Brian Gongol
Interview with the creator of the FedEx logo
The arrow between the "E" and the "X" was intentional
Defense Secretary Gates says the US needs to spend more money on diplomacy and "soft power"
Unfortunately, it's his own boss who seems to have overlooked the importance of those things for so long that their value has been eroded. The White House certainly didn't help itself by pushing diplomats to take dangerous assignments in places they may never have studied or previously been trained to work in, just to emphasize "hardship posts". If we need more representatives in hardship areas, then perhaps we ought to offer better (higher) pay for those assignments, rather than telling people who may have studied European history that they might have to spend a few years in Southeast Asia, for which they're neither well-prepared nor particularly interested. Related: A new agreement between the US and Iraq "reflects the [...] common belief that a long-term relationship" is in the future for a US military presence in Iraq. Things are looking up in some places, like Haditha.
Riots in Paris suburbs again
Two teenagers were killed after crashing a stolen motorbike into a police car, and rioters burned a police station in response.
Campaign ads you never thought you'd see
(Video) Mike Huckabee is running a real campaign ad (at least in Iowa) in which he rattles off Chuck Norris facts. The ads, however, are most likely not the reason Huckabee is rising in the polls, but rather that he's appealed to evangelical voters better than the others.
Will consumers cut back on Christmas shopping to pay for higher energy costs?
UN thinks 2 million people in Bangladesh still need food assistance
The hurricane that hit the country on November 15th is still having dire consequences -- hundreds of thousands of people still need shelter and food prices escalate with the shock of the brutal weather. Part of a bridge collapsed while people were trying to cross it to get to relief aid, which is in short supply.
EPA enforces record $10.6 billion in pollution cleanup orders
What really happens to airline baggage
(Video) An NBC News story about air travel contains an unintentionally hilarious moment when (at 1:25) a reporter is filmed talking about delays and lost luggage as a baggage truck takes a corner too fast and loses a couple of pieces of luggage on the tarmac. It happens in the background, so it's easy to miss the first time.
