15 December 2006: Evening

By the time Andrew Bales has taken 100 steps down Gladys Avenue, he has pointed out a severely emaciated man, several heroin addicts, and a prostitute plying her trade from a tent. L.A.'s cleaned-up Skid Row.

Not surprisingly, dumping indigent hospital patients on Skid Row isn't helping the situation.

"We're viewed as a little wacky, and on the cutting edge." When comedians look for material, they look toward California legislation. And: Chicago considers a school-wide hand-washing law.

Chavez is poised to "take away the supermarkets and nationalize them" if they don't sell staples at the government's prices.

How Ayn Rand teaches teenage girls to love capitalism.

One could build a dozen new plays from all the material that was removed in Tehran. At the International Theatre Festival, directors, censors toe an ambiguous line.

Ever wanted to shoot laser beams out of your eyes? Welcome homo sapiens Astro.

When a friend dropped in for a chat and mentioned rationing after World War II, the poor fellow got 20 minutes on the subject, including her favourite Spam recipe.

Estonian assembly members give Russia the finger with a bill to ban public Soviet memorials; as usual, Russia is pretty pissed.

Ms. Kim sang for 59 hours and 48 minutes, with a break of just a few minutes every hour, witnesses at the bar in Seoul said.

Five things you can do on a computer when you don't have an internet connection.