4 May 2009: Morning

  • I thought my lungs were going to burst. A swine flu survivor tells how his life was saved by a news bulletin.
  • In Bakersfield, Calif., none of the 188 patients--a daily record--who arrived at the emergency room...had symptoms that met the criteria to even be tested.
  • From a complete drought in tourist dollars to locals not leaving the house--or spending money--swine flu endangers Mexico's economy.
  • G.O.P. all-stars kick off grassroots tour at an Arlington, Va., pizzeria, with Jeb Bush taking the spotlight on policy.
  • Today's long read: On the Dutch social-welfare state: Where an economic philosophy is ocean-based, there is a collective mentality to protect it.
  • In search of more efficient cars they'll drive longer, Americans are becoming European in their buying habits.
  • Scientists will soon depart on a voyage to an island twice the size of Texas composed of six million tons of garbage that they'll turn into diesel.
  • From 2007: Anthony Doerr reports on the New Jersey-sized dead zone of fertilizer runoff off the Texas coast.
  • Evidence mounts of an ancient tsunami that swept the New Jersey and Long Island shore.
  • There are lots of differences between you and me, but that's one of the big ones: the quality and the seriousness of what happens when we touch other people's pants.
  • The four members of Grizzly Bear are all vocalists, and the grand sound of their harmony can touch you deeply.
  • An explanation of Tarkovsky's Solaris, which, frankly, we needed.
  • If we started a movie on the day you were born, and stretched it over your lifespan, this is where you'd be in that movie. Where are you in the movie?