National Public Radio

There is talk about NPR - lots of it. It has become a favorite topic of commentators and bloggers. NPR has lately been tarnished by a series of missteps. It isn't perfect. What is? I say just leave it alone. It will learn and move on. No need for anyone else to meddle in its affairs, and, if the government funds it to a small degree, let it be. We certainly get our money's worth. Even the Timid Reporter could not do a better job, even if he is much less pretentious.

Design Design

How much attention do marketers or producers or manufacturers or store owners pay to design? A lot. In fact, Apple Computer's guru (Steve Jobs) thinks design is not only one of the most important things in a product but that it's the only thing. Think about that. My blog, I hope, is well-designed. It has music, photos, graphics, and nice colors. The writing does not much matter. Agreed? If you want nice, smart, imaginative designs delivered in record time and at a low price, go here. The woman at left will thank you. Wild Sight 

News and more news

Ladies and gentlemen: NPR announced that an 8.9 magnitude earthquake had struck Japan this morning. I was just getting up. The quake was a strong one. It created a scary Tsunami which even touched the western coast of the USA. The odd thing about all this is that the NPR news team announced it in a very matter-of-fact manner, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It did not indicate anything close to the davastating effect this would have on Japan and other countries. I don't think they knew how deadly it was. One other thing - the day 911 happened, the same type of news update was given. One could not tell - from the announcer's initial broadcast - how serious an attack it would turn out to be. Sometimes, we just don't know. Protector 

Married priest

Very recently, a Lutheran minister converted to Catholicism. His wife was also a Lutheran minister. She had converted to Catholicism already. She became a nun in 2004 and he was ordained a Catholic priest a few days ago. The Pope said it was ok for them to remain married. I guess this means they can still sleep together. Of course, I have no problem with that at all. I just wonder what the unmarried priests have to say about this funny situation. That thing on the right is asking me to link something here again. I wonder where it came from. Alone 

Egypt and Fashion

Well, now that Egypt is free, will Egyptian women be allowed to wear liberal fashions such as this one? I seriously doubt that. Seriously. This will be amazingly interesting - like a roller coaster ride. Something odd just happened: I was busy typing and then suddenly this little box appeared asking me to link this to somewhere else. I did as I was told. Here it is anyway. I hope it's a good book. I haven't read it yet.  The King Is Dead 

Idling your car

I just read an article about why you should not idle your car's engine before you drive off or while stopped somewhere for a few minutes. There must have been at least ten testimonials from car shops from around the country advising that idling is really not necessary. They say the engine will warm up just fine if you idle it for 30 seconds or if you start it and go. This is on Yahoo! Let me just say that I have been idling my car for five minutes every morning (for 20 years) before I drive it away and will continue to do so. I was not convinced and habits die hard. Sorry.

Paris Apartments

There is an ad on this page which advertises Paris apartments as an alternative to Paris hotels - if you plan to stay for a while  - longer than a few days, but not for too long. Paris is, of course, one of the most beautiful cities in the world; however. it can be expensive. Those high prices sort of keep it exclusive.