Laila Lalami

Rami G. Khouri has an interesting op-ed piece in today’s LA times (link), regarding the Administration’s contention that the arab media are inciting violence in Iraq. I agree: personally, I find the reporting outside the US to be much more balanced (contrary to most of my co-workers, who think that CNN and Fox are the epitome of equity).

According to FairEconomy.org, “Median CEO pay skyrocketed 44 percent from 2001 to 2002 at the 50 companies with the most announced layoffs in 2001, while overall CEO pay rose only 6 percent.” Sheesh, that’s just disgraceful. What, do they get rewarded for pink-slipping?

It was interesting… I read about SAT math scores rising (link) and then on the same day there’s an article about people as young as 13 doing SAT preparation courses (another link). Being Canadian, I’ve always found the whole SAT thing fascinating as I never had to take one. I guess it’s not really surprising that scores go up, given that people are preparing for up to 4 years before the exam. Maybe I’m just a purist: isn’t the SAT supposed to test college readiness, not one’s ability to take an exam? Maybe we should focus on improving education in general, rather than prepping earlier and earlier…

OK, I’ll admit that maybe I’m not very sensitive to this topic because I’m not too wrinkled yet, but it still amazes me what people are willing to do in the (temporary) pursuit of youth. In today’s LA Times health section (link), there is an enumeration of the new “injectables” (spurred on by the success of botox) that are FDA approved or awaiting approval. Several of the technologies involve the use of microspheres, which are basically little plastic balls. One is made from acid from rooster combs. I wonder if the rooster donors get little toupees?

It looks like Al Franken can keep the title on his new book: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right — on Friday a judge rejected Fox News’ claim that consumers would mistakenly think that Fox and/or Bill O’Reilly were endorsing the book. Franken’s statement was classic, including the line: “As far as the personal attacks go, when I read ‘intoxicated or deranged’ and ’shrill and unstable’ in their complaint, I thought for a moment I was a Fox commentator.” Tee hee :) Story from the LA Times.

Those wacky British muggles are at it again! More words for the Oxford Dictionary of English! They say they add words that “well-known and have proven they can pass the test of time”. Don’t be a cyberslacker, surf on over here to see the story. It’s bootylicious.

It looks like the Bush administration is ready to relax emission regulations for power plants (see story here). Maybe the energy problems in the northeast last week will give them the break they were looking for. Woo hoo! Energy companies get richer and air gets easier to see. Meanwhile, environmentalists everywhere are tarnished by the actions of the Earth Liberation Front, who caused millions of dollars in damage to some southern California dealerships and their inventory (see story in the LA Times).

Ok, maybe not literature (not even close, really) but I’m currently reading a couple of interesting books. Scott Ritter’s Frontier Justice in which he holds back no punches on the Bush administration’s approach to Iraq, and USC professor Barry Glassner’s The Culture of Fear, a look at the genesis of American violence. Both very interesting.

The results of California’s standardized tests are out (click here for a report on your local school) and I don’t know whether to be encouraged or outraged. Scores are up, but seem (to the untrained eye at least) to just track socio-economic status. Now 46 schools face federal sanctions because their students aren’t “proficient.” (The exact definition of that term is still ellusive.)

See the article in today’s LA Times.