11 November 2009: Afternoon By The Morning News — 11 Nov 2009 An argument for sustaining al Qaeda: It's in our best security interests. Op: Three myths about governing Afghanistan, and the argument for building accountability from the bottom up. Saudi forces capture armed infiltrator in his underwear practicing black magic. Brief history of White House redecorating. Marvelous illustrated ode to corridors in science-fiction movies. Environmentalism now a religion under U.K. employment laws. Why leaves fall off trees: because trees give them a shove. Profile of the rock that absorbs carbon dioxide. Notes on how German psychologists have used the Berlin Wall to understand individual distress. The rules and rituals of last meals: Prisoners can ask for anything, but they may not get it. As far as these kids here know, a pig is just what come on a sandwich. "Under certain scenarios," hybrid vehicles are more likely to be involved in accidents with pedestrians and bicyclists. It raises questions of what we mean when we say Raymond Carver. Ron Rosenbaum on publishing dead authors' work, particularly Nabokov's. Matt Evans's operatic profile of Dmitri Nabokov, the death-defying son. When not writing for The Simpsons, Patric M. Verrone sculpts miniature presidents and justices. Lots of dish and drama in the differences between Flaubert and Maupassant. It's the end of the age of irony. The 10 worst predictions of the decade.