Commentary

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

By MARTIN SCHRAM
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Some hail as unprecedented the manner in which California Democrat Nancy Pelosi has chosen to begin her surefire reign as the first woman ever to be speaker of the U.S.

By JAY AMBROSETuesday, November 21, 2006Following the recent success of Democrats in the mid-term elections, one of my liberal e-mail buddies sent me a cutesy, gloating list of pledges by Michael Moore, and I have something to report.

By PAUL C. CAMPOSTuesday, November 21, 2006One of the most important ideas in economics is that of an "externality." An externality is a consequence of a person's behavior that he or she doesn't take into account when deciding whether to engage in that behavior.Externalities are important because they often lead to socially wasteful _ in economic jargon "inefficient" _ decisions.

An editorial / By Dale McFeatters
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
After Thanksgiving comes Black Friday, so described not out of some sense of gloom or despondency but because that's when the ink on retailers' ledgers goes from red to black as shoppers hit the stores prepared to spend an estimated $457 billion between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

And this year the retailers are gracing us with Cyber Monday, the ceremonial start to the online shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006
As if flying were not enough of a hassle, the federal Department of Transportation is reporting dramatic increases in the percentage of lost luggage. In August, the problem was 33 percent worse than a year earlier; in September, a whopping 92 percent worse, according to The New York Times.

Actually, the airlines were doing well until Aug.

By PHILIP GAILEY
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
With an unseemly election behind us and the holiday season just beginning, I thought this would be a good time for a progress report on Bailey, the young golden retriever we adopted last March.

By THOMAS BARNETT
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Every breath you take, every move you make ... can be watched all right

George Orwell had it completely wrong: ubiquitous sensing technology won't be the dictator's tool for enslaving ordinary citizens.

By DAVID HEALEY
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Tall, white-haired, and with a Virginia gentleman's accent, the late William Styron _ who died Nov. 1 _ looked and sounded like a Southern writer. But what really impressed me was that we had the same taste in alcoholic beverages.

This was in 1987.

An editorial / By Dale McFeatters
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
It was good news when three years ago researchers found that a component of red wine prolonged the lifespan of lab mice by 30 percent, protected against obesity and lessened the incidence of age-related degenerative diseases like diabetes.

But wait, as they say.