1. Virgin on Top
According to an annual report, major airlines had their second best year in two decades. Whether or not that information comes as a shock will depend on which airline you fly.
Virgin was rated as the best airline "based on on-time arrivals, mishandled bags, consumer complaints and passengers who bought tickets but were turned away because flights were over booked." And who came in last? That seems like an easy question for anyone who flew this airline last year, or follows social media. I'm convinced that Twitter was invented to give people a place to vent about United Airlines (its number of consumer complaints doubled last year).
+ Smaller seats, more mishandled bags, overbooked flights ... Here's
a look at why we hate airlines, by the numbers.
+ An inappropriate in-flight movie recently
led to a diverted flight.
+ Chris Guillebeau arrived in Norway on Sunday. It was the last of the 193 United Nation countries still on his travel list. Meet the man
known as the godfather of travel hacking.
2. Where's the Beef Risk?
"A little-studied chemical that is burped out by bacteria in the intestines." Researchers now believe that chemical is converted into another one called TMAO
which is the source of the real risk when it comes to eating red meat.
4. Killing the Messenger
Best-selling author Scott Turow explains how the digital age, unfavorable copyright laws, and other factors are
leading to the slow death of the American author. For better or worse, the lack of money being paid to some incredibly well-reviewed authors has led some of them to move over to writing TV scripts. This is the golden age of television for a reason.
5. Loving the Abuse
The very public firing of Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice has re-opened a debate on how far coaches should be allowed to go. Here's a somewhat contrarian (but maybe not all that rare) view from
Slate's David Plotz: "He berated me and threw things at me. He also made me a better player and a better man."
I loved my abusive basketball coach.
+ If your interested in how our relationship - kids and parents - to coaches has dramatically changed over the years, I highly recommend Michael Lewis' short book (which grew out of an article in the
NYT),
Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life.
+ There was only one good thing to come out of the Rutgers coaching-abuse fiasco.
Melissa McCarthy just happened to be hosting Saturday Night Live this week.
6. Did Earth Move Online?
The New Yorker's Nicholas Lemann has an interesting look at
what happened to the environmental movement. "Today’s big environmental groups recruit through direct mail and the media, filling their rosters with millions of people who are happy to click 'Like' on clean air. What the groups lack, however, is the Earth Day organizers’ ability to generate thousands of events that people actually attend -- the kind of activity that creates pressure on legislators."
7. Twinkies Savior
Twinkies are coming back.
And they could be more profitable than ever. Why? Because Dean Metropoulos has bought and turned around a series of food companies that looked they were doomed. Companies like Pabst, Chef Boyardee, Vlasic, Bumblebee Tuna, Duncan Hines, and Log Cabin. Trust me, this dude knows how to ruin a diet.
8. All The President's Mentions
Think you're really following Barack Obama on Twitter?
Think again. According to
The Atlantic Wire: "All of the president's named social media accounts, in fact, have been handed over to a non-partisan, not-for-profit group that isn't overly concerned if you didn't notice the transition." Those who think they are following me on Twitter should probably know that, months ago, I handed the reigns over to my unconscious (who, it turns, out leads a life a lot more similar to Don Draper than the conscious me).
9. The Ring Theory of Kvetching
In the
LA Times, Susan Silk and Barry Goldman have written a really interesting piece on their ring theory of
how not to say the wrong thing to a person who is suffering.
