New York’s currently: full size, in excellent condition

 U.S. to ask U.N. for an international force in Iraq.

 San Francisco court overturns death sentences of more than 100 prisoners in three states, because judges (not juries) made crucial factual findings in sentencing.

 TMN’s Clay Risen asks in the Observer: Has Rem Koolhaas Abandoned New York?

 Squibs from the Venice Film Festival.

 Jet skids to safety on a foam-covered runway at JFK, without a front wheel.

 Notes from inside the kitchens of booming cooking schools. (See also: Diary of a Cooking School Student.)

 Lillian Ross watches tennis with the Roddick family.

 The many ways Bill O’Reilly has told people to shut up.

 Already ubiquitous in schools, Coca-Cola plays a big role on the National PTA.

 NYC Eats: Excellent new blog on eating in New York City. Related: Excellent new blog on music.

 Nick Hornby on – hold on, wait for it – popular music and its critics.

 Wonderful Greg Allen interview with Sofia Coppola and Barbara Walters.

 Don’t you wonder why practically every house built in America after World War Two is a design abortion? This month’s eyesore by our hero, James Kunstler.

 Futon for sale, full sexual history available.

 Wise, compassionate, silent and with enormous breasts. On Kingsley Amis’s fantasy women.

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