WORTH THE COMMUTE Downtown London residences are known to be staggeringly expensive, but media blogger Sam Cookney calculated in October just how much. Cookney said he can live in an upscale apartment in Barcelona, Spain, and commute almost every workday to London (700 miles away) for less money than a modest central London rental. (Sixteen commuter days over four weeks a month … [Read more...] about Peace In Our Time and Deaf To The World and Parents These Days
September
Unholy Water and Naked Germany and People With Worse Sex Lives Than Yours
A PIECE OF THE ACTION “Fantasy sports” are hugely popular, but when fans “draft” players for their teams, they “own” only the players’ statistics. Recently, Wall Street and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs created Fantex Holdings, which will allow investors to buy actual pieces of real players–namely, rights to 20 percent of the player’s lifetime earnings (including licensing and … [Read more...] about Unholy Water and Naked Germany and People With Worse Sex Lives Than Yours
Norway Battles Chaos and Hipster Haven and Drunken Pigs
NORWAY’S BATTLE AGAINST CHAOS Norwegian public television (NRK), which introduced the now-legendary continuous, live log-burning show (12 hours long, with “color commentary” on the historical and cultural importance of fire), scheduled a new program for this week in its appeal to serenity (labeled “Slow TV”). On Nov. 1, NRK was to televise live, for five hours, an attempt to … [Read more...] about Norway Battles Chaos and Hipster Haven and Drunken Pigs
The Return Of Evan Dobelle and Perfect Sense and The Finer Points Of Peeper Law
THE RETURN OF EVAN DOBELLE After consulting with a lawyer, Evan Dobelle–president of Massachusetts’ Westfield State University (and former University of Hawaii president)–who stands accused of billing the state for unauthorized travel expenses, is reportedly considering claiming that he actually “self-reported” the violations as soon as suspicions turned up. Dobelle says he … [Read more...] about The Return Of Evan Dobelle and Perfect Sense and The Finer Points Of Peeper Law
Busy Superheroes and Deaf Jam and Boring Surgery
‘FAIRLY’ IDIOT-PROOF? Which is more characteristically American–that a Texas company could invent an ordinary rifle that mimics a machine gun or that America’s incomparable legal minds could find a loophole in existing anti-machine-gun laws to permit it to be manufactured and sold? The Slide Fire company’s weapon can spray bullets “like a fire hose” from a legal, semi-automatic … [Read more...] about Busy Superheroes and Deaf Jam and Boring Surgery