficient public- and private-sector support.

NO KINDLE FOR CANADA | Great White North excluded as Kindle rolled out in about 100 nations. Globe can't unravel mystery, but notes irritating phenomenon: "For Canadian consumers, it's yet another in a long line of annoying delays and prohibitions – from smartphones that take years to go on sale to online gift cards that are bound by mysterious legal restrictions to Internet video that won't play once it recognizes the user isn't in a particular country."

YET ANOTHER IGGY FLIP FLOP | Grit leader appoints Marc Garneau as new Quebec lieutenant. Replacement for Coderre is admirably swift, but comes only after Iggy told us there would be no new Quebec chief, ending a Grit tradition that has served the "natural governing party" well since Confederation. Worse, in transparent bid to obscure volte face, Iggy insists Garneau is not "lieutenant" but "Quebec representative." Last we looked, Grits had several Quebec representatives. They're called MPs and riding presidents. Globe's eer fair-minded Lawrence Martin reminds us Chretien and other rookie Opposition Leaders were similarly gaffe-prone yet prevailed. A sound argument, until the words Stephane Dion enter the conversation.

 
Iggy talks to reporters yesterday, flanked by MPs Marc Garneau and Pablo Rodriguez. 

GLOBE-TROTTING HOGTOWNERS | Toronto-based Brookfield invests $1.1 billion in Aussie land deal. Already landlord of Lower Manattan's skyline-defining World Financial Center, Brookfield now major player in commercial property Down Under.

GREEN SHOOTS | Industrial products bellwether Alcoa reports surprising profit upturn. Its tourism and business-travel counterpart, Marriott, beats profit estimates. Alcatel-Lucent, victim of same telco-equipment downturn that killed Nortel, has been profitless since its creation by merger three years ago. But its shares are up 80% this year, on speculation of overdue recovery in global telco spending.

CANWEST PAPERS SPIN-OFF? | Papers might be spun off in IPO as early as next year. Troubled CanWest's market-dominant papers are healthy enough given the worst advertising drought since the Depression. If they can be liberated from insolvent CanWest's corporate debt of $4 billion, they stand a good chance of thriving. My hope remains that eventually the chain will be broken up, with separate ownership for individual papers or regional groups (say, new owners for each of Lower Mainland's Vancouver Sun and Province; Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal; Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix), to expand number of newspaper owners and to return ownership to local or regional roots. More owners means more and differing ideas on confronting Web challenge, and an end to chains' stultifying absentee ownership.

ARTS HONOURS | Herta Mueller, wins 2009 Nobel prize for literature. Romanian-born German author who documented horrors of totalitarianism in Cold War Romania is recogonized for her ability to depict "the landscape of the dispossed." Barbra Streisand, top-selling female vocalist of all time, sees her recent, Diana Krall-produced CD, "Love is the Answer," become her ninth pop-chart-topping album. Gratifying for first-time producer Krall. And for Steisand, in breaking from her heavily orchestrated style, opting instead for spare arrangements that are a return to the Brooklyn native's intimate nightclub years. (So marks Gus's first audio pick.)

IRVING PENN (1917-2009) | Pioneering fashion photographer dies at 92. As longtime cover photographer for Vogue, Penn's elegant portraiture had enormous influence on contemporaries and subsequent generations of high-fashion interpreters.

MEN ARE FROM PLUTO | New book offers guidance to women on talking with men, especially at office. Code Switching: How to Talk So Men Will Listen (Alpha Books) is co-authored by Claire Damken Brown, a veteran of the corporate world (AT&T and Lucent Technologies) and Audrey Nelson, a communications consultant. Gender differences abound, Reuters reports in review of book: "Women apologize more than men, play the role of 'office mom' to whom everyone confides, and offer more subjective opinions. Men tell more jokes, but women laugh at them more. Men want solutions to problems while women look for understanding of problems, and men like to play devil's advocate while women want to help everyone to agree, the authors say. Even in e-mails, men banter and write short to-the-point messages, while women share personal information and express appreciation and support in longer messages, they say." Not too much here to advance Deborah Tannen's work, but updated observations are sound and need repeating .

QUOTE OF THE DAY | "I often think that a slightly exposed shoulder emerging from a long satin nightgown packs more sex than two naked bodies in bed." -Bette Davis (Dark Victory; Now, Voyager; All About Eve.)

Courtesy Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer.