Stan Collender writes a rousing defense of the Washington Post plan—since abandoned in the face of criticism/controversy—to charge for access to “intimate dinners” at publisher Katharine Weymouth’s house:
The only thing the Washington Post really did that was wrong is that it apologized.
Other news outlets have been doing things
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A bunch of stay-at-home moms in the Dallas area have banded together and organized what seems like a simple, easy, and inexpensive way to enjoy the summer: Instead of sending their kids off to pricey summer camps, the moms have created something of a camp themselves. They take turns arranging themed arts and crafts days based on books or …
Budget battles can make people believe like, well, animals. A zoo in the Boston area recently warned that unless the state allocated it more funding, the zoo wouldn’t be able to care for as many as 200 animals, which would have to be euthanized or disposed of in some other way.
Historians have long sung the praises of the potato when talking about the boom in population and urbanization we saw in the 18th and 19th centuries. Potatoes are packed with vitamins and minerals—including, importantly, vitamin C—and can be grown on less land with less labor than wheat, barley and oats. When the potato showed up in …
I read most of The Hobbit last night. I’d been reading it in very small chunks to Curious Capitalist Jr. over the past few months. He’s perfectly capable of reading it himself, but didn’t seem to want to, so I started reading it to him. Yesterday we dropped CC Jr. off at summer camp, so I figured I’d read ahead in the book—which I read …
Apparently, even if you have never spoken out of turn to your boss, you’re willing to work 24 hours a day without complaint, and you don’t require so much as a penny in salary, you still can’t keep your job.
In the future, as depicted in the likes of “The Jetsons” and Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” each person wears one outfit over and over again. Basically, predictors are saying that one day, fashion will be gone, and we’ll all wear uniforms. (Jerry Seinfeld had a joke along these lines, in which he can’t wait for the day when he doesn’t have to …
McDonalds is giving away free McCafe Mochas today and for the next three Mondays (July 13, 20, and 27, and August 3). The promotion is valid from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for one 8 oz. mocha or 7 oz. iced mocha per person. More details here.
To promote its new sandwich, Arby’s will give away a free bbq bacon cheddar roast burger to anyone who buys a soft drink. A coupon is required (print it here), and the offer is good through Sunday, July 12.
“The half-carat is the new three-carat.”
There have been two main theories of why things went so wrong at General Motors. One is that the company is run by a bunch of ingrown retreads with no sense of where the automotive business was headed. The other is that the company’s management has been so burdened by commitments (to pensions, to retiree health care, to union work rules) …
At a secret meeting of the Justice League 3.0, Michael Moore, Pope Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama, Bill Gates, Optimus Prime, Nelson Mandela, and the ghost of Che Guevera gathered to solve the global financial crisis.
