Pave Paradise And Put Up a Parking Lot?

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 2, 2003 | by John Elvin

"It's strange."

A New Jersey health official commenting on a huge, stinking, gelatinous underwater blob of unknown origin that appeared in a creek in Little Egg Harbor Township. Officials determined that the blob was not toxic (from an Associated Press report).

Did You Know?

* America's most literate cities are, in order, Minneapolis; Seattle; Denver; Atlanta; San Francisco; Pittsburgh; Washington; Louisville; Portland, Ore.; and Cincinnati (study compiled by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chancellor and education professor Jack Miller, drawing on census data, newspaper circulation, library resources and 10 other measures of literacy).

* The United States already has processed some 2,517 complaints from Iraqi civilians claiming damages for "wrongful or negligent acts" by U.S. soldiers not involved in combat operations, paying out $262,945 to claimants (Defense Department report on payments made under the Foreign Claims Act).

* Magazines, considered by some to be threatened by electronic media, have a bright future if they are a quality product focused on a specific market (from a study, "The Future of Magazines," produced by graduate students at the University of Mississippi under a grant from Meredith Corp.).