The Lexicographer's Rules

"I will give you an example of the limits of my French. In the subway, which they call the Métro here, a woman at the other end of our car stood up and spoke loudly to everybody in French saying that she knew of this very good restaurant, which was open at seven, and that everybody should come there. I told Cat, who was standing next to me, that this was a very interesting and new sort of advertising and maybe we ought to do this sort of thing in America."

—Dan's Papers. Cat responds to Dan Rattiner, in Paris: "I think she's a beggar."'

"My gag-me moment came when I was watching CNN. It aired a long piece of 'breaking news' footage of Clinton coming out of the 125th Street office building."

—AlterNet. David Corn, fed up with tripe and useless news coverage, recounts the "news" moment, in which Maria Hinojosa interviews owner of the restaurant where Clinton ate lunch that day. "What went on inside the restaurant?" The owner: "They came in and had a real nice lunch."'

"She has mixed feelings about the 'prospectors,' the whites walking through her neighborhood, looking property over as if it were theirs for the taking. She watches them taking 'before' pictures of buildings. By now she knows there will be an after."

—New York Times. Famed center of the American Black world, Harlem is undergoing another change: it is becoming multi-ethnic, wealthier and more complicated. "For the old-timers, who have spent decades nostalgically remembering what Harlem was, it is a realization that Harlem finally is changingŃbut not changing back. Something new is being born."'

"These days, the successful radio business model looks like this: Whatever your formatŃalbum-oriented rock (AOR), alternative rock, adult contemporary, urban, or countryŃmake sure you play the same hits from the same artists that are played on every other station with your format and MTV or CMT, and separate them with up to 20 minutes an hour of advertising. Then let your on-air 'personality' blab about boobs for the rest of the time. Yeah, babyŃthat's what the people want."

—Washington City Paper. No radio sucks worse than New York City's, but bless those who are trying elsewhere; whether it's community-supported, satellite-direct or on the Internet, there are original, engaging radio alternatives.'

"I said: 'All I did was write a letter! All I did was write a letter; this is over a letter?' I feel hurt by it. What kind of country is this? Is it Cuba? They should've let me know. It's supposed to be the United States. Last they told me, when I was in the Air Force, it was the United States."

—New York Times. Terence Hunter, a budget analyst for the Brooklyn borough's president's office, was arrested for writing a harsh protest letter to Staten Island borough president Guy Molinari.'