Items in the News

A magazine or a newspaper is a shop. Each is an experiment and represents a new focus, a new ratio between commerce and intellect.
John Jay Chapman (1862–1933), author
(it's an experiment that commerce is winning handily)

A couple of items in the news yesterday that both please and baffle me.

The good news is United Airlines treats celebrities the same way they treat their steerage-class customers. The bad news is they are still in business.

From The New York Post's Page 6
Stuck In Coach
BEING a celebrity doesn't always get you perks. Josh Hartnett found himself in an unusual predicament when he was forced to fly coach on a flight back to New York the day after the Os cars. "United Airlines was so overbooked, there was no way for him to get upgraded," said an onlooker. "But it wasn't for lack of trying. There were so many celebs on the flight, when he went to the counter to ask about a wait list they told him, 'You're number 55.' "

No Surprise Bush in the Dark
Our embarrassment of a president showed that he is as out of touch as father Bush was when he admitted he was unaware of the predictions of $4-a-gallon gas. He also showed he does not pay attention to current events, unless it’s sports related.

From CNN:
President Bush, saying he was unaware of predictions of $4-a-gallon gasoline in the coming months, told reporters Thursday that the best way to help Americans fend off high prices is for Congress to make his first-term tax cuts permanent.

"If you're out there wondering... what your life is going to be like, and you're looking at $4 a gallon, that's uncertain," Bush responded to a question posed at a White House news conference. "And when you couple that with the idea that... taxes may be going up in a couple years, that's double uncertainty."

Analysts have said that gasoline could reach $4 a gallon by this spring, due to strong demand and a change in formulation, among other reasons.

When taking the question about the $4 milestone, Bush told the reporter, "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."