Today's Boston Globe articles

1. Walmart/Local Development: http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2009/09/20/a_wal_mart_proposed_for_a_cornfield__has_long_divided_a_small_vermont_town/

On the issue, the needs of the local citizens are paramount - if they want a Walmart, they should be able to have one. However, for their and the community's long-term benefit, there should be regulations controlling future development. I believe it would be best if the groups, citizens and potential developers reach a compromise rather than fight out for one position or the other.

2. Military/International Treaties: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/09/20/made_in_mass_bomb_stirs_global_debate/

Another tough issue, this time on the global level. The treaty itself can be amended to allow for cluster bombs with more than ten warheads, but with highly stringent controls for collateral impact, including testing by an independent international group such as the IAEA. Such a change may induce the larger powers to join the treaty and in fact, benefit arms control.

3. Letter-writing:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/20/the_personal_letter_is_quickly_becoming_a_thing_of_the_past/

It really is a shame that such a personal craft and art is being lost. I would like to write to my friends and others using postcards or letters, but few people give me their addresses. The effects of modern technology and the sake of convenience...

4. Climate Change/Diplomacy:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/09/20/the_essential_pillars_of_a_new_climate_pact/

All three major points are important and desirable, but the author assumes that most of the major actors are willing to look long-term and trust the market. On climate change, especially in a recession, many countries are looking short-term and plus, it would be difficult to predict or assume growth and economic stability in the long-term for many of the market programs, such as the cap, to be consistently effective.

5. Microlending:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/20/small_change_does_microlending_actually_fight_poverty/

The questions concerning the efficacy of microlending are credible - a mechanism that focuses on small gains and changes would find it difficult inducing large-scale change, especially poverty reduction. Even so, more empiricial studies are needed and microlending has its benefits, esp. for socially and morally driven entrepreneurs.

6. Privacy/Social Networking:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/20/project_gaydar_an_mit_experiment_raises_new_questions_about_online_privacy/

I do not see the concern over privacy, esp. any major ones. The students sought to study how people's social networking profiles and choices of friends might tell something about themselves. That is a social science study that anybody else can informally do, albeit with less precise conclusions. It is an individual's choice, not an unconscious show-of-hand, that determines what conclusions others may derive from a social networking profile.

7. Samuel Johnson:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/20/the_literary_lion_who_hated_us_and_why_we_love_him_anyway/

An interesting and relevant topic, but a poorly written article. I still do not understand why Johnson "hated" Americans - what is the source of the opprobrium, and is it really? More importantly, why do Americans "love" him? It cannot just be that he seems so similar to many of the revolutionary generation.

8. Books/Louis Brandeis:
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/09/20/in_louis_d_brandeis_a_life_melvin_urofsky_details_how_boston_lawyer_set_a_noble_precedent/

Wow, surely I have found my career role model, in every way and form. The review of the book is highly laudatory, and the content is very personally appealing. I am buying the book Tuesday (and not out of whim of fancy)!