We Are All French Now?, by Tom Friedman

In the 1980's, we were worried Central America was going to go communist. Now we are worried it is going to go capitalist?

Tom Friedman complains that the Democrats are blocking approval of CAFTA as part of another one of those petty turf wars.

Tom also takes a moment in today's column to recommend The Opportunity, quoting Richard Haass:

"The administration has to get out and connect the dots for people."

"The world is not Las Vegas. What happens there will not stay there."

The War President, by Paul Krugman

The United States will soon have to start reducing force levels in Iraq, or risk seeing the volunteer Army collapse. Yet the administration and its supporters have effectively prevented any adult discussion of the need to get out.

Once the media catch up with the public, we'll be able to start talking seriously about how to get out of Iraq.

Foreign Makers, Settled in South, Pace Car Industry

A quarter of all cars and trucks built in the United States are now made in factories owned by foreign automakers producing foreign brands.

'Kill Bill' Did It. 'Lost in Translation' Did, Too. Now Mitsubishi Plays Up Japan's Hip Factor.

Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai can't seem to stop talking about how American they are. Not Mitsubishi; it wants you to know the red diamonds in its logo are as red as the rising sun.

Mitsubishi is in a "do or die" situation. "There's no question they need a substantially hip product. Everything is on the line."

The hip factor is the reason Mitsubishi chose to highlight its Japanese roots. Looking at the recent popularity of Japanese culture with American consumers, Mitsubishi believes it can cash in on that in the same way makers of the movies "Kill Bill" and "Lost in Translation" did.

For some, the ads give the appearance of a last resort for Mitsubishi. "They've tried everything else. To hark back to the great legacy of Mitsubishi is a bit shaky, but it's a little bit above grasping straws."

"We are living in an era where national identities are less and less relevant. I would venture to guess that they have been unable to come up with any other meaningful points of differentiation between their brand and their competing brands."

AMC and Loews to Merge

Whether the movie houses will thrive in an era of entertainment on demand is an open question. The deal comes at a time of steadily declining box-office receipts as audiences stay home to watch DVD's, play video games or surf the Web. For 16 weekends in a row, ticket sales have been lower than a year ago -- the worst such run since 1985.

Student Who Made Good on 'Avenue Q' Gives Back

On Monday night, Mr. Lopez and Mr. Marx are presenting a one-night-only benefit performance (open to the public) of "Avenue Q Swings," a reworking of the Broadway show featuring jazz and classical arrangements at the Lucille Lortel Theater on Christopher Street, a few blocks away from the school. So, for example, "The Internet Is for Porn" will become "Variations on a Pornographic Theme," performed by Greenwich House faculty on piano, cello and violin.

Trick out your Roomba

iRobot will open up the application programming interfaces for the Roomba vacuum so that third parties can make cameras or other attachments and, ideally, grow the overall market for personal robots.

Chernobyl Attracting Tourists

C.J. Chivers takes the packaged tour of the worst civilian disaster of the nuclear age.

A Romp Through Theories More Fanciful Than Freaky

The book is only barely about economics, freakish or otherwise, and even when the authors venture into a standard tutorial, such as one about how supply and demand influence wages, they do so with delightful and unexpected curveballs. Thus, they observe, "The typical prostitute earns more than the typical architect."

"Freakonomics" is a splendid book, full of unlikely but arresting historical details that distinguish the authors from the run of pop social scientists.

All That Glitters Is Not Silicon | At Home With Sandy Lerner

"I'm not a watcher," she offered. "Life is short. Why watch other people doing stuff?"

Until she developed an interest in rare cattle she was a vegetarian. Then she reconsidered. "Animals don't do anything else," she reasoned. "They don't type. They don't work on your car. Their purpose is to be eaten."