I've always thought of the U.S. as more like Italy than say, England--as a federation of territories and regions with their own varied cultures, rather than one homogenous country.

Maybe your first grade teacher used to say that books bring the world to you: open one, and you can traverse the continents without leaving your chair. Apparently, no one ever told Congress.

When it comes to handing out unthinkable sums to failing industries, Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike have chosen to rescue the more practical mode of transport--autos--over publishing houses. But that doesn't mean that the publishers aren't failing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has temporarily suspended acquisitions of new manuscripts. Doubleday has cut its staff by 10% and HarperCollins' first-quarter operating income slid to $3 million from $36 million a year earlier, even despite the publication of Oprah's new Book Club selection.

The Washington Post reports today that Democrats are in the process of crafting a fifteen billion dollar loan proposal for the auto industry, which could go to a vote in Congress as soon as tomorrow. But there's a catch: should the companies elect to take the money, they may be forced to fire their CEOs.

The worst part about a week-long cold and the inevitable accompanying cough isn't just grossing out friends and co-workers with the green stuff you hack out of your lungs. When I was sick last week, I ran to the drug store on my lunch break to stock up on Day-Quil to keep me awake, Ny-Quil so I could eventually get some sleep, cough drops and hot liquid Theraflu. I thought that would get me through the day. The bill rang up to over $40.00. And I ran out of the cough drops on the way out.

There have been in-depth reports written about why drugs cost so much in America, but for now, I am rethinking my cold season shopping sprees and researching budget-minded alternatives to OTC treatments. I stuck to well-regarded, scientific sites like the Mayo Clinic online, university Web sites, or sites containing peer-reviewed academic articles (and you should too). Here's what I found.

The New Yorker has finally made the entire contents of the magazine available online. Just go to NewYorker.com and register an email account and password, and you can view PDF's of back issues for free.

In college, I had a girlfriend who, upon learning that she was being overcharged for her apartment, packed her books and chose to sleep for two weeks on a D.C.-area park bench while, in a suburb three metro stops away, her parents kept her bedroom lovingly preserved. She smoked American Spirits, dyed her carpets the same custom shade as her walls, and labeled anything she liked tres chic. Eventually, she broke into my house, and, after draining a twelve-pack of wine coolers and throwing up on the toilet, refused to leave. The fashion industry reminds me of that girl.

Why else would fashion writers be pushing the idea of "Recession chic" at us with such enthusiastic force?

As PBS' Bill Moyers has noted, if you watched the 2008 Presidential Debates expecting to hear a meaningful discussion on immigration reform, you were likely disappointed. Though much has been said about the potential significance of the Hispanic vote in this year's election, neither Senator Obama nor Senator McCain seems particularly keen to make immigration reform--an issue which barely a year ago was the second-most important to American voters after the Iraq war, according to Matt.org--central to this race. That is likely because neither candidate anticipates any benefit from doing so.

So if you're with most Americans, and want to know the real arguments from Republicans and Democrats, where do you turn? I began by reading each party's official 2008 platform, which you can find here (for the "Immigration" section, turn to page 46) and here.

The New York Times has put together a fantastic silde show of photographs capturing unseen reactions in the air around us. You can view a simulated explosion inside an airplane cabin, modelled with store mannequins!

Talking Points Memo reports that Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) was convicted today of making false statements on Senate financial documents and engaging in a scheme to conceal over $250,000 of home renovations and other gifts, which he received from William Allen, former CEO of the now defunct Veco Corporation, an Alaska-based oil pipeline service and construction company. Among the cozy amenities provided gratis by Mr. Allen were a new deck, garage, and Viking grill; information which Stevens, who maintains his innocence, failed to disclose to the Senate. The conviction comes one week before Stevens' bid for re-election against Democratic Anchorage mayor Mark Begich.

"Capital" or "stock" injection is an alternative, direct investment option now being considered for the rescue of the United States economy. NPR's Chris Arnold has cleverly termed it "the Backdoor Bailout plan." On Sunday, NPR reported that at the last minute, an unknown individual or individuals slipped vague language into the bailout legislation which left open the possibility of a stock injection plan resembling the one that Britain opted for yesterday.