* To avoid UN showdown, America, Europe urge Abbas to compromise, knowing he wants a symbolic win. * Ex-Afghan president assassinated—peace talks could be doomed without native leadership. * Bloomberg fears social unrest in American cities, but citizens' despair prevents organization. * Republican candidates all radically anti-choice, anti-environment, want
* FBI reports violent crime down for fourth year in a row, upending belief that more unemployment means more murder. * Middlebury College tortures incoming freshmen by having their admissions essays acted out by upperclassmen. * Cache of 1920s vocational school student records sends reporter into reverie. * How Whole Foods uses fresh flowers,
Home is where the heart is. Or Lena Horne’s forks.
* Founder of anonymous group of active-duty soldiers protesting DADT reveals self to be Air Force officer. * The West's human rights compass is off bearing due to loss of moral authority, UN influence. * Five important stories to follow during UN Week: Somalia, good governance, Syria. * Indians go to
When asked, focus groups describe the funny man as "untalented, successful, bad husband and father." He had been at the top, but is now heading toward the bottom. An excerpt from John Warner's forthcoming novel, The Funny Man, published by Soho Press.
Salon’s Cary Tennis is an advice columnist near to my heart because, like me, he is a copy editor, and what I love about his column is that I can see that copy editor’s pathology at work in his advice. As a copy editor, your job is to
* Overconfidence has survived as a trait because its recklessness is essential to getting things done. * Escaped pet birds teach wild birds English, swear words included. * Firm offers horses as business consultants. * Wartime patriotism and advertising: then and now. * What two pounds of cocaine looks like in a drug mule'
Covering 11 provinces in a four-month tour of China, photographer Toby Smith returned with a multifaceted look at the country’s burning energy needs and the rapid measures China is taking to meet demand.
* Ireland rebukes dysfunctional Vatican. * Israel's attempts to restart peace talks to avert Palestinian bid for statehood could inflame tensions. * Palestinian leader won't be persuaded to abandon bid—negotiations can continue in any event, since violence is over. * The Palestinian stock exchange is built for disaster. * Defense
* Fearing political collapse, U.S. increases drone strikes on al Qaeda targets in Yemen. * Forced to fend for themselves for generations, Yemenis created own social order. * Amid all our disasters, why are the only revolutionaries on the right? * Eager to avoid tainted food, China's rich and elite get
