City leaders approved a ban on plastic grocery bags after weeks of lobbying on both sides from environmentalists and a supermarket trade group. San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to adopt such a rule if Mayor Gavin Newsom signs the ban as expected. AP View full entry
"Frustrated by a bruising, and so far unsuccessful battle to open its first discount store in the nation’s largest city, Wal-Mart’s chief executive said yesterday, “I don’t care if we are ever here.” H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive of the nation’s largest... View full entry
Some enterprising students at Occidental College in Los Angeles have dug up some early creative work by Illinois Senator and Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Independent View full entry
[A] clear sign of progress in Western society is that one does not need to argue against rape: it is “dogmatically” clear to everyone that rape is wrong. If someone were to advocate the legitimacy of rape, he would appear so ridiculous as to disqualify himself from any further... View full entry
This week, Larry Sanger (Wikipedia co-founder) takes the wraps off a Wikipedia alternative, Citizendium. His goal is to capture Wikipedia's bustle but this time, avoid the vandalism and inconsistency that are its pitfalls. Associated Press | related View full entry
It's a navelgazing Baby Boomer's wet dream: a two-hour PBS documentary on how important their generation is. Tune in on Wednesday View full entry
After the controversial Farsi ballot and other NIMBYstic issues, the City of Beverly Hills gets ready for it's upcoming Persian/Jewish mayor, a first in the nation. jerusalem post View full entry
"The new isn't new. In fact, the new is the oldest thing of all," wrote painter Eugene Delacroix, perhaps foreseeing the relevance of the following links on a slow news day: Time Magazine rolls out its redesign today, but the first cover from their last redesign in 1977 makes old news out of the... View full entry
By finishing fourth in that Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Tournament, Miami Dade qualified for this weekend's finals of collegiate chess. ap/yahoo View full entry
Aaron Betsky has been making his impact as new Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Just last week, a recently acquired and quite rare 1950 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta was given a prominent spot in the museum... "It's just one car, but I wanted to send a signal as soon as possible that this museum... View full entry
Benjamin Barber , professor of civil society at the University of Maryland, distinguished senior fellow at Demos and the author of, Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole, discusses the conflicts between American-style democracy and consumerism. wnyc View full entry
the humble backyard fire pit has morphed into ostentatious $60k fireplaces. Might as well be burning greenbacks... NYtimes View full entry
In 2004 he scaled the Agbar tower in Barcelona before climbing the Tapei 101 on Christmas day. As a daredevil building scaler, he has been pretty successful ascending some of the world's highest manmade peaks. But Spiderman was just hours ago nabbed by the police scurrying up Malaysia's Petronas... View full entry
LA Times columnist Al Martinez discovers the fate of an Angelino figurative architecture monument, Downtown's Chicken Boy statue. | LATimes View full entry
Specially converted sea containers imported from China are to be turned into temporary jails to ease the British prisons overcrowding crisis, The Observer has learned. View full entry