links for 2007-04-12

In the last few months I have been working on a project based in Brighton, and so occasionally commuting there from London. I was just beginning to relate to this interesting article about commuting in The New Yorker, when I read the following lines: "The next morning, she caught the six-fifty-four out of Port Jervis. The train was nearly empty. The conductor sat in the row in front of her, looking through a catalogue advertising semi-automatic weapons." Once again America proves that it's unlike anywhere else in my world.

Great headline in the Globe and Mail this morning.

"Despite the apology, there was little sign of embarrassment from CBS or [Katie] Couric at the revelation that she has little to do with the Notebook items". Business has hijacked the weblog format, but missed the point completely. Here's an important broadcast journalist (one of the world's most influential people according to Time magazine) who is happy to have someone else put words in her mouth. Unbelievable. And that's precisely what Couric has now become. — I keep forgetting that US news is really just part of the Entertainment industry.