Hot off the Press: Advertising takeovers edition

Like Rome Before the Fall? Not Yet: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/opinion/25brendon.html.

A LAT "Column One" story about a yuppie hipster who ditched her car for the bus: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bus-snob27-2010feb27,0,7122671.story. For those not familiar with LA, Brentwood, where she lives, is pretty upper crust.

Review of John D'Agata's newest book of nonfiction, About a Mountain, which is, apparently, mostly about Yucca Mountain: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/books/review/Bock-t.html?ref=books. D'Agata is an English professor at Iowa, but I unfortunately never had him as a teacher. The book sounds pretty good, but not the doctoring of dates for narrative convenience. Work with the dates, don't change them. I'll probably buy the book, anyway.

Macmillen, the largest publisher of textbooks, is now offering software that will allow college professors to not only customize textbooks to their liking, but possibly rewrite or remove entries: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/business/media/22textbook.html?ref=books.

Mr. Comins, an author of “Discovering the Universe,” a popular astronomy textbook, said the new e-book program was a way to speed up the process for incorporating suggestions that he often receives while revising new print editions. “I’ve learned as an author over the years that I am not perfect,” he said. “So if somebody in Iowa sees something in my book that they perceive is wrong, I am absolutely willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

On the other hand, if an instructor decided to rewrite paragraphs about the origins of the universe from a religious rather than an evolutionary perspective, he said, “I would absolutely, positively be livid.”

Ralph Nader, a guy who knows a thing or two about the dangers of poor automobile engineering, weighs in on Toyota and points a finger to government deregulation and the slow dismantling of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-nader28-2010feb28,0,7840284.story.

At a time when about 40,000 Americans die in cars each year and hundreds of thousands more are injured, NHTSA's motor vehicle safety budget is a mere $140 million. By comparison, taxpayers will pay more than four times as much -- about $675 million -- to guard the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

In an age when most US cities can't support one newspaper, Palo Alto has three — and they're all thriving: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/28sfnewspaper.html?ref=us.

Check out the ad covering art put up by this NYC artist: http://www.publicadcampaign.com/completedprojects/. That is some cool shit. Much more pleasing.

Businesses that pollute US waterways are going unpunished because of ambiguities regarding jurisdiction in the Clean Water Act: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01water.html?ref=us. This obviously needs to be fixed.

John McPhee is coming out with a new book, and this one provides rare glimpses of his personal life: http://www.latimes.com/features/books/newsletter/la-ca-john-mcphee28-2010feb28,0,133503.story. I'll definitely pick it up.

An Iowa shop class teacher who prevented a student from making a Wiccan alter has been placed on leave. The situation once again brings up the issue of student rights to free expression (sigh): http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100302/NEWS02/3020372/Wiccan-altar-puts-teacher-officials-at-odds. My understanding, and belief, has always been inline with the famous Tinker v. Board of Education statement, "Students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate." That said, I have no problem with a student choosing to make a religious symbol in a shop class. It's free expression. I would have a problem if students were forced to make religious symbols. That's state endorsed religion.